Stop Press

Recueil d’articles de presse sur des sujets liés au patrimoine. Les points de vue exprimés dans ces derniers n’engagent évidemment que leurs auteurs.

31 janvier

• German-Iranian team to study city divisions of Gohar-Tappeh prehistoric site
  Tehran Times, Iran
  The city divisions of the ancient site of Gohar-Tappeh in Iran’s northern province of Mazandaran will be studied by a joint team of German and Iranian archaeologists in the near future.

• Ancient Tongan rock carvings may offer clues to voyagers
  3news, New Zealand
  Discovery of over 50 ancient rock engravings in Tonga, may shed some light on the pre-Polynesian Lapita peoples who voyaged across the Pacific.

• Dust to dust: Ancient relics reduced to rubble
  Jakarta Post, Indonesia
  Trisha Sertori: A 2,000-year-old sarcophagus lies in pieces where it fell, protected from the elements and scavengers by yellow police tape and a blue tarpaulin.

• Dramatic bid to save 'jewel of the Iron Age'
  The Scotsman, United Kingdom
  Frank Urquhart : Discovered only 13 years ago, the remarkably preserved ancient settlement at Old Scatness on Shetland forced experts to completely rewrite the history of Iron Age Britain.

30 janvier

• Rules for new buildings in heritage areas mooted
  The Hindu, India
  Heritage areas in towns like Thanjavur should have separate by-laws for construction of buildings, said Conservation Architect R. Sakthimurugan here on Tuesday.

• Government to set up heritage sites commission
  Hindustan Times, India
  The central government will soon set up a commission to frame guidelines for conserving heritage monuments and sites that are on the verge of decay.

• Earliest Chemical Warfare Felled Roman Fort
  Discovery Channel, United States
  Rossella Lorenzi: A cramped tunnel beneath a Middle Eastern fort might have produced the oldest evidence of chemical warfare, according to a CSI-style review of archival records.

• Dramatic bid to save 'jewel of the Iron Age'
  The Scotsman, United Kingdom
  Frank Urquhart : Discovered only 13 years ago, the remarkably preserved ancient settlement at Old Scatness on Shetland forced experts to completely rewrite the history of Iron Age Britain.

29 janvier

• Bulgaria Customs Agents Prevent Illegal Export of Antiques
  Novinite, Bulgaria
  Bulgaria Customs' agents prevented Wednesday the illegal export of 19 antique coins and an antique bracelet, the Customs' press center reported.

• Canada's Stonehenge
  The Globe and Mail, Canada
  Bob Weber: An academic maverick is challenging conventional wisdom on Canada's prehistory by claiming an archeological site in southern Alberta is really a vast, open-air sun temple with a precise 5,000-year-old calendar predating England's Stonehenge and Egypt's pyramids.

• Teeth “spare hand” of Burnt City people
  Tehran Times, Iran
  The latest anthropological studies on the people of Iran’s 5200-year-old Burnt City determined that they used their teeth as an extra hand.
  

• Iraq: Burnt child skeleton uncovered in ancient excavation
  Adnkronos International, Italy
  The skeleton of a child who was burned to death 5000 years ago has been discovered by archaeologists in southeastern Iran.

• Archaeologists try to revive daily life of 2,000-year-old ancient Chinese capital
  Xinhua.net, China
  Archaeologists are uncovering the details of city life as it was 2,000 years ago in the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an.

• Home is where the brothel and tavern is, in ancient Greece
  iTWire, Australia
  According to new analysis of ancient archeological sites, Greek taverns, called kapeleia, were actually within people’s home, which is probably why previous excavations never found evidence of them elsewhere.

• Hoard Of Hundreds Of Antique Gold Coins Uncovered In Walls Around Jerusalem National Park
  Science Daily, United States
  A hoard of more than 250 gold coins -- believed to be 1,300-year-old Chanukah money -- was exposed December 11 in Jerusalem as part of excavations that the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting in the Giv ‘ati car park in the City of David, in the walls Around Jerusalem National Park.

• Volunteers clear Bronze Age site
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Volunteers from East Sussex have been recruited to help preserve an important Bronze age archaeological site in Eastbourne by clearing vegetation.

• Silbury Hill mystery soon to be resolved
  The Telegraph, United Kingdom
  Jack Watkins: Archaeologists could finally be on the brink of solving a puzzle that dates back more than 4,000 years.

28 janvier

• Ancient burial cave found in Hadramout
  Yemen Times, Yemen
  Khaled Al-Hilaly: A local Hadrami stumbled upon the ancient remains of human bones and broken pottery at the beginning of this week in a tomb near his house in the Qrew area of Hadramout.
  

