[Article] Recently Discovered Prehistoric Site Already Sacred.

January 18, 2011 | Jakarta Globe by Aidi Yursal

Medan. A recently discovered megalithic site and a mass grave in South Sumatra is now regarded as sacred and the land on which it was found as holy ground by the villagers of Segayun in the Gumay Ulu district of Lahat.
The South Sumatra Archaeology Center has said it would first need to coordinate with the Segayun villagers, who are defending the site as their own protected land, before any excavation could begin or survey plans could materialize.
A researcher for the center, Kristantina Indriastuti, suggested on Tuesday that the site was a prehistoric residential area, judging by a statue of half a human body found 30 meters away from the grave.
“The site was discovered in the middle of a one-hectare coffee plantation owned by Segayun resident Thamrin,” Kristantina told the Jakarta Globe.
She confirmed that a team of researchers would soon be sent to study the site, adding that she believed the villagers of Segayun would never allow any harm to come it. 

[...Read the full article here...]

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[Article] Digging up South-east Asia's oldest ruins.

Govt hopes to get World Heritage listing for Kedah site that's 1,900 years old

Jan 7, 2011  | The Straits Times | By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief

Students excavating the structures discovered in Bujang Valley. Two years ago, a team from Universiti Sains Malaysia and government departments uncovered man-made structures dating back 1,900 years. -- PHOTO: MOKHTAR SAIDIN

KUALA LUMPUR | Two years ago, Malaysian archaeologists working in the coastal plains of south Kedah struck an amazing find when they uncovered man-made structures that turned out to be the oldest in South-east Asia.
The team of 30 from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and various government departments found iron ore smelters complete with furnaces and iron slag that dated back 1,900 years to AD110.
They also dug up a brick structure believed to have been used for ritual purposes and a roofed brick platform jetty near Sungai Batu - both dating from the early part of the second century AD.
USM archaeologist, Associate Professor Mokhtar Saidin, realised then that they had found remnants of the old civilisation referred to in many historical texts.
'It's the most complete evidence of a civilisation - the port, industries and rituals, and they were the oldest monuments in South-east Asia,' he told The Straits Times this week.
The discoveries brought visitors flocking to the site located about 90km from Kedah's capital Alor Star. It is part of the Bujang Valley archaeological site where ancient temple ruins have been excavated since the 1840s.
'We have put on a small exhibition as people keep arriving by the busload. We recently had a group of Singapore museum volunteers visit us too,' said Dr Mokhtar.
The tourism aspect has aroused the interest of the federal government, with Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim recently saying it hopes to get the site on the Unesco World Heritage List.

[ ... Read the full article here ... ]

[Article] Majapahit capital may be larger than previously believed.

01/07/2011 | The Jakarta Post | Indra Harsaputra, Mojokerto

A recent archeological find in Puri village, Mojokerto regency, East Java, thought to date from the ancient Majapahit empire indicates that the capital of the empire may have been larger than a municipality in Jakarta.
Lead archeologist from the Indonesian Ancient Relics Conservation Bureau (BP3), Danang Wahyu Putro, said this hypothesis was supported by the fact that the new find was located 12 kilometers from Trowulan village, believed to be the center of the Majapahit town.
“Some academics have concluded that the capital spanned 99 square kilometers,” he said, saying this evidence may prove that the capital was larger than this, only a little less than the size of West Jakarta and almost twice the size of Central Jakarta.
Preliminary studies of the 196-square-meter find and several relics found in the vicinity point to the site being built toward the end of the Majapahit empire in the 15th century.
A surviving ancient script, the Negarakertagama, indicates that Majapahit may have been to be the largest empire in the region, with confederation states comprising the current territory of Indonesia and several neighboring countries.
The early concept of Indonesia by the country’s founding fathers were said to be based on Majapahit’s past glory, despite the fact that the country comprised areas colonized by the Dutch.
A complete historical reconstruction of the ancient capital has proven difficult, with archeological sites scattered across more than 100 square kilometers around Trowulan.
At the latest find in Puri village, archeologists found ceramics and porcelain jugs as well as earthenware from the Ming dynasty. The earthenware bore the Pataka Surya Majapahit, the Majapahit empire’s eight-pointed star regalia.
“We can’t concluded whether it was a royal residence or an housing area for commoners,” Danang said, despite the fact that the relics at the new dig were similar to earlier findings in Trowulan.

[...Read the full article here...]

[Article] Giant fossil bird found on 'hobbit' island of Flores.

Tuesday, 7 December 2010 | BBC Earth News | By Emma Brennand

A giant marabou stork has been discovered on an island once home to human-like 'hobbits'.

