29 MAI 2018: Bayburt - Chine - Beg-er-Vil -
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TURQUIE – 
Bayburt - The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has launched a project to carry out excavations at a newly-discovered archaeological site located in Turkey's northeastern Bayburt province. Discovered by a team of researchers at Bayburt University, the 12.3 acre-site was allegedly used as a military post during the Roman Empire, reports said. The archaeological site shares similarities with the ancient city of Satala, located in Gümüşhane province. Professor Süleyman Çiğdem from Bayburt University told Anadolu Agency that Bayburt reflects the past with its observation towers, mosques, fountains, churches and settlement mounds. He noted that the ancient site could have served as a military post, as it has many features in common with Satala. He explained that the fortress they discovered at the site indicates that it was used as a defense field, as the wall thickness of fortresses is usually over a meter, but the one they discovered in Bayburt was thicker than three-meters. During the late Middle Ages, Bayburt was a stronghold of the Genovese and its strategic location between the Empire of Trebizond in the Black Sea and Persia boosted its prosperity in the 14th century. Other historical landmarks in the city include an underground city, tombs, mosques, baths and Baksı Museum. Famous Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi and Venetian explorer Marco Polo are believed to have visited Bayburt in the 16th and 13th centuries respectively.
CHINE - Chinese civilization has been verified as having existed for at least 5,000 years by a comprehensive investigation into the origin and early development of Chinese civilization, Guan Qiang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) said on Monday. The investigation began in 2001 with fourth stage completed in 2016. "Years of large-scale excavations in the ruins of Liangzhu in east China's Zhejiang Province, the Taosi site in north China's Shanxi Province, the Shimao site in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and the Erlitou site in central China's Henan Province have provided proof," said Wang Wei, who works on the project. In the ruins of Liangzhu, archaeologists found an inner city with an area of nearly 3 million square meters and a larger outer city dating back around 5,000 years. City ruins with areas between 2.8 million square meters and 4 million square meters were found in the Taosi site and Shimao site which date back some 4,000 years. In these ancient cities, social stratification are clearly visible in the relics of buildings and graves, experts said. "These societies were most likely to have had the form of a state," Wang said. "So we believe that the region where these states were located had entered the phase of primary civilization." According to the research team, signs of civilization emerged around 5,800 years ago in areas of the Yellow River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the West Liao River in northeast China.From 5,300 years ago, various regions of China began to embrace civilization. Around 3,800 years ago, a more matured civilization developed in the Central Plain area and began to exert cultural influence over surrounding areas, establishing itself as the core and leader of the overall process of Chinese civilization, the researchers concluded.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/28/c_137213047.htm
FRANCE – 
- Beg-er-Vil - La dernière campagne de fouilles archéologiques du site mésolithique, lancée la semaine dernière, prend un nouveau tournant. Les premiers carottages ont été lancés mercredi, en tout début d'après-midi, sur le chantier de Beg-er-Vil. Objectif : atteindre la couche d'occupation du site, d'il y a 8 000 ans, afin de réaliser des études micromorphologiques, de prélever des sédiments, des microcharbons, et de l'ADN. « On sait qu'on retrouve toujours de l'ADN, puisqu'il percole et est absorbé dans les sédiments. On arrive à déterminer jusqu'aux espèces de mammifères, poissons, oiseaux, plantes, et ainsi reconstituer les paysages environnementaux dans leur diversité, indique Morgane Ollivier, spécialisée en paléogénétique. Le but est de compléter les analyses archéobotaniques et archéozoologiques réalisées sur ce site. On espère retrouver de l'ADN humain, mais on va un peu à l'aveugle. » « Le site, occupé pendant seulement 100 ans, est compliqué. C'est la première fois au monde qu'un tel prélèvement d'ADN est réalisé dans un amas coquillier. On espère trouver des séquences authentiques », avance prudemment Morgane Ollivier. Les carottes, conservées à 4 °C, seront étudiées en labo. Après le séquençage de l'ADN, un gros travail de tri interviendra. L'ADN ancien peut, en effet, avoir été contaminé par de l'ADN moderne, voire des bactéries. Il est également soumis à l'acidité du milieu.« Ensuite vient tout le travail de comparaison avec des bases de données. Beaucoup de génomes ont été identifiés. C'est un domaine aujourd'hui en plein essor », ajoute Morgane Ollivier.