27 janvier

• Israeli dig finds rare Roman bust
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Israeli archaeologists say they have unearthed a rare Roman-era marble statuette in Jerusalem.

• Earliest man-made cave houses in China
  The Hindu, India
  Rows of two-room houses were built between 3,500 and 3,000 BC.

26 janvier

• Stupendous project to document rock art
  The Hindu, India
  T.S. Subramanian: A stupendous project to document rock art in several hundred sites in jungles, hills, caves and dolmens in 14 States is under way, courtesy the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) of the Union Department of Culture.

• Chinese bone inscriptions discovered to be 1000 yrs older than previous finding
  China National News, China
  Recently discovered bone inscriptions in a province in China have been analyzed to be approximately 1000 years older than those found in another area in the country, which indicates the new finding to be the oldest record of Chinese language.

• Nazca Lines Created by Prayers Walking
  Softpedia, United States
  The Nazca lines are huge, intricate geoglyphs, built directly into the ground of the Nazca Desert, in modern-day Peru.

• Report due on prehistoric bones
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  A report on the discovery of prehistoric human remains on a beach at Uig on Lewis is to be submitted to government agency Historic Scotland.

23 janvier

• Site older than Mohenjodaro found in Pak
  TimesNow TV, India
  An archaeological site dating back about 5,500 years and believed to be older than Mohenjodaro has been found in Pakistan's southern Sindh province.

22 janvier

• Conservation Institute to be formed
  Serbian Government News, Serbia
  The Ministry of Culture stated that the government agreed to set up a Conservation Institute.

• Danube Delta Holds Answers to Noah’s Flood Debate
  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, United States
  Did a catastrophic flood of biblical proportions drown the shores of the Black Sea 9,500 years ago, wiping out early Neolithic settlements around its perimeter?

• Rock shelter find: rare prehistoric Indian art
  dnj News, United States
  Morgan Simmons: A cave specialist for the Tennessee chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Holliday was searching for caves on a 4,200-acre tract in a remote part of Fentress County on the Cumberland Plateau.

• Study on early human migration focuses on stomachs
  Houston Chronicle, United States
  Eric Berger: To better understand the early migrations of humans, modern scientists have followed their stomachs.

• Incendie au musée historique d'Abomey : Six temples avalés par les flammes
  Benin24, Benin
  Francis-Hervé Sanoussi: Le musée historique d’Abomey a été frappé mercredi en début d’après-midi par un grave incendie qui a réduit en cendres six temples. Une évaluation à chaud des dégâts provoqués par le feu laisse croire qu’il faudra au moins une dizaine de millions de francs Cfa pour entreprendre les travaux de restauration.

21 janvier

• Restored Egyptian art on display
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Some of the most famous images in Egyptian art are back on display at the British Museum after an intricate, seven-year conservation project.

• Discovered remains may be ancestors to Balinese
  The Jakarta Post, Indonesia
  Andra Wisnu: The human remains discovered inside a sarcophagus that was excavated recently in Keramas village, Gianyar, may be the ancestors of today’s Balinese, chief of the Bali Archeology Office Wayan Suantika said.

20 janvier

• Week-long 'heritage festival' to focus on Le Corbusier's work
  Times of India, India
  Get ready to salute the world-renowned heritage buildings of Chandigarh, conceived and designed by renowned French architect Le Corbusier.

• Roman mosaic floor is uncovered in a Cotswold field
  Gloucester Citizen, United Kingdom
  A Roman mosaic has been uncovered by two metal detector enthusiasts in a Cotswold field.

• How flooding and earthquakes brought America's earliest civilisation to its knees
  Daily Mail, United Kingdom
  Natural disasters doomed America’s earliest civilisation 3,600 years ago when earthquakes and floods, followed by blowing sand drove away residents from an area that is now Peru.

• Sacred sites are defiled by misuse
  Times Colonist, Canada
  Dustin Walker: 1,000-year-old rock petroglyphs are rapidly vanishing.

• Se lanzó la Campaña de Lucha contra el Tráfico Ilícito de Bienes Culturales
  Ministerio de Cultura, Argentina
  Con nuevas imágenes y dos spots institucionales para televisión, se lanza la Campaña de Lucha contra el Tráfico Ilícito de Bienes Culturales en 16 aeropuertos y más de cien pasos de frontera de todo el país.

