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ROYAUME UNI - Newcastle - Sections of an internationally important early wooden railway discovered on Tyneside have returned to the region after almost three years of preservation treatment. The late 18th century waggonway, whose rails would have carried horse-drawn coal carts, was unearthed in 2013 during a dig before Shepherd Offshore was due to begin development work of the former Neptune shipyard site in Walker in Newcastle. It is believed to be the most complete and best-preserved section of early wooden railway to have been found anywhere in the world.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/one-chance-see-stretch-oldest-13387284
TURQUIE – Gölmarmara Kaymakçı - Many granaries from 3,500 years ago have been unearthed in the western province of Manisa. The granaries were found in the eight-hectare Gölmarmara Kaymakçı settlement dating back to the early Bronze Age. Excavations have been continuing in Gölmarmara Kaymakçı, which is the largest early Bronze Age settlement in the Gediz Delta, since 2014. The early Bronze Age structures, which are made up of a castle and houses on an area of eight hectares, also shed light on Manisa’s agricultural history. Gölmarmara Kaymakçı is an attractive place for archaeologists, said Ünlüsoy, adding its size is four times bigger than the ancient city of Troy in the northwestern province of Çanakkale. “This is a very big early Bronze Age settlement. There is one more famous Bronze Age settlement in Turkey, which is the ancient city of Troy. Gölmarmara Kaymakçı is four times bigger than Troy. This is the largest settlement unearthed in the Gediz Delta.” “Houses come to the surface; we are getting information about their architecture. One of the most surprising things for us is that there are countless round-shaped and huge-size granaries. Most of the granaries were emptied when the settlement was abandoned but there are still some particles. So far, we have not found a full granary. We have found barley, wheat and grape seeds in the granaries. We can say that grape production dates back to 3,500 years ago in Manisa. The seeds are being examined in the Koç University Archaeology Laboratory,” Ünlüsoy said. Ünlüsoy said that Kaymakçı is a big city surrounded by a high castle. “There are two protected fields in the castle. The top field, called the inside castle, is surrounded with walls. Such a plan is made in high places. There are also castles on the road. Kaymakçı is the biggest one among them. Commercial roads were very important in the early Bronze Age; especially for metal trade. We think the castles were built to take control over these commercial roads in the region,” he added.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-granaries-reveal-history-of-grape-production--.aspx?pageID=238&nID=115965&NewsCatID=375
NOUVELLE ZELANDE – - New Zealand native black swans were hunted to extinction by Polynesians and almost all the black swans living here are recent arrivals from Australia, new research shows. These ancient native black swans probably arrived from Australia between 1 million to 2m years ago and evolved to be heavier and taller than their Australian cousins.Given another million years, they might have become flightless, said University of Otago palaeogenetics laboratory director Nic Rawlence, who led the research. But Polynesians arrived about 1280 and the native black swan was hunted to extinction by about 1450, he said. Moa and about a third of other native species also died out in this "megafaunal hunting period". Rawlence and colleagues used DNA and skeletal analyses to show the birds were distinctly different. The New Zealand birds had longer legs, smaller wings and weighed up to 10 kilograms, compared to about 6kg for the Australian birds. They could still fly, but spent more time on the ground than modern birds.The extinct NZ species was dubbed "pouwa" by Rawlence and colleagues after a Moriori legend about a black bird that lived in the Chatham Islands. Its bones were found in sand dunes there.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/95113865/ancient-black-swans-hunted-to-extinction-nzs-swans-from-australia-new-research-finds
CANADA - Debert - The project is a longstanding effort underway within the Debert Air Industrial Park. The goal is to find further evidence of human life dating to the tail end of the Stone Age or Paleolithic Period. Paleolithic artifacts were first discovered in Debert in 1948. Then, during the 1960s, subsequent professional excavations turned up some 28,000 items such as spear points and stone tools indicative of early human life in the area.
http://www.trurodaily.com/living/2017/7/26/ongoing-project-in-debert-seeks-artifacts-from-early-indigenous-.html
EGYPTE – Wadi El-Natroun - Restorers working at the Monastery of St. Bishoy in the Wadi El-Natroun area have uncovered a number of medieval-era wall-paintings and architectural elements in the monastery's old church. “While removing the modern layer of mortar from the walls of the monastery's old church, several coloured wall-paintings were uncovered,” Mohamed Abdellatif, deputy antiquities minister for archaeological sites, told Ahram Online. He explained that the paintings date from between the 9th and 13th centuries AD, which will help archaeologists to determine the original architectural style of the church and the dates of its construction. According to historical books and religious documents, he said, the church was subjected to changes and modifications in its architecture in 840 AD, during the Abbasid era, and in 1069 AD, during the Fatimid caliphate. Ahmed El-Nemr, a member of the ministry’s scientific bureau, said that the newly discovered wall-paintings are frescoes, and depict scenes of saints and angels with Coptic religious inscriptions below. “The most distinguished paintings are those on the western and eastern walls of the church,” he said, describing the painting on the western wall as showing a woman named as Refka and her five sons, who were martyred during the persecution of Christians by the Roman empire. The painting on the eastern wall depicts three saints and an archangel, and features Coptic writings below. El-Nemr explained that when restorers removed the modern additions they stumbled upon the ambon, an elevated platform that is a feature of many orthodox churches. The newly discovered ambon is made of mud-brick covered with a layer of mortar and decorated with a red cross. Some geometric drawings, crosses and lettering were also found in various parts of the church.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/42/274317/Heritage/Coptic/Medieval-Coptic-wallpaintings-uncovered-at-Egyptia.aspx
ESPAGNE – Sena - Archeologists excavating a Visigoth necropolis in Sena, in the northeastern province of Huesca, have uncovered what they say is a burial site dating to the 10th century BCE and that was part of the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture. Two urns and a lid were discovered in the graveyard. Hugo Chautón, the archeologist overseeing the excavation, says Urnfield culture spread from central Europe into northeastern Spain around 1,000 years BCE. The name comes from the Urnfield culture’s custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns, which were then buried. “This culture represents the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron,” said Chautón, “and provides valuable information about burial practices, particularly the move from burying the dead to cremating them.”The team has been excavating a Visigoth burial site dating back to the fifth century of the Common Era. The Visigoths invaded the Iberian peninsula in the wake of the collapse of the Roman empire.
https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/07/19/inenglish/1500485443_757250.html