Fossils of the bird were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores, a place previously famed for the discovery of Homo floresiensis, a small hominin species closely related to modern humans.
The stork may have been capable of hunting and eating juvenile members of this hominin species, say researchers who made the discovery, though there is no direct evidence the birds did so.
The finding, reported in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, also helps explain how prehistoric wildlife adapted to living on islands.

Artist’s impression of the size of the giant stork next to a Homo floresiensis hobbit

Tall and heavy

The new species of giant stork, named Leptoptilos robustus, stood 1.8m tall and weighed up to 16kg researchers estimate, making it taller and much heavier than living stork species.
Palaeontologist Hanneke Meijer of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, and affiliated to the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, the Netherlands, made the discovery with colleague Dr Rokus Due of the National Center for Archaeology in Jakarta, Indonesia.

They found fossilised fragments of four leg bones in the Liang Bua caves on the island of Flores.
The bones, thought to be belong to a single stork, are between 20,000 to 50,000 years old, having been found in sediments dating to that age.
The giant bird is the latest extreme-sized species to be discovered once living on the island, which was home to dwarf elephants, giant rats and out-sized lizards, as well as humans of small stature.
"I noticed the giant stork bones for the first time in Jakarta, as they stood out from the rest of the smaller bird bones. Finding large birds of prey is common on islands, but I wasn't expecting to find a giant marabou stork," Dr Meijer told the BBC.
Only fragments of wing bones were found, but the researchers suspect the giant stork rarely, if at all, took flight.

[ Read the full article here ... ]

[Colloque] Autour du Périple de la Mer Erythrée.

13-14 décembre 2010   |  Lyon (Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux)

Organisé dans le cadre du programme ANR MeDIan – Les sociétés méditerranéennes et l’océan Indien, ce séminaire de recherche autour du Périple de la Mer Erythrée s’intéressera essentiellement au texte en tant qu’outil de « découverte » et/ou de connaissance de l’océan Indien pour les sociétés méditerranéennes de son époque de rédaction (Ier s. ap. J.-C.). Trois thèmes de réflexion sont proposés : en premier lieu, le texte du Périple en tant que source d’information ; en second lieu, les réseaux de navigation décrits par ce texte ; enfin, l’apport de l’archéologie aux données textuelles. Cette rencontre devrait laisser une grande place aux discussions, avec un public d’auditeurs aussi large que possible.

Programme succint
Lundi 13 décembre
Session 1 – Le Périple de la Mer Érythrée comme source d’information
Session 2 – Les réseaux de navigation du Périple de la Mer Érythrée
Mardi 14 décembre
Session 2 – Les réseaux de navigation du Périple de la Mer Érythrée (suite)
Session 3 – Le Périple de la Mer Érythrée et l’archéologie

Télécharger le programme complet (pdf)

Source : Calenda.revues.org

[Séminaire] Archéologie de l’est de l’Océan Indien / B.Bellina.

Archaeology of the Eastern Indian Ocean: Prehistoric and Early Historical Exchange from the Iranian borders to the South China Sea.

Échanges préhistoriques et du début de la période historique depuis les confins iraniens jusqu’à la Mer de Chine Méridionale.

Organisateur : Bérénice Bellina (CNRS- UMR “Mondes iranien et indien”)

Séminaire de l’UMR 7528 « Mondes iranien et indien »
Maison de l’Asie –  rez-de-chaussée, 22, avenue du Président Wilson, Paris 16ème

" Dans ce séminaire, nous nous intéresserons aux indices récents d’échanges locaux, régionaux et inter-régionaux maritimes qui ont intégré différents écosystèmes et groupes sociaux depuis les confins du monde iranien et jusqu’à la mer de Chine méridionale au cours de la préhistoire et jusqu’au premier millénaire de notre ère.

Dépassant les frontières politiques et disciplinaires traditionnelles, les participants examineront les différents types d’interconnections qui ont lié des populations variées depuis le Golfe arabo-persique jusqu’à la Mer de Chine à la lumière de l’histoire, de l’archéologie, de la botanique, de la génétique, de la linguistique, de l’histoire de l’art et de l’anthropologie. Embrassant de larges échelles chronologiques et géographiques, ce séminaire privilégie une approche comparative. Autant que faire se peut, les participants s’attacheront à discuter comment ces connexions ont contribué à façonner les paysages sociaux, économiques et politiques et ont pu donner naissance à des configurations socio-culturelles communes aux sociétés qui y participaient.

Le séminaire se tiendra un mardi par mois (précisions dans le programme) de 10 à 11h30."