19 janvier

• Archaeologist: Heavy rains cover part of Peru's famed Nazca lines with clay, sand
  Hartford Courrant, United States
  Heavy rains have damaged part of one of Peru's top tourist destination, depositing clay and sand on mysterious figures etched in the desert sand by indigenous groups centuries ago, an archaeologist said Monday.

• Amravati to take leaf out of Vietnam
  Express Buzz, India
  The sustainable development framework of the ‘Hoi An’ heritage site in Vietnam would be implemented to develop Amaravati in the State.

• Iceni coins worth £500,000 found
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  A hoard of 825 coins that belonged to a member of the Iceni tribe before Boudicca led them against the Romans has been found in a Suffolk field.
  

• China discovers earliest cave dwelling complex
  People's Daily Online, China
  Chinese archeologists discovered in Shaanxi Province the earliest known cave dwelling residence complex to date.

• Fossil illuminates jaw evolution
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Tanya Syed: A fossil fish is shedding light on the evolution of jawed vertebrates.

• EMC helps Poe Museum preserve, display artifacts
  Boston Herald, United States
  Greg Turner: Thanks in large part to funding from EMC Corp., the museum has begun digitizing its collection so the 19th-century writer’s manuscripts, letters and personal belongings can be viewed by more than just visitors to the Old Stone House in Richmond, Va.

18 janvier

• Ancient Greek vessel docks for Pompey refit
  The Independent, United Kingdom
  Andrew Johnson: The most complete ancient Greek ship ever found – which is being painstakingly pieced back together by marine archaeology experts in Portsmouth – is shown here as it would probably have looked when it sailed around the Greek islands at the time of Homer.

• Historical grave of Mastani dug up
  The Times of India, India
  Miscreants dug up the grave of the 18th century historical figure Mastani, the temptress- in Maharashtra at Pabal village, about 50 km from here on Friday night, police said.

• English Heritage aerial survey reveals more than 1000 new archaeological sites on North East coast
  Sun Daily, United Kingdom
  Coreena Ford: Experts usually dig deep into the ground to unearth secrets from history, as anyone who watches the Time Team documentary show on TV will know.

• Chine et Etats-Unis signent un protocole d'accord limitant les importations d'antiquités
  Xinhua, China
  La Chine et les Etats-Unis ont  signé un protocole d'accord sur la restriction à l'importation aux Etats-Unis d'objets archéologiques provenant de Chine, a déclaré  samedi Dong Baohua, directeur adjoint de l'Administration d'Etat  du patrimoine culturel. 

• Des objets historiques culturels de la zone tibétaine du Qinghai de la Chine ont été bien protégés
  Radio Chine Internationale, China
  Notre journaliste a appris, du Bureau des Musées et du Patrimoine culturel de la province du Qinghai dans l'ouest de la Chine, que ces dernières années, des objets historiques de la zone tibétaine du Qinghai ont été bien protégés, qu'un grand nombre d'anciens temples bouddhiques tibétains ont été réparés et protégés et que dix sites historiques et constructions antiques ont été classés dans la liste des importants patrimoines culturels nationaux à protéger.

• Los grabados paleolíticos de Siega Verde afrontan el reto de ser Patrimonio de la Humanidad
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Los grabados rupestres de Siega Verde (Salamanca), pertenecientes al Paleolítico Superior, afrontan el reto de ser Patrimonio de la Humanidad, después de que el Ministerio de Cultura los haya presentado ante la UNESCO, junto con las icnitas (huellas) de dinosaurio, repartidas por la península Ibérica.

17 janvier

• Port in a storm
  Financial Times, United Kingdom
  Archaeologist Teo Rokov watches intently as a mechanical digger raises a bucket of soil from a building site in Varna’s Grtska Mahala, or Greek Quarter. Mixed in with the earth, he spots fragments of medieval pottery.

• Colorful tomb relics unearthed in northern China
  Xinhua, China
  In northern China's Shanxi province, archaeologists have recently unearthed four dozen tombs believed to be those of the noble families of Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties built 1,000 to 800 years ago.

• US, China sign agreement to protect antiquities
  International Herald Tribune
  Under a new agreement, the United States will forbid the import of many Chinese antiquities from as long ago at the early Stone Age.

• Ridgeway excavation film released
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  A short film showing the findings of an archaeological dig on the site of a planned £87m relief road in Dorset has been released.

• Huge Iron Age haul of coins found
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  One of the UK's largest hauls of Iron Age gold coins has been found in Suffolk.

16 janvier

• Ancient bones returned to ancestors
  TVnz, New Zealand
  New discoveries are still being made at one of the country's most important historical sites.

