Si beaucoup de pièces de l’exposition sont restées inconnues, c’est aussi parce que l’archéologie est une science jeune en Arabie saoudite. Il faut attendre 1963 pour que soit créé un département consacré à cette discipline. En 1975, un département des antiquités est mis en place, et des musées sont construits pour conserver les découvertes. Des programmes de fouilles systématiques sont alors lancés et leurs résultats sont publiés dans la très érudite Atlal, revue archéologique saoudienne. « Plusieurs raisons expliquent cet intérêt tardif. Du fait du climat et de la géologie, les sites sont assez mal conservés et peuvent donc de prime abord paraître moins monumentaux qu’en Égypte, par exemple. Ensuite, beaucoup sont très difficiles d’accès. Et du fait de la religion, il n’a pas toujours été facile de travailler sur les périodes préislamiques », explique Jérôme Rohmer, archéologue qui travaille sur des fouilles à Mada’in Salih, dans le nord-ouest du pays. [...]

L'urbanisation, meilleure alliée de l'archéologie ? En engageant une série de grands travaux, ces quarante dernières années, la ville d'Angers a préparé son avenir, mais aussi exhumé son passé. L'archéologie « de sauvetage », faite par des amateurs passionnés, a peu à peu laissé la place à une archéologie préventive, prise en charge par des professionnels. Années 70 : sarcophages et vestiges. Tout démarre place du Ralliement. « En 1971, en quinze jours de chantier, l'équipe de bénévoles amenée par le professeur d'histoire Jean Siraudeau, correspondant des Antiquités historiques, a découvert l'essentiel », rapporte Jean Brodeur, de l'Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives. L'essentiel ? Les fondations des églises Saint-Pierre et Saint-Maurille, des sarcophages appartenant aux deux églises, des vestiges de la ville antique, etc. « C'est la première grande fouille qui a fait prendre conscience aux élus le riche passé de la ville. » Dans la même décennie, de petites fouilles d'observation sont ensuite menées, notamment en 1976, rue Toussaint puis dans la Cité. Elles sont entreprises par Michel Provost, alors professeur au lycée David-d'Angers, qui publie en 1977 une thèse sur Angers antique et édite Angers gallo-romain, un livre de référence qui servira de base à toutes les fouilles suivantes. [...]

Saviez-vous que la grève des allumettières de Hull en 1924 fut l'une des premières menées par des femmes au Canada ? C'est l'une des nombreuses choses qu'il est possible d'apprendre avec Portage dans le temps, un parcours historique et théâtral offert du 1er au 4 août dans le cadre du volet culturel des Jeux du Québec. Créé par Théâtre Dérives Urbaines en collaboration avec la Société d'histoire de l'Outaouais, Portage dans le temps est un circuit guidé de 90 minutes qui permet au public de remonter dans le temps grâce à quatre tableaux relatant chacun un moment important de l'histoire de Hull et de ses alentours. « Nous avions déjà vu du théâtre patrimonial ailleurs et ça fonctionnait très bien, explique Catherine Mousseau, directrice artistique de Théâtre Dérives Urbaines, une compagnie théâtrale basée à Gatineau. Nous avons donc décidé de reprendre la formule parce que nous trouvions que c'était une bonne façon de renforcer le sentiment d'appartenance dans la région. [...]

More than 300 looted antiquities, estimated to be worth more than EUR15 million, were displayed to the press this morning in Rome, having been repatriated to Italy after they were discovered in a warehouse in Switzerland. It was a scene slightly reminiscent of a Victorian detective novel, in which the robber and his looted candlesticks is unveiled before an impressed gathering of country house guests. Only today's unveiling took place inside the Colosseum rather than on the pages of a 19th century novel and while there was no criminal present, there was plenty of loot, which consisted of objects such as Etruscan ceramic vases, bronze statues from Sardinia and frescoes from Pompeii – 337 objects in total. A investigation, code-named Andromeda, led by the carabinieri and the Swiss authorities, discovered about 20,000 artefacts in the free port of Geneva, stored in warehouses that were associated with an unnamed Japanese dealer. [...]

Istanbul, the 2010 European capital of culture, risks losing its place on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a result of a lack of funding for conservation projects. Since 2006, UNESCO has said Istanbul’s historical sites are not being conserved according to international criteria and Turkish authorities’ protection techniques are not demonstrating improvementIstanbul municipality and the world’s governing body on cultural heritage should do more to ensure the 2010 European capital of culture retains its place on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, according to experts at a recent urban development conference. A lack of funding for conservation projects is putting Istanbul at risk of losing its place on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. [...]

