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TURQUIE – Kurul - One of Turkey’s most important recent archaeological finds faces a grave threat due to blasting activity at a rock quarry in the vicinity. A sculpture of the mother goddess of Kybele is threatened by explosions that occur on a daily basis on the outskirts of the 2,100-year-old Kurul Castle, which dates back to the age of Mithridates VI, a king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia from about 120 to 63 B.C., in the Black Sea province of Ordu. The castle, located at the peak of the Kurul Rocks in Ordu’s Bayadı village, has been undergoing archaeological excavations under the direction of professor Yücel Şenyurt since 2010. The discovery of the historic Kybele sculpture during recent excavations caused great excitement, with approximately 15,000 people rushing to the city to view the sculpture. But although archaeological works continue to be conducted on the castle, dynamite is detonated every day on the slope of the Kurul Rocks overlooking the Melet River, creating grave danger for the castle.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/goddess-statue-2100-year-old-castle-threatened-by-dynamite-in-turkeys-north.aspx?pageID=238&nid=110740&NewsCatID=375
INDE – Narmeta - In a move that may give scope for exploring the genomics of the people who lived in megalithic period, archaeologists were able to excavate petrous bone of an adolescent at a burial site located here in Nanganoor mandal. Niraj Rai, a senior scientist of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) visited the excavation taking place here for the past one month. Mr. Niraj Rai was happy on Tuesday as he was able to get the petrous bone (fragment of skull bone) at 1.98 metre depth at layer three. “This will be useful as the density of DNA will be 150 times higher comparing with other parts of the human body,” Mr. Neeraj told the officials of the archaeology department. While in one site bones of humans were found, the main digging site was more promising with some pottery and some iron instruments.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-telangana/petrous-bone-found-at-narmeta-excavation-site/article17718308.ece
ROYAUME UNI – Cholsey - Archaeologists working on a site for properties near Wallingford have uncovered a Roman villa. There was also evidence of Roman grain dryers which showed there was quite a large farming community. There was also a very deep burial pit where archaeologists found the skeleton of what they thought was a teenage girl, possibly from medieval times. Judy Dewey, curator of Wallingford Museum in High Street, said: "This is a very important discovery - until now there has been a question mark about where the Romans were based and now we know a lot more. "When the archaeologists dug the initial trial pits they did not expect to find very much but they have discovered the remains of a Roman villa. "So far they have found the remains of what would have been a heating system for the whole villa, a corn dryer and a lot of Roman pottery. "I don't think they have found any jewellery or coins but more work is now being done to fully excavate the site and I think the team is expected to be there for another six months.
http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/15186736.Roman_villa_found_at_development_site_in_Cholsey/
FRANCE – Bonnée - Au vu du passé historique du centre-bourg, lorsqu'une construction doit voir le jour, la Direction régionale des affaires culturelles (Drac) prescrit systématiquement un diagnostic. Dernier en date, celui pour l'agrandissement du cimetière pour lequel la Drac a missionné une équipe d'intervenants scientifiques de l'INRAP. .Le diagnostic représente 10 % du périmètre total du projet. « On ouvre des tranchées à la pelle mécanique, explique Mathilde Noël. Elles font entre 2 mètres et 50 centimètres de large et un mètre de profondeur en moyenne. Puis, on observe ce qu'il y a dans les tranchées. On voit des tâches diverses que l'on signale par de la peinture au sol. Ce sont des indices qui nécessitent un nettoyage. » Chaque indice est numéroté pour être répertorié. Un topographe prend également des mesures sur le terrain pour replacer les indices sur la carte. Au cours de leurs fouilles sommaires, les archéologues ont découvert des traces de fosses, des trous de poteau indiquant la présence d'un habitat léger ou le vestige d'une construction en bois. S'il faut attendre de confirmer la datation, Mathilde Noël la situe à l'époque médiévale. Parmi les indices collectés, de la céramique (le haut d'une cruche), des ossements d'animaux qui proviennent sans doute de rejets de cuisine et attestent d'une occupation humaine.
http://www.larep.fr/bonnee/travaux-urbanisme/2017/03/28/un-chantier-archeologique-se-deroule-a-bonnee-en-vue-de-lagrandissement-du-cimetiere_12340172.html
EGYPTE – Gizeh - A plank of wood believed to be from the boat of an ancient Egyptian king has been unearthed near the Great Pyramid at Giza, archaeologists said on Wednesday. The boat, which is the second such vessel to be found on the site, was believed to have been built for King Khufu who ruled Egypt during the fourth dynasty more than 4,500 years ago. First discovered in the 1980s, experts say they have so far uncovered 700 pieces of the boat from the site and now believe that they have unearthed most of its pieces. "We are celebrating the extraction of the largest plank of wood," said the project's main supervisor Mamdouh Taha, adding it measures 26 metres (85 feet) long. Archaeologists and conservation experts extracted the piece from a pit nearly three-meters underground and moved it to a conservation centre located next to the discovery site. Egyptian and Japanese archaeologists are working on the project with an aim to restore all the boat's pieces and display them in the Grand Egyptian Museum when it opens next year.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-egypt-archaeology-idUKKBN1702KV?rpc=401&