• A Taïwan, "high tech" et spiritualité
  Le Monde, France
  Taïwan, l'île des mille divinités, est la porte idéale pour entrer en douceur dans le monde chinois. Petite, elle offre au visiteur ses multiples facettes. Un subtil mélange entre tradition et modernité, nature sauvage et urbanisation à l'extrême.

• Fin du séminaire sur le patrimoine culturel en Afrique
  Le Mali en ligne, Mali
  Le séminaire de deux jours sur la mise en valeur du patrimoine immatériel par les industries culturelles a pris fin Jeudi après-midi à Dakar, en présence du directeur du patrimoine culturel sénégalais, Hamady Bocoum.

15 janvier

• British Museum marks 250 years
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Richard Westcott: The British Museum opened to the public 250 years ago and is now of of the UK's most popular cultural attraction.

• Mexico's Unconquered Maya Hold Tight to Their Old Ways
  National Geographic, United States
  Eliza Barclay: When archaeologist Joel Palka ventured into the rain forests of northern Guatemala to study the disappearance of the ancient Maya, locals laughed. The "ancient" Maya had, in fact, been in the area as recently as the 1920s, they told him.

• Chemical warfare – ancient Persian-style
  The Indepedent, United Kingdom
  Steve Connor: The earliest example of chemical warfare has been unearthed at an archaeological site in the Syrian desert, where soldiers of an ancient Persian empire gassed a platoon of Roman troops in about 256AD by asphyxiating them with the smoke from burning bitumen and sulphur.

• Antiquities dealer arrested over Egypt thefts
  Reuters, United States
  A wanted Lebanese antiquities dealer has been arrested in Bulgaria over accusations he stole ancient Egyptian artefacts and slipped them out of the country in recent years, Egypt's Culture Ministry said on Thursday.

• Sauvegarde du patrimoine immatériel en Afrique de l’Ouest : Les enjeux et les portées passés au crible
  Le Soleil, Senegal
  El Hadji Massiga Faye: Promouvoir et sauvegarder le patrimoine immatériel africain par les industries culturelles, c’est sur ce sujet que s’est ouvert mercredi, un séminaire sous régional organisé à l’initiative de la commission nationale du Sénégal pour l’Unesco.

• Nace el "google map" del patrimonio cultural andaluz
  Granada Digital, Spain
  La Consejería de Cultura ha creado un Localizador Cartográfico del Patrimonio Cultural Andaluz, que permite identificar a través de internet dónde se encuentran los bienes culturales de la comunidad autónoma, informó hoy la Junta en una nota. Esta herramienta de difusión ha sido diseñada por el Centro de Documentación del Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico (IAPH).

14 janvier

• Conserving Cambodia's urban heritage
  Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia
  Walter Koditek: Urban heritage conservation is an important yet neglected task in Cambodia. Currently, the international community and the government concentrate only on the ancient temples of Angkor, largely ignoring the urban heritage in the country's cities and towns.

• Leonardo da Vinci returns to Wales 70 years after WWII Evacuation
  24 Hours Museum, United Kingdom
  Ten rare Leonardo da Vinci sketches have returned to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth 70 years after their last visit and this time they are on display to the public.

• Ancient Egyptian cemetery 'bigger than we thought'
  The Daily Star, Lebanon
  Andrew Bossone: A pair of 4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs discovered at Saqqara indicate that the sprawling necropolis south of Cairo is even larger than previously thought, said Egypt's top archaeologist.

• Queen's Mummy Found In 4,300- Year-Old Pyramid
  National Geographic, United States
  Andrew Bossone: Parts of a mummy found inside a 4,300-year-old pyramid could be Queen Seshseshet, the mother of the first pharaoh of Egypt's 6th dynasty, archaeologists have announced.

• Ancient Persians who gassed Romans were the first to use chemical weapons
  The Telegraph, United Kingdom
  Ancient Persians were the first to use chemical weapons when they gassed Roman soldiers with toxic fumes 2,000 years ago, researchers have discovered.

• Italy seizes looted artifacts for sale on e-Bay
  International Herald Tribune
  Italian police say they have seized more than 500 looted archaeological treasures that a man was trying to sell on e-Bay.

• Nazca's Trophy Heads Culled From Own Culture
  Discovery News, United States
  Rossella Lorenzi: The ancient South American people who carved the enigmatic Nazca Lines across the Peruvian desert some 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, literally lost their heads over spreading their puzzling culture, according to a recent analysis of specimens unearthed at various Andean archaeological sites.