Anthropology students from the University of Alabama have been digging into a mound built by native americans about 1,500 years ago since May 30. The 6-foot high mound is tucked away in a wooded lot in a south Gautier neighborhood near the Mississippi Sound. A Mississippi Department of Archives and History historical marker on the side of the street identifies the site as the Graveline Bayou Indian Mound. Lauren Downs, a doctoral student who was  directing the dig on Friday, said the site was first documented in 1905 by archaeologist Clarence Moore, but has been relatively unexamined except for looters who have pockmarked the mound. [...]

A dwelling, thought to be 4,500 years old, has been discovered by archaeologists in Wiltshire. Excavation work at the prehistoric site of Marden Henge, near Devizes, started three weeks ago and experts say the find has "exceeded expectations". Marden Henge no longer has any standing stones and is said to be one of Britain's least understood ancient sites. The work is scheduled to last for three more weeks. Archaeologist Jim Leary, from English Heritage, said: "It's absolutely fabulous. It's exceeded all of our expectations. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote    I don't think we're looking at a normal house. I think we're looking at something equivalent to a priest's quarters.” End Quote Jim Leary English Heritage. "We have some wonderful finds coming up and some very fresh looking flint flakes and some pieces of pottery, but far and away the most exciting find so far is over in trench C. "It looks as if we have a Neolithic building. We're talking about four and a half thousand years old - so about 2400 or 2500BC. [...]

Parts of an ancient archeological house built for a wealthy family during the era of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250 to 1517) were discovered in the Old City of Gaza last week. A few months before that finding, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities discovered about 1300 gold coins on the Egyptian-Palestinian border in the southern Gaza Strip. The oldest piece dates back to around 330 B.C. Jars, pots, gold and silver items and household appliances were also discovered. More Bronze historical coins were recently discovered at a different site, Tel Rafah, set to be revealed by the ministry in the coming weeks. The number of archaeological findings has increased recently in the Gaza Strip, once a transit point for many ancient trade caravans on the way between Asia and Africa, or various civilizations across the Levant. Beneath Gaza’s streets the earth is so full of relics that in the past workers fixing water pipes have struck ancient ruins with their shovels while digging. But when laborers rush to inform the authorities, so that they can preserve the valuable findings, they are shocked and saddened to find that authorities do not seem to care much for the rarities. [...]

Czech archaeologists have for the first time proved that Velehrad, now a significant Catholic Church pilgrimage destination, was inhabited as early as the 9th-century era of Great Moravia, Zdenek Senk, from the Archaia Olomouc company, told CTK today. During the ongoing restoration of the local baroque basilica, the archaeologists uncovered pottery from the Great Moravian era. "In the past, fierce disputes were led over whether the site was inhabited in the Great Moravia period. Our find testifies to people´s activities right at the site of the basilica before it was established in the early 13th century," Senk said. Great Moravia was an early medieval Slavonic state spreading in Moravia and the adjacent areas, mainly Slovakia in the east and Bohemia in the west. [...]

The finding of vestiges of a Prehispanic oven used more than 800 years to melt copper was registered by archaeologist of the The National Institute of Anthropology and History(INAH) at El Teul Archaeological Zone, in Zacatecas, during exploration that will leave ready this site to be opened before 2012. As part of this work, during the first field season was accomplish the excavation of 2 pyramids and a part of a ballgame court, as well as several human burials that reveal changes in funerary patterns of ancient dwellers. Archaeologist Peter Jimenez, co director of El Teul Archaeological Project, informed this at a conference at “Jose Luis Martinez” Bookstore in Guadalajara, Jalisco, where he made a balance of the first excavation season at the site. “Finding the rests of the oven to melt copper is very important because it is the earliest found in Mexico and was used during Early Post Classic period, between 900 and 1200 of the Common Age”, added the researcher at his lecture “Advances of the archaeological rescue at El Teul”. He described the structure of the oven made out of stone and masonry that presents rests of ashes and carbonized maize, used as combustible. This material will allow getting a more precise dating. Jimenez explained that in its last occupation stage, El Teul was the religious center of Caxcan people, group that settled between 15th and 16th centuries. “It is considered one of the earliest sites in Mesoamerica, being occupied for almost 18 centuries, from 200 BC to 1540 AD”. [...]