30 JANVIER 2017 NEWS: Cambridge - Mendip Hills - Uaxactún - Huqoq -
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ROYAUME UNI – 
Cambridge - More than 25 skeletons have been unearthed by archaeologists investigating the site of a medieval friary in the centre of Cambridge. Archaeologists say the skeletons are in good condition and they expect to find as many as 40 in the coming weeks. The land was home to a friary between 1290 and 1538, making many of the remains 450 years old.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-38735157
ROYAUME UNI – 
Mendip Hills - Amateur archaeologists have unearthed what is believed to be a Saxon workshop in a dig in Somerset. The foundations were uncovered along with a large Norman building at an undisclosed location on the Mendip Hills. Saxon keys and a 13th Century jug were also among the finds. Beneath a 35m (114 ft) building, which was believed to have been erected "just after the Norman conquest", the archaeologists found a thick black soil containing industrial waste. It was within this "black ashy soil" that crucible fragments and artefacts suggesting "some kind of furnace" or a "Saxon forge" were found. "The furnace maybe was to do with glass manufacture or recycling," said Ms Osborne. "But whatever they were doing here was in small quantities."The Anglo-Saxon period lasted about 600 years from the 5th Century to the Norman invasion of 1066. The purpose of the Norman building has not yet been established but it is thought it could have been agricultural.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-38781839
GUATEMALA – 
Uaxactún - Scientists from the Archaeological Institute in Nitra examined remains of Mayan civilization in the rain forest of Guatemala. Their research focused on the locality of Uaxactún where Mayan monuments from the preclassical era were discovered According to archaeologist Matúš Melo, the discoveries are from the era of the 4th to 2nd century BC. “We focused on the groups of pyramids and examined the object called Tiburon, the biggest one in the locality with a base 120x120 metres,” explained Melo for the TASR newswire. Focusing on the architecture of this monumental Maya pyramid, the Slovak archeologists succeeded in discovering and defining the shape of its first terrace. Being able to depict the façade of the pyramid, which has an unexpected shape, was also a big success. “We assumed the bend would change its shape somewhere, but we discovered 12 metres of the same façade. That is really extraordinary for a Mayan building,” explained Melo for TASR. During research - lead by the Department of Comparative Religion at Comenius University – scientists found also other discoveries, such as ceramics and stone tools.
https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20441084/slovak-archaeologists-examined-maya-pyramids-in-guatemala.html
ISRAEL – 
Huqoq - Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a medieval building that could have functioned as a synagogue at the site of Huqoq, near the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The building, which was constructed between the 12th to 13th centuries, sits on top of the ruins of a fifth-century Roman synagogue that contains striking mosaics, Live Science reported. Last June, archaeologists discovered two mosaic panels that depict prominent Biblical scenes. One panel showed the parting of the Red Sea, with soldiers being swallowed by large fish, while the other depicted Noah's ark, with animals, such as lions, leopards and bears. Some of the remains of the fifth-century synagogue were reused in the medieval building. Magness said that the medieval builders reused the north and east walls of the ancient synagogue, along with the ancient columns and pedestals. Historical accounts say that the Crusaders fought against the Mamluks (a Muslim people) for the control of the area around Huqoq in the 12th and 13th centuries. While there is no historical information about a Jewish population in the area at that time, there is one clue that suggests that the building was a synagogue. Benches that line the east, north and west walls were discovered by the archaeologists. Magness noted that such benches are commonly seen in synagogues. Another clue comes from an account of an early 14th-century traveler named Ishtori Haparchi, who "visited Huqoq — then called Yakuk — and reported seeing a 'synagogue with a very old floor.' We speculate that perhaps our building is that synagogue," Magness said.