• Medieval walls in Spain contain bits of bone
  Science Centric, United States
  Scientists report that the animal bones were burnt in the oven and mixed with other materials to produce a protective coating to strengthen the grand medieval walls of what is today Granada, Spain.

• Musée de l'Histoire de France: les historiens partagés
  24 Heures, Switzerland
  La décision de Nicolas Sarkozy de créer un musée de l'Histoire de France pour renforcer "l'identité" du pays a suscité des doutes chez certains historiens tandis que d'autres y voyaient un moyen de combler un manque.

• Un jeu de grattage pour le patrimoine
  Le Figaro, France
  Le budget du patrimoine, dont Nicolas Sarkozy a annoncé mardi l'augmentation de 100 millions d'euros par an, pourrait être en partie financé par un nouveau jeu de grattage de la Française des Jeux, a annoncé aujourd'hui la ministre de la Culture Christine Albanel.

13 janvier

• Sarkozy pledges $161M for French heritage, museums
  CBC, Canada
  French President Nicolas Sarkozy wooed the country's cultural community on Tuesday evening, announcing a plan to make museums free for visitors under 25 and a new influx of cash for national museums and monuments.

• Italy police recover stolen masterpieces
  International Herald Tribune
  Italian police have recovered 10 masterpieces, including a painting attributed to an artist who worked on the Sistine Chapel, that were stolen in 2004 from an ancient religious complex in Rome, officials said Tuesday.

• Prado and Google bring masterpieces to Web
  International Herald Tribune
  Victoria Burnett: Google and the Prado Museum here are making it possible for Web-surfing art lovers to study 14 of the museum's greatest works in minute detail without ever setting foot in Spain.

• Batelco donation supports Bahrain Historical & Archaeological Society
  Ame Info, United Arab Emirates
  Batelco has donated BD2000 to Bahrain Historical & Archaeological Society, as part of the company's social responsibility to support local societies.

• ASI involves students to maintain cleanliness at monuments
  Times of India, India
  As part of its public sensitisation programme, ASI will administer oath to about 150 students of a city-based school on Thursday to maintain cleanliness at the heritage sites in the country.

• In Mexico, grape-juice ritual stains ancient Olmec colossal head sculptures
  Hartford Courant, United States
  Mark Stevenson: Batelco has donated BD2000 to Bahrain Historical & Archaeological Society, as part of the company's social responsibility to support local societies.
  

• Italy returns smuggled archaeological artefacts to Bulgaria
  FOCUS News Agency
  Italian police on Tuesday turned over to the Bulgarian embassy in Rome some 3,000 archeological objects smuggled into Italy in 2005, Bulgarian national radio reported, AFP reports.

• Panamanian artifacts found in Klamath Falls going home
  Oregon Live, United States
  Lynne Terry: Artifacts believed to have been smuggled out of Panama by an Oregon man who fancied himself an Indiana Jones type were returned Tuesday to representatives of the Central American country.

• The Maya suffered for their looks
  The Times, United Kingdom
  Norman Hammond:The Ancient Maya went much farther, however, reshaping their children’s skulls and inlaying their own teeth with jade.

• 16th Century Clothes Listed as National Heritage
  Chosun.com, Korea
  A bridal headdress and a man's gown discovered in the family tombs of Choi Jin in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, will be designated as cultural assets.

• Experts excavating ancient water wells in Parsa
  Tehran Times, Iran
  A team of archaeologists are currently excavating water wells of the ancient city of Parsa near the Persepolis.

• Dino feathers 'were for display'
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Tanya Syed: The earliest dinosaur feathers were probably used for visual display, according to a new study.

• Italy: British experts restore ancient Roman statue
  ADN Kronos International
  A 2000-year-old Roman statue found near the ruins of Pompeii's ancient port of Herculaneum, south of Naples, is being restored with the latest technology by a team of British scientists.

• Dig uncovers 700-year-old building
  News Talk, Australia
  Archaeologists near Blenheim have discovered what is believed to be one of the oldest building sites in the country.

• Les nouvelles mesures prises par Nicolas Sarkozy
  L'Express, France
  Gratuité des musées pour les moins de 25 ans, créations d'un conseil artistique et d'un musée de l'Histoire de France... Le président de la République a présenté une série de mesures lors de la cérémonie des voeux au monde de la culture, à Nîmes.

• Culture - N’oubliez pas, on existe !
  Le Petit Journal, France
  Les initiatives pour la mise en valeur de ce patrimoine culturel sont rares et profitent souvent aux touristes étrangers.

• La Corée du Sud et l'Iran signent un accord de coopération sur le tourisme
  Xinhua, China
  La Corée du Sud et l'Iran ont  signé un accord visant à promouvoir les relations culturelles et  touristiques entre les deux pays, a annoncé mardi le ministère  sud-coréen de la Culture. 

• La ministre de la Culture sollicite l'unité dans la recherche de partenariats
  AngolaPress, Angola
  La ministre de la Culture, Rosa Cruz e Silva, a sollicité lundi, à Luanda, la conjugaison d'efforts dans la recherche de partenariats en vue de promouvoir et intensifier l'activité culturelle au pays.

• Carabinieri ritrovano tele rubate a Roma nel complesso monumentale di Santo Spirito in Sassia
  MIBAC, Italy
  Dieci preziosi dipinti, tra cui una Sacra Famiglia attribuita al Parmigianino, ma che in realta' potrebbe essere stata eseguita dal fiammingo Van Der Broek, sono stati ritrovati a Roma dai carabinieri dei Beni Culturali.

• Recuperan en Italia 10 obras maestras robadas
  Los Tiempos, Mexico
  La policía italiana recuperó 10 obras maestras, incluyendo una pintura atribuida a un artista que trabajó en la Capilla Sistina, robadas en el 2004 de un antiguo complejo religioso en Roma, dijeron funcionarios el martes.

12 janvier

• The Eye of the Met's Director
  The Wall Street Journal, United States
  In one of the final images of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," a fitting homage to its retiring director, we see the man himself, captured like a fly in amber, or perhaps like a pharaoh embalmed, through the improbable medium of the daguerreotype.

• Ancient Statue Returned to Iraq
  National Geographic, United States
  Confiscated from a smuggler in Egypt, an ancient bronze statuette—perhaps of a goddess—has been returned to Iraq.

• DNA Testing May Unlock Secrets Of Medieval Manuscripts
  Science Daily, United States
  Thousands of painstakingly handwritten books produced in medieval Europe still exist today, but scholars have long struggled with questions about when and where the majority of these works originated.

• Scientists Restoring 2000 Year Old Roman Statue
  Red Orbit, United States
  A 2000-year-old painted statue is being restored to her original glory by scientists from WMG at the University of Warwick, the University of Southampton, and the Herculaneum Conservation Project.

• Armenian cave yields ancient human brain
  Science News, United States
  Excavations have produced roughly 6,000-year-old relics of a poorly known culture existing near the dawn of civilization.

• Sherry for preserving cultural heritage
  Daily Times, Pakistan
  Cultural heritage is the identity of any nation and Pakistan can promote its culture by preserving it, said Information Minister Sherry Rehman on Sunday.

• Education on dealing with human remains
  Scoop.co, New Zealand
  Excavation work underway to allow for the reinterment of koiwi tangata/human remains at the Wairau Bar site in Marlborough underlines the need for wider public knowledge about how to deal with discovering ancestral bones, says the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT).

• Chine : protection des Grottes de Mogao
  Beijing Information, China
  Le plus grand projet de protection des Grottes de Mogao s'est ouvert dimanche dans la ville de Dunhuang, située dans le nord-ouest de la Chine.

• Les diaolou (fortin en pierre) de Danba
  Radio Chine Internationale, China
  Les « diaolous » les mieux conservés sont ceux qui se trouvent actuellement dans les deux villages de Suopo et de Zhonglu.

• Le toit du château d’Angers part en fumée
  Libération, France
  Parti d’un convecteur, un incendie a ravagé samedi 650 mètres carrés de toiture. Les tapisseries sont sauves.

• Réhabilitation des infrastructures culturelles à Huambo
  AngolaPress, Angola
  Le directeur de la  Culture de la  province de Huambo, Pedro Nambongue Chissanga a annoncé vendredi l'intention de son secteur de réhabiliter deux salles de  cinéma et construire le musée de Guerre.

• El Ecuador del siglo XIX se revela
  Diario Hoy, Ecuador
  La exposición de una parte del Patrimonio Cultural Fotográfico del Ecuador se inaugura el miércoles a las 19:30 en la capital.

• Destruyen patrimonio histórico en Tacubaya
  La Jornada, Mexico
  Habitantes de Miguel Hidalgo demandaron al Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) su intervención para detener las obras de remodelación que la delegación realiza en la Alameda Tacubaya, sitio histórico en el que está destruyendo mobiliario urbano que data de la época juarista.

11 January

• The British Museum's new Ancient Egyptian gallery
  The Telegraph, United Kingdom
  After a 10-year restoration project, costing £1.5 million, the paintings go back on public view this week.

• Ouverture prochaine à Dakar d'un institut culturel africain
  Xinhua, China
  L'Institut supérieur des arts et  des cultures (ISAC) de l'Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar va  officiellement démarrer ses activités à la fin de ce mois, a  déclaré samedi à Dakar le responsable de cet institut, Aloyse- Raymond Ndiaye, précisant qu'il est ouvert à plusieurs pays  africains. 

• Chine : protection des Grottes de Mogao
  Beijing Information, China
  Le plus grand projet de protection des Grottes de Mogao s'est ouvert dimanche dans la ville de Dunhuang, située dans le nord-ouest de la Chine.

• Les diaolou (fortin en pierre) de Danba
  Radio Chine Internationale, China
  Les « diaolous » les mieux conservés sont ceux qui se trouvent actuellement dans les deux villages de Suopo et de Zhonglu.

10 janvier

• Icing on gingerbread
  The Financial Times, United Kingdom
  Reggie Nadelson: Lovely, scented Santa Fe where in winter the air smells of pine and cedar. Where ristras of bright red chillies hang over every wall. And where, on top of the adobe buildings, the farolitos - traditionally votive candles in brown paper bags, now plastic bags with electric lights inside - flicker at night.

• A flame rekindled
  The Financial Times, United Kingdom
  Anastasia Moloney: Founded in the 16th century, La Candelaria was the original settlement around which Bogotá grew into the cosmopolitan city of 8m people that it is today.

• Convenience versus character
  The Financial Times, United Kingdom
  Nicola Venning: Which would you choose? An old home with nooks and crannies, creaks and draughts, period features and cosy ambience or a new one with sharp, clean lines, big sparkling windows, high-tech appliances and untouched rooms? For some, deciding between age and character or modernity and convenience is difficult.

• A natural history
  The Financial Times, United Kingdom
  Robin Lane Fox: Kew Gardens is famous round the world. Its magnificent palm house is an unsurpassed marvel of glass and cast iron architecture, home to tender trees from un-British climates such as Brazil and Madagascar.

• Team finds Megalithic burial ground
  The Hindu, India
  T. Nandakumar: Archaeologists are elated over the recent discovery of a burial ground dating back to the Megalithic Age at Thazhuthala in Kollam district.

• Istanbul's ancient past unearthed
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Digging through thick mud and an ancient swamp of black clay, archaeologists in Istanbul have discovered a grave that proves the city is 6,000 years older than they previously thought.

• `First-ever celt was found near Madikeri'
  The Hindu, India
  The first-ever find of a celt (pre-historic chisel-edged stone tool) or a "stone hatchet," in Karnataka was made in 1868 at the crest of a hill six km north of Mercara (Madikeri) in Coorg (Kodagu), according to the Assistant Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), C.B. Patil.

• Conservation and heritage preservation
  Philippine Star, Philippines
  Alejandro R. Roces: Named after Saint Anthony of Padua, the city of San Antonio was founded in 1691. It is the second oldest city in America after San Augustine, Florida. The city has gone on to become one of the best examples of historical conservation and urban renewal and planning in the world; hence, it has become one of the top tourist destinations in Texas.

• Vers la mise en valeur du patrimoine immatériel
  Sud Quotidien, Senegal
  Ibrahima Diallo: Dakar abrite du 14 au 15 Janvier prochain, un séminaire sous régional sur « la mise en valeur du patrimoine immatériel par les industries culturelles » indique un communiqué du ministère de la Culture du Patrimoine historique classe des Langues nationales et de la Francophonie.

9 janvier

• Da Vinci art put in cave in WWII
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci on show at the National Library of Wales were previously stored there during World War II, researchers have found.

• Radiocarbon dates indicate early Irish were just visiting
  The Times, United Kingdom
  Norman Hammond: Ireland’s first farmers settled the island later than some sites from Ulster have long suggested, but did so in a short period which may also have seen parallel migration into western England and Scotland. Radiocarbon dates indicate that sites from Co Kerry in the South West to Co Derry in Northern Ireland were all settled within the century after 3700BC.

• Mermaid discovery brings 'elation' for crew
  Brisbane Times, Australia
  Andrew Wight: Mermaids are renowned for their elusive and magical nature and the HM colonial schooner Mermaid was no different: the ship was found by a team of maritime archaeologists just days ago, after being lost for nearly 180 years.

• Un responsable pour la valorisation du patrimoine culturel
  AngolaPress, Angola
  Le directeur provincial de l'Education, Culture, Science et Technologie à Uíge, António Mucanza Cangudi, a appelé jeudi, à Sanza-Pombo (UÍge), les habitants à préserver le patrimoine culturel et à divulguer l'identité et la culture du peuple angolais.

• Los arqueólogos advierten contra el moderno expolio submarino
  El País, Spain
  En un ambiente polar más propio del Fram, el barco del explorador Nansen, que del Thetis, el navío del Centro de Arqueología Subacuática junto al que se desarrollaba el acto, se presentó ayer en el muelle del puerto deportivo de Roses la traducción catalana de la Convención sobre la Protección del Patrimonio Cultural Subacuático de la Unesco, que acaba de entrar en vigor.

• Campaña para restaurar 74 monumentos románicos
  El País, Spain
  J. Á. Montañés: La arquitectura románica es uno de los grandes atractivos culturales y turísticos de Cataluña. Para asegurar la conservación de este importante patrimonio se invertirán 18.275.000 euros hasta 2013 en la restauración y difusión de 74 monumentos y elementos del románico catalán distribuidos en 25 comarcas, que se financiará gracias al convenio que ayer firmaron el presidente de la Generalitat, José Montilla, y el de La Caixa, Isidre Fainé.

8 janvier

• The Protection of Cultural Institutions in Times of Armed Conflict: A Current Gaza Example
  Newropeans Magazine
  Rene Wadlow: One of the spiritual visionaries of the 1920s-1930s was Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) a Russian and world citizen, a painter and researcher into cultures.

• Digital Angkor offers clues to daily life at the ancient site
  Phnom Penh Post, Egypt
  Erica Goldberg: Computer animation geeks are taking on Angkor, and last month Tom Chandler, a PhD student at Monash University in Australia, unveiled newly  developed animation that imagines ancient Angkor as a living, breathing virtual world.

• U.S. backs Babylon heritage project
  Middle East Times, Egypt
  The U.S. State Department announced it is backing projects to preserve vital Iraqi archaeological sites with the Iraqi government and the World Monuments Fund.

• Facelift for heritage structures in South Mumbai
  Times of India, India
  Heritage structures in south Mumbai from Crawford Market near CST to Gateway of India may get a facelift with Maharashtra Government's ambitious proposal to preserve the area on the lines of global cities like London and Paris.

• Mummy of female pharaoh uncovered
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Egyptologists have discovered the remains of a mummy thought to belong to a queen who ruled 4,300 years ago, Egypt's antiquities chief has said.

• Export credit agencies force Ilisu suspension
  Environmental Finance Publications Online News, United Kingdom
  The German, Swiss and Austrian export credit agencies (ECAs) have suspended guarantees for the controversial Ilisu dam project in Turkey.

• Treasure Hunting
  Osservatorio Balcani
  Risto Karajkov: Treasure hunting has become popular in Macedonia. Driven by lack of economic perspective and adventurism, treasure hunters crusade the country. They collect verbal records of old legends from village elderly, buy dusty maps in Istanbul, and often well equipped, search the countryside.

• Shamanism casts a spell at the British Museum
  The Guardian, United Kingdom
  Jonathan Jones: Shamanistic culture has found an expression in art from ancient cave painting to Jackson Pollock.

• Ancient Greeks' DIY Pubs
  Daily Express, United Kingdom
  The ancient Greeks turned their homes into brothels and pubs before inviting friends and neighbours over, say archaeologists.

• Mise en relief de l'importance de la préservation du patrimoine culturel
  AngolaPress, Angola
  Ibrahima Diallo: Le gouverneur de la province de Kwanza Norte, Henrique André Júnior, a souligné jeudi, dans la ville de Ndalatando, la nécessité de préserver, connaître et de faire connaître aux futures générations "la grandeur" du patrimoine culturel angolais, en particulier de sa région.

• Ces musées du troisième type
  Le Point, France
  Bruno Monier-Vinard: Pas moins de cinq grands musées sont au menu du futur pôle culturel de Saadiyat, "l'île du bonheur " située à 500 mètres au large des côtes d'Abou Dhabi.

• Vers la mise en valeur du patrimoine immatériel
  Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia
  Ibrahima Diallo: Dakar abrite du 14 au 15 Janvier prochain, un séminaire sous régional sur « la mise en valeur du patrimoine immatériel par les industries culturelles » indique un communiqué du ministère de la Culture du Patrimoine historique classe des Langues nationales et de la Francophonie.

• Nouveau musée du patrimoine traditionnel à Djerba
  Jetset Magazine, Tunