O1 SEPTEMBRE 2021 NEWS
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EGYPTE – 
Alexandrie - L'Egypte a annoncé la découverte dans la ville d'Alexandrie (nord) de vestiges de zones "résidentielles et commerciales" datant au moins du IIe siècle avant notre ère. Dans un communiqué publié sur Facebook, le ministère égyptien des Antiquités a indiqué que ces faubourgs, découverts au terme de neuf mois de fouilles par une mission archéologique égyptienne dans le quartier de Chatbi, dans l'actuel centre d'Alexandrie, avaient une fonction "résidentielle et commerciale". Les études préliminaires sur les vestiges apparents ont révélé "qu'ils étaient constitués d'une rue principale et de rues adjacentes reliées par un réseau d'égouts". Périphériques à l'ancienne capitale des dynasties grecque et romaine, ces quartiers ont été fréquentés de la fin de la période ptolémaïque et jusqu'au milieu de la domination romaine de l'Egypte, une période courant du "IIe siècle avant J.C. au IVe siècle de notre ère.Les archéologues y ont mis au jour un grand nombre de puits taillés dans la roche et un réseau de citernes à eau, poursuit le communiqué. Ils ont également découvert la moitié d'une statue en albâtre représentant "un empereur romain" non identifié, 700 pièces de monnaie antique, de nombreuses amphores, des amulettes, de la vaisselle et des outils. Selon Ahmed Abou Hamd, un responsable des Antiquités à Alexandrie, également cité, les vestiges visibles correspondent à "un marché, des ateliers de fabrication et des boutiques d'ex-voto et de sculptures".
FRANCE – 
Corent - L’un des plus important site auvergnat en matière archéologique, le plateau de Corent, vit l’été au rythme des chantiers de fouilles qui, d’année en année, révèlent le riche passé d’un vaste oppidum, une cité gauloise fortifiée, qui était probablement la capitale des Arvernes avant la conquête romaine. Depuis 2001, les fouilles ont permis d’identifier un grand sanctuaire datant de la fin de l’Âge du Fer, remplacé à l’époque romaine, par un monument similaire. Les places, les quartiers d’habitation ou commerciaux et les édifices publics, repérés aux abords du Temple, laissent entrevoir un schéma d’urbanisme très élaboré loin de caricaturale du village d’Astérix… Une tranchée de fouille ouverte cet été sur le versant sud du puy de Corent a recoupé les vestiges des lignes de fortifications qui protégeaient l’oppidum aux âges du Bronze et du Fer. Plusieurs tracés, appartenant à deux périodes différentes, peuvent en effet être distingués. Le premier, situé au bas de la tranchée, correspond au rempart de la fin de l’époque gauloise, c’est-à-dire aux 2e et 1er siècles avant notre ère.
https://www.7joursaclermont.fr/le-chantier-de-fouilles-archeologique-de-corent-ouvre-ses-portes/
GRECE – 
Eubée - Les archéologues de l'ESAG, basée à l'Université de Lausanne, et leurs collègues grecs ont mis au jour un temple qui fut en fonction et reconstruit pendant plusieurs siècles, annoncent-ils vendredi dans un communiqué. Constuit vers 650 av. J.-C., le premier temple a été détruit plusieurs décennies plus tard, puis reconstruit, de manière plus monumentale, vers 500 av. J.-C. Un dépôt d'offrandes contenant plus de 600 objets a aussi été déniché, confirmant l'importance de ce lieu de culte. Parmi les objets découverts se trouvent des récipients en terre cuite et en bronze, des figurines peintes en terre cuite, des bijoux en or, argent, faïence, verre et pierres semi-précieuses ou des sceaux en forme de scarabées. Des armes ont aussi été retrouvées, dont un casque et un bouclier. "Plusieurs structures dans l'enceinte du sanctuaire attestent d'une très longue occupation du site", poursuit le communiqué. Les premiers vestiges datent de 3000 ans avant J.-C. Le sanctuaire d'Artémis "Amarysia" bénéficiait d'un portique monumental, dégagé ces dernières années. Deux autels en relation avec les temples successifs ont désormais été mis au jour. Ils permettaient de sacrifier des animaux et de les offrir à la déesse par incinération. Les habitants de la cité d'Erétrie espéraient de cette manière s’attirer la bienveillance d’Artémis. Selon des sources antiques, ce sanctuaire était réputé. Chaque printemps, une fête était y était donnée avec 3000 guerriers en armes, 600 cavaliers et 60 chars qui parcouraient en procession les 12 kilomètres séparant la ville d'Erétrie du sanctuaire. La fête attirait des citoyens des cités d'Eubée, mais aussi des représentants d'autres cités grecques.
INDE – 
Budgam - The police on Tuesday announced recovery of a 1200 years old sculpture of goddess Durga in central Kashmir’s Budgam. Police said that the sculpture of godddess Durga dates back roughly to 7th-8th AD. The sculpture is 12″x08″ carved in a black stone with Goddess Durga seated on lion throne along 4 attendants. Acting on specific information, Police in Budgam have recovered an ancient sculpture from Khan Sahab area. It’s pertinent to mention that, the sculpture was retrieved on 13 August from River Jhelum at Pandthrethan area of Srinagar by the labourers while extracting sand.
ROUMANIE – 
Cluj-Napoca - A 6,000-year-old cemetery in the Transylvania region of central Romania has yielded the skeletons of people who were buried with urns placed over their skulls or feet. The urns are thought to have held food or drink for the passage to the afterlife. The excavation, conducted by Paul Pupeză of the National Museum of Transylvanian History ahead of a construction project, also uncovered traces of Neolithic wooden walls and a food storage pit. The site was later inhabited by Celts some 2,200 years ago.
https://www.livescience.com/transylvanian-urns-offerings.html
ROYAUME UNI – 
Herefordshire - Arthur’s Stone, an enigmatic rock burial in Herefordshire, England, is one of the United Kingdom’s most famous Stone Age monuments. Now, reports Carly Cassella for Science Alert, excavations carried out near the tomb—named for its supposed ties to King Arthur—have shed light on its beginnings, revealing that Neolithic people built it as part of an intricate ceremonial landscape. During this most recent dig, archaeologists determined that Arthur’s Stone is linked to nearby “halls of the dead” at Dorstone Hill. According to a 2013 statement, these two halls were intentionally burned down following their construction; the buildings’ ruins were then incorporated into two burial mounds. Arthur’s Stone dates to around 3700 B.C.E., making it a millennium older than Stonehenge, which was constructed around 2500 B.C.E. The number of Neolithic features present in the landscape surrounding Arthur’s Stone indicate “that this was a place that people came to for gatherings, meetings [and] feasting … Researchers identified two distinct phases in Arthur’s Stone’s construction. Initially, reports Current Archaeology, the hilltop tomb consisted of a long mound of stacked turf that pointed southwest, toward Dorstone Hill. It was surrounded by a palisade of wooden posts that eventually decayed, leading the mound to collapse. After the first mound fell, Neolithic people rebuilt it with a larger avenue of post pillars, two rock chambers and an upright stone. These later posts faced the southeast rather than the southwest.
ITALIE – 
Sicile - Four ancient bronze battering rams — each weighing a colossal 450lbs — have been recovered from Roman wrecks that sunk off the coast of Sicily in 241 BC. Originally attached to the bows of warships, the rams were used against the Carthaginian fleet during the Battle of the Aegates that ended the First Punic War. Fought in the waters around Sicily and North Africa, this conflict between the Phoenicians and the Romans lasted 23 years — the longest naval war of antiquity. Each once-gleaming ram boasts three blades on each side which would have been used to try to splinter the wooden hulls of enemy vessels. Damage seen on some of the rams suggest that ships went head-to-head in collisions the team said must have been 'very violent'. Accounts suggest that the Romans succeeded in sinking 50 Carthaginian ships. The rams have not been the only underwater finds from the area this summer — with the wrecks of three merchant vessels, all loaded with ceramic jars, also found. The site of the battle was identified back in 2010 by the Italian archaeologist Sebastiano Tusa, after a local fisherman recovered a battering ram from the conflict and presented it to a Sicilian dentist. Since then, 25 more rams have been recovered. Accounts suggest that the Romans sunk 50 Carthaginian vessels and captured 70 more, although at the cost of 30 of their own ships and damage to 50 more. Carthaginian rams we have found have inscriptions to the god Baal on them and are less well made than the Roman rams,' the head of Sicily's Marine Archaeology Unit, Valeria Livigni, told the Times.The Roman weapons, she explained, 'have an inscription by a judge to verify that they had been made according to the rules and met standards.'
CHINE – 
Qiaotou - A new study has discovered evidence of ritual beer drinking, dating from 9,000 years ago at a burial site in the town of Qiaotou, southern Zhejiang province. Archaeologists discovered a deposit of pots placed on a platform mound, which was likely used for rituals in honouring the dead. The mound contained two human skeletons and multiple pottery pits with high-quality pottery vessels, many of which were complete vessels. The pottery was painted with white slip and some of the vessels were decorated with abstract designs. As the study reports, these artefacts are probably some of “the earliest known painted pottery in the world.” No pottery of this kind has been found at any other sites dating to this time period. The research team analysed different types of pottery found at Qiaotou, which were of varying sizes. Some of the pottery vessels were relatively small and similar in size to drinking vessels used today, and to those found in other parts of the world. Each of the pots could basically be held in one hand like a cup unlike storage vessels, which are much larger in size. Seven of the 20 vessels, which were part of their analysis, appeared to be long-necked Hu pots, which were used to drink alcohol in the later historical periods.Through a residue analysis of pots from Qiaotou, our results revealed that the pottery vessels were used to hold beer, in its most general sense— a fermented beverage made of rice (Oryza sp.), a grain called Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), and unidentified tubers