Voir le programme : median.hypotheses.org/...

[Article] More evidence of Oc Eo culture found in Ben Tre.

11/17/2010 | VNA via VOV News

Recent archaeological studies have revealed more evidence of the existence of the Oc Eo culture dating back to 2,000-2,500 years ago in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre.
First traces of the ancient culture were discovered by French archaeologist Louis Malleret, who gave it the name of Oc Eo. The Oc Eo culture is believed to have formed and developed in the southern delta, largely in An Giang, from the first to the sixth century AD.
In the mid-1990s, a farmer named Huynh Van Be in Binh Thanh village, Binh Phu commune found several stone graters and axes in his garden. In 2003, a working team from the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology (VIA) and the Ben Tre Museum conducted an excavation in the area and discovered more stone tools and over 13,000 pieces of ceramics of all types.
After three excavations and two exploration digs on a total area of 484.5 sq.m, the experts collected nearly 500,000 artefacts, with 99 percent being ceramics, and over 250 kilogrammes of animal and human bones as well as Linga and Yoni objects.
The excavations also revealed vestiges of an ancient village, which scientists named Giong Noi, including a ceremic-burning ground, several large kitchens and big houses. The experts believe that Giong Noi people had their own religious beliefs which might have links with the Brahmanism as seen in the worshipping of stone, tortoise, and the sacred objects of Linga and Yoni.

[ ... Read the full article here ... ]

[Article] Oceania's seafaring ancients make journey to Paris.

PARIS | Wednesday 10 November 2010 | (AFP) By Emma Charlton

Ancient seafarers who launched one of the world's swiftest migrations, settling the virgin islands of remote Oceania 3,000 years ago, have brought their story to Paris for an unprecedented new exhibit.
The Lapita, as the ancient Oceanic people are known, were all-but-unheard of just a few decades ago.
But since the mid-1990s the discovery of a body of highly-distinctive potteries, spread across some 250 sites, has shed light on how the Lapita set out over uncharted waters, bringing their language and culture with them.
Now, for two months starting on Tuesday, the Quai Branly museum of tribal arts in Paris is hosting what is being billed as the first ever comprehensive exhibition on the people's artefacts and history.
"For indigenous people in the region, this is their heritage," said Stuart Bedford of the Australian National University of Canberra, who has studied the Lapita for the past 15 years and is co-curating the Paris exhibit.
"But it's also a great human migratory story, an extraordinary chapter in the colonisation of the planet -- of this vast area that was uninhabited until just 3,000 years ago.
Many of the pieces on show have never left the region, according to Bedford, who lives and works in Vanuatu, home to many of the richest Lapita sites.
The Lapita's story is part of a wider pattern of migration that saw Southeast Asian peoples head south from Taiwan to Papua New Guinea and as far as the main Solomon islands, where they stopped some 40,000 years ago.
Then, after a break of tens of thousands of years, the Lapita took once again to the open seas around 3,300 years ago, pushing east past the Solomon Islands to the Bismarck archipelago and beyond to Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa.
Wherever they went, they left behind archaeological "markers" in the form of distinctive potteries, decorated with complex, dotted motifs, whose discovery is now enabling researchers to retrace their route over the waters.
"Pacific islanders have an oral tradition of seafaring stories that were dismissed by scientists," said Bedford, who works in partnership with Vanuatu communities that train up local fieldworkers to assist with excavations.
"Missionaries spoke of what came before them as a period of darkness," he said. "After 30 years of independence, Vanuatu is regaining confidence, as people start to appreciate they have a history that is older than the Church".
"They're very excited about the history," said Bedford.

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[ ... Read the full article here ... ]

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Skeleton with three skulls sitting | A skeleton with three skulls sitting on its chest is uncovered after archeologists discovered a 3,000 year-old cemetery in Vanuatu, holding secrets about the first humans to colonise the South Pacific, 2004. Ancient seafarers who launched one of the world's swiftest migrations, settling the virgin islands of remote Oceania have brought their story to Paris for an unprecedented new exhibit.… Read more » (AFP/ANU/File)

[Article] Thang Long royal citadel archaeological site closed.

04/11/2010 | VietNamNet Bridge | By PV.

As of November 3, the archaeological site at 18 Hoang Dieu, Hanoi, has been closed to preserve the relics. Since early October, when the site was opened for public on the occasion of Hanoi’s 1000th anniversary, it welcomed nearly 500,000 visitors.

 

Nguyen Van Son, director of the Centre for Preservation of Co Loa and Hanoi Citadels, said that on average around 30,000 people a day visited the relic during the 10-day anniversary. After that, the site hosted 2000-3000 people a day.
Because of the mass number of people visiting the site, some works need repairs, Son said.
The archaeological site at 18 Hoang Dieu closed on November 3, but the royal citadel will still be opened for visitors until the end of 2010.
During the Hanoi’s 1000th anniversary, visitors had a chance to see some of the relics which are preserved status quo at 18 Hoang Dieu and many outstanding archaeological objects.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee on August 1 recognized the Thang Long Royal Citadel as a World Heritage.

[ ... Read the full article here ... ]

[Colloque ] L'épopée Lapita.

     - mercredi 10 novembre 2010

     - salle de cinéma | Musée du Quai Branly

    * salle de cinéma | 37, quai Branly 75007 – Paris. 01 56 61 70 00

© Centre Culturel du Vanuatu|photo P. Metois

La journée d’étude a pour objectif de dresser un bilan des connaissances sur le peuplement Lapita du Pacifique sud-ouest il y a 3000 ans. Le colloque rassemble un panel international d’archéologues et d’anthropologues spécialistes du sujet. Les différents thèmes de la journée couvrent les grandes phases et sujets d’étude autour du Lapita, à partir des origines austronésiennes en Asie du sud-est jusqu’à la découverte de la frontière de la Polynésie occidentale dans le Pacifique central. Tous les intervenants anglo-saxons étant des enseignants d’université, les conférences avec support powerpoint sont ouvertes aussi bien à des archéologues professionnels qu’à des étudiants de tous niveaux intéressés par le sujet. La journée d’étude s’achèvera par un débat ouvert aux participants.

Colloque organisé dans le cadre de l'exposition Lapita du 9 novembre 2010 au 9 janvier 2011.
Ouvrir et consulter le programme du colloque l'épopée Lapita (document pdf, 150 Ko, nouvelle fenêtre).

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[Article] Strained relations over ancient ruins wrecking lives.

14/10/2010 | Bangkok Post | Barbara Woolsey

The battles have been waged on international platforms and behind closed cabinet doors, but this is more than just politics - this is playing with people's lives.
The Thai-Cambodia border dispute over the Preah Vihear temple is over a century long and for many of the locals, conflict is all they have ever known.
Resting atop a cliff over 1,500 feet above sea level, the ancient place of worship presents a stunning view of extraordinary ruins and endless jungle.
However, its natural beauty and spiritual resonance has been stripped in the ensuing violence undertaken in the name of sovereignty.
Its engimatic beauty is irrelevant. Preah Vihear is a war zone.
Preah Vihear was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, but the clash didn't stop there. When the temple was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2008, the tension between Thailand and its neighbour came to a head - and is arguably now worse than ever.
For many Thais, the Preah Vihear issue is one of security and nationalism. In a recent poll by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), nearly 70% of Thai citizens agreed that the government should push Cambodians out of the overlapping area.
But for locals living in the 13 villages across the Thai-Cambodia border, the temple is much more than a symbol of patriotism - it is a constant reminder of economic hardship.
Despite history, "the relationship between Thais and Cambodians used to be like brothers and sisters", said Visit Duangkeaw, a life-long resident of Si Sa Ket province.
"It was very convenient before. We were able to do business on the other side of the border. We could walk freely, that's how easy it was."

Most religious sites invite quiet contemplation, but this border temple of Preah Vihear excites only intemperate passion.

When the temple was declared a World Heritage Site, everything changed.
PAD protests against Unesco's decision, border skirmishes and the resulting military presence threw locals for a loop. They expected the temple to become a popular tourist destination, not target practice.
"People used to be able to exchange information with each other, instead of the military standing on either side of the border," said Mr Visit. "Now, I can see the other person, but we can't even contact each other."
In June, access to the temple from Thailand was blocked off completely. The temple is still reachable through a packed laterite road from Siem Reap, passing directly through a Cambodian military base.
For many tourists, Preah Vihear is not worth the travel or the risk.
"I invested a lot of money in my business [when it became a World Heritage Site] and my business has failed," said merchant Chit Pranpop from Pomsarol village in Si Sa Ket.
Ms Chit borrowed money to expand her small restaurant along the Thai gate to Preah Vihear, which has since closed. She is deeply in debt, working at a temporary work agency as a server.
"[My business failed] only because I can no longer contact the other side where people used to buy my stuff," said Ms Chit. "I would like for that old channel to still exist. That was the only way that I could find money for as long as I can remember."
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[... Read the full article here ...]

[Article] Angkor Wat under threat.

17 October 2010 | The Phnom Penh Post | Keeley Smith (additional reporting by Rann Reuy)

An international heritage conservancy has warned that the Angkor Wat temple complex faces “critical” threats in the form of heavy traffic and inefficient conservation techniques.
A report released by the Global Heritage Fund also said the fact that many tourism-related businesses were foreign-owned made it difficult for Siem Reap residents to benefit economically from the temples.
“Hundreds of thousands of visitors climb over the ruins of Angkor every year causing heavy deterioration of original Khmer stonework,” says the report, which is titled “Saving Our Heritage: Safeguarding Cultural Sites Around the World”.
According to the report, the number of visitors to Angkor Wat has increased by 188 percent since 2000, from 840,000 to 2,420,000 in 2009.
An Apsara Authority official said last week that Angkor Wat had seen a 24-percent increase in foreign tourists in the first nine months of 2010 compared with the same period last year.
“Mass tourism is overrunning the fragile archaeology site, with millions every year climbing unabated on the monuments,” said GHF Executive Director Jeff Morgan.
The report also says that the temples have been threatened by rapid development in Siem Reap, and that Bayon temple has already borne the brunt of this trend.
“The nearby sprawl of hotels and restaurants is sapping the region’s local aquifer, which has caused the Bayon Temple’s 54 towers to sink into the ground,” it states.
Morgan said that while the Apsara Authority, the government body tasked with managing the temple complex, and UNESCO had taken positive steps towards ensuring the temples were maintained, they did not have a presence at many heritage sites elsewhere in the country.
“Other provinces have little support for heritage preservation [in a situation] typical of most developing countries,” Morgan said.
Mao Loa, director of the Apsara Authority’s Department of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology at the Angkor Wat temple complex, said she had not seen the report, but that the body would be receptive to feedback on the management of the complex.
“We always wait to see constructive criticisms; we need them to raise straight points,” she said.
She agreed that more conservation efforts were needed outside Angkor Wat. In 2004, she said, Apsara expanded from five departments to 14 in a bid to expand its reach, but some pressing conservation issues remain unaddressed.

Who benefits?
Despite rapid development fuelled by a rising number of visitors, much tourism-related revenue – which the report pegged at US$436 million last year – is not going to locals, the report states.

[... Read the full article here ...]

[Photo by Roger Mitton/Angkorian-era ruins of Banteay Chhmar temple in Banteay Meanchey province.]

[Journée d'étude] Les ports des mers de l'Arabie et de la Perse, VII-XVIe s.

Journées d’étude du programme APIM (Atlas des ports et itinéraires maritimes de l’Islam médiéval) dans le cadre de l’ANR MEDIAN.

Représentations idéalisées et réalités matérielles (textes – images – archéologie)

7-8 octobre 2010
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France (site Richelieu)
CNRS, 27, rue Paul Bert, 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine
Accès libre dans la limite des places disponibles.

Organisées par : - Laboratoire Islam médiéval (UMR 8167)
Organisées par : - BNF / Cabinet des cartes et plans
Organisées par : - Avec le soutien du CEFAS (Centre français d’archéologie et de sciences sociales de Sanaa)
Organisées par : - de l’Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR)

Responsables : - Monique Kervran,
                       - Michel Tuchscherer,
                       - Eric Vallet
Pour tout renseignement, contact : evallet[at]univ-paris1.fr

De Qulzum à Sîrâf, d’Aylat à al-Ahsâ’, l’Arabie est entourée par un chapelet de sites portuaires qui ont joué un rôle essentiel dans son histoire. Longtemps considérés comme des espaces en marge, souvent décrits sous les traits d’une insularité fictive ou réelle, les ports de l’Arabie ont connu d’importantes transformations dans leur répartition, leur organisation spatiale et leurs relations avec leurs arrière-pays continentaux ou leurs « avant-pays » littoraux, depuis l’avènement de l’Islam jusqu’à l’établissement des hégémonies modernes, portugaises ou ottomanes. Reconstituer l’histoire de ces ports – telle est l’ambition du programme APIM – réclame un dialogue entre spécialistes des sources textuelles et des sources matérielles issues de l’archéologie. L’étude du fait portuaire se situe en effet au croisement de plusieurs perspectives historiques : celles de la longue durée, appuyée sur la permanence relative des structures de l’échange et de l’occupation des sols ; celles de l’éphémère, de l’événement, de la succession chronologique des faits politiques et militaires, dans des régions marquées par un fort éclatement des pouvoirs (tribus, cités, États). Rendu visible par les découvertes archéologiques de plus en plus nombreuses, le fait portuaire dans les mers de l’Arabie reste plus difficile à appréhender à partir des textes écrits en arabe, persan, latin ou portugais.

Sans prétendre à une couverture exhaustive de l’histoire de tous ces ports, cette journée d’étude visera à approfondir deux points en particulier, en s’appuyant sur les données rassemblées dans le cadre de la base APIM :

Nous nous intéresserons tout d’abord à l’évolution de la représentation de ces ports dans les sources écrites, en particulier dans les schémas, dessins, gravures, qui émergent à compter du XIIIe siècle, avant de se multiplier au XVIe siècle. L’évolution de la représentation des ports dans la cartographie sera évaluée en parallèle. Comment expliquer cette efflorescence des représentations figurées des ports des mers de l’Arabie, de la mer Rouge au Golfe Arabo-Persique ? Cela traduit-il une simple évolution du regard ? une appréhension nouvelle du fait portuaire ?
Les différentes communications auront pour but, d’une part, de proposer un panorama le plus vaste possible de ces représentations iconographiques du VIIe au XVIe siècle, de cerner les contours des corpus et d’envisager les problèmes que pose spécifiquement leur étude. D’autre part, elles proposeront des pistes d’analyse afin de mieux comprendre les enjeux de cette « mise en image » des sites littoraux (rapport entre texte et iconographie ; critères de choix des ports représentés, de sélection des éléments naturels ou bâtis décrits ; dimensions politiques et militaires des documents ; usages, réception et diffusion).

Durant la période considérée, seuls quelques ports ont les honneurs de la représentation iconographique. Ce sont en même temps souvent les sites côtiers les plus importants, à la tête de réseaux transrégionaux à la fois politiques et économiques établis sur la longue durée, sans être pour autant immuables. Dans la région du Golfe et de la mer d’Oman, sept ports se distinguent en particulier entre le viie et le xvie siècle : Baṣra, Sīrāf, Qays, Ṣuḥār, Hurmūz, Qalhāt et Mascate. Nous chercherons à mieux comprendre quels furent les fondements de ces hégémonies portuaires successives ou concurrentes. Les ports les plus éminents du Golfe et de la mer d’Oman présentent-ils des caractères identiques d’un bout à l’autre de la période (morphologie urbaine et gestion des espaces littoraux ; activités économiques, artisanales et navales ; rapports entre pouvoir politique et monde marchand) ? Les ressorts de leur domination sont-ils similaires ?
Pour chacun de ces ports, historiens des textes et archéologues seront invités à confronter, dans un esprit de synthèse, leurs données respectives. Ils accorderont une attention particulière à la façon dont le rôle central de ces ports se manifeste dans les sources disponibles, non sans des décalages fréquents entre les représentations idéalisées des textes et les données plus prosaïques des vestiges matériels.

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Plus d'informations, programme et sources : « Les ports des mers de l'Arabie et de la Perse, VIIe-XVIe siècle », Journée d'étude, Calenda, publié le lundi 27 septembre 2010, http://calenda.revues.org/...

Voir aussi median.hypotheses.org/... (Rencontres MedDian) et ANR 1 Ports du Golfe et de l'Arabie prog définitif (PDF / HTML).

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[Article] Prehistoric Remains Found in Aceh Town.

September 27, 2010 | Jakarta Globe | Antara

Takengon, Aceh. Two archeologists from Medan have found evidence that a village in Central Aceh district had been inhabited by prehistoric humans.
Ketut Wiradnyana and Lucas Partanda Koestoro announced on Sunday that they had found artifacts such as a a square stone axe, a niche, pottery pieces and a human skeleton inside a cave near Danau Laut Tawar, a lake in Kampung Mendale.
“One of our latest discoveries is a human skeleton which we found in the Ujung Karang Kebayakan area, another excavation site near Kampung Mendale,” Ketut said.
The skeleton’s exact age has yet to be confirmed, since the excavation is still ongoing.
Ketut said the artifacts would have to undergo a carbon dating test at the National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan).
Last May, residents of Jayapura district in Papua Province found prehistoric relics at two different locations.

[...Read the full article here...]

[Article] Japanese ceramics in Boljoon .

09/23/2010 | Cebu Daily News via Inquirer/Global Nation | By Jobers Bersales

It has been a year since we wrapped up our fifth month-long archaeological excavations in the Patrocinio de Maria Church grounds in Boljoon town, southeast Cebu. The timing couldn’t have been better.

Dr. Takenori Nogami, one of the foremost experts in Hizen ceramics in the world, recently confirmed to me by e-mail that three ceramic pieces we recovered last year were not Chinese but were produced by the Hizen kilns in Japan – a finding already made by the National Museum in its report on the excavations some six months ago. These three comprise a blue-and-white double gourd jarlet, a red overglaze bottle and a very large shallow bowl or charger with enamel designs copying those found on chinaware of the same period.
What makes the finds very significant is that before these came into the record, no intact or complete Japanese porcelain ware have ever been recovered in any site in the Philippines. These three pieces therefore continue to add the sterling record of Boljoon as a well-preserved and intact archaeological site, devoid of the looting and incessant grave robbing that would have yielded similar intact finds elsewhere. First were the different gold jewelry pieces recovered in the same site in 2008 and now these three unique finds from the same site.

[... Read the full article here ...]

[Colloque] La place des morts dans les mégalopoles d'Asie orientale.

Colloque de clôture du programme ANR Funérasie
Campus CNRS Michel-Ange, Paris 16°

De par leur gigantisme, les mégalopoles d’Asie orientale sont confrontées de façon particulièrement aigüe aux grands défis urbains : saturation de l’espace, engorgement des réseaux, dégradation de l’environnement, creusement des inégalités sociales... Chercheurs et édiles se mobilisent pour passer au crible toutes les dimensions de la ville, à grand renfort de communication. Toutes, sauf une : la question funéraire. Personne ne nous dit ce qu’il advient des morts dans ces agglomérations déca-millionnaires. La question se pose avec d’autant plus d’acuité que, précisément dans cette région, la démographie des morts est appelée à connaître la plus forte croissance au monde dans les décennies à venir. Comment gérer le gonflement de cette population invisible là où se joue la plus âpre concurrence entre les diverses activités humaines pour l’occupation des sols ? De quelle façon les diverses composantes de l’industrie funéraire s’adaptent-elles à la demande accrue de sépultures et aux nouvelles attentes rituelles de sociétés urbaines en mutation rapide ? Dans ce colloque, des spécialistes du Japon, de la Chine et de la Corée du Sud confronteront leurs observations de terrain pour éclairer les enjeux économiques, spatiaux et symboliques de la question funéraire dans la région la plus urbanisée de la planète.

Programme (623Kb/.pdf)

Contact : aroquiam[at]msh-paris.fr

Sources : « La place des morts dans les mégalopoles d'Asie orientale », Colloque, Calenda, publié le mardi 28 septembre 2010, http://calenda.revues.org/nouvelle17447.html / Url de référence : Site du Réseau Asie, rubrique Agenda

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[Article] Bujang Valley impetus to tourism.

2010/09/19 | New Straits Times | By Subhadra Devan

The discovery of a 110AD monument in the Bujang Valley could have given archeological tourism a kickstart but sadly, it has not so far, writes SUBHADRA DEVAN.
THEY came, they built, they exported. All in Sungai Batu, part of the archaeological expanse we call Lembah Bujang (Bujang Valley) in Kedah, way back in 110AD.
Given the easy accessibility to the sites, Bujang Valley is a good start for our country's archaeological tourism. However, it seems to need a kickstart as it is today underrated -- even among the local populace.
Historical records state that the Bujang Valley civilisation existed long before neighbouring empires such as Majapahit (1200 AD) and Sri Vijaya (700 AD).
However, the Sungai Batu find has made it the oldest man-made structure to be recorded in Southeast Asia. It is not clear still if it was for a religious purpose and the people who were there dealt with iron, smelting and export, which was unusual.
The Sungai Batu historical area, of which there are 97 identified sites, was unearthed by Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang's Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) team only last year.
The startling discoveries unearthed from 10 of the 97 sites include jetty remains, iron smelting sites, and a clay brick monument boasting a round base with a square top with what could have been a pole in the centre.
The CGAR team revealed its findings at a conference, co-organised by the National Heritage Department, in June in Kuala Lumpur.
"Since then", says CGAR director Associate Professor Mokhtar Saidin, "four more new sites have been unearthed. The area already excavated covers less than a square kilometre."
New estimates now show that the Bujang Valley settlement covers 1,000sq km, mostly around Gunung Jerai, formerly called Kedah Peak, and not 400sq km as previously believed.
The Sungai Batu sites are not tucked away deep in the jungle, unlike scenes in films like Lara Croft -- Tomb Raider. It sits smack on both sides of a highway from Sungai Petani, nestled in an oil palm plantation. You just stop the car, get out, and look.
While CGAR has a guard stationed at the main site which hosts the round base-square-top monument, tourist buses and drive-throughs are welcomed.

[ Read more ... ]

[Article] 'Hobbit' Was an Iodine-Deficient Human, Not Another Species, New Study Suggests.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2010) — A new paper is set to re-ignite debate over the origins of so-called Homo floresiensis -- the 'hobbit' that some scientists have claimed as a new species of human.
The University of Western Australia's Emeritus Professor Charles Oxnard and his colleagues, in a paper in PLoS ONE have reconfirmed, on the post-cranial skeleton, their original finding on the skull that Homo floresiensis in fact bears the hallmarks of humans -- Homo sapiens -- affected by hypothyroid cretinism.
The remains, allegedly as recent as 15,000 years, were discovered in 2003 in the Liang Bua caves on the Indonesian island of Flores by archaeologists seeking evidence of the first human migration from Asia to Australia.
When Professor Oxnard and fellow Australian researchers suggested in a 2008 paper that the skull showed evidence of endemic dwarf cretinism resulting from congenital hypothyroidism and were not a new species of human, their claim caused controversy.
In order to test their thesis, in their new paper Professor Oxnard and his team summarised data on the rest of the skeleton and mathematically compared the bones of cretins in relation to chimpanzees, unaffected humans and H. floresiensis. They used two methods with different statistical bases: principal components analyses (PCA) and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (MDS).

Multivariate analyses of quantitative features of Homo floresiensis in relation to cretins, unaffected humans and chimpanzees. (...)

[Read the full article ...]

[Article] Majapahit Site Left Neglected.

Friday, 17 September, 2010 | TEMPO Interactive | WIB | Muhammad Taufik

Mojokerto : Nothing more can be done to prevent the damage to the ancient site of the Majapahit Information Center Museum in Trowulan, Mojokerto, East Java, by rain and erosion.
Terob, which is used to protect the site, has been damaged and repaired several times until it spent hundreds of millions of Rupiah.
“Rather than waste money to repair terob, the fund would be of better use to build the museum,” said the Director of Archaelogical Heritage at the Department of Culture and Tourism, Yunus Satrio Atmojo, yesterday.
The four excavated sites with a depth of 1-2 meter are submerged in water and polluted with dirt due to the high intensity of rain.

[ ... See the article here ... ]

[Exposition] Archéologues à Angkor, archives photographiques de l'Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient.

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Le musée Cernuschi propose du 10 septembre au 2 janvier 2011 une exposition consacrée à l'action centenaire de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient à Angkor (Cambodge). Cette institution orientaliste prestigieuse mène une action exemplaire depuis 1907 pour ressusciter le site d'Angkor, longtemps grande métropole d'Asie avant d'être envahie au XVIe siècle par la jungle...

Le visiteur découvre ici les différentes périodes qui ont marqué les fouilles et travaux d’Angkor à travers 108 photographies (1860-1960) des temples avant leur dégagement, alors que des arbres immenses enserrent sanctuaires et reliefs, puis durant et après leur restauration.
Trois bâtiments sont plus particulièrement étudiés : Banteay Srei (premier temple relevé par anastylose* dans les années 30), le Baphuon, temple-montagne monumental remonté par les Français depuis 1943 et chantier titanesque (300 000 blocs de pierre déposés) qui s’achèvera en mars 2011, ainsi que Neak Pean, temple entouré de bassins à la restauration déjà ancienne mais spectaculaire.
L’exposition comporte également quelques documents concernant la présence des archéologues français à Angkor et deux appareils permettant aux visiteurs de visionner des plaques stéréoscopiques.
Un effort pédagogique particulier permet au public de se familiariser avec l’histoire de l’empire Khmer au travers des grandes fondations impériales: un documentaire sur Angkor (52’, réalisation Didier Fassio, coproduction Cinétévé-EFEO-C.tout com !International avec la participation de France 5, 2009) est projeté gratuitement tous les matins à 11h, dans la salle de conférences (1er étage) du musée.

Cette exposition s’inscrit dans le cadre du Mois de la Photo à Paris, novembre 2010. 

* anastylose : procédé qui consiste à reconstruire les bâtiments comme des jeux de constructions géants.

Plus d'information : www.paris.fr/...

Musée Cernuschi - Des archéologues à Angkor from Paris Musees on Vimeo.

Commissariat :
Isabelle Poujol, responsable de la Photothèque de l’EFEO.
Gilles Béguin, conservateur général, directeur du musée Cernuschi.

Musée Cernuschi

7 avenue Vélasquez 75008-Paris

Tél : 01 53 96 21 50 / www.cernuschi.paris.fr

de 10h à 18h, sauf lundis et jours fériés

Accès handicapés et parking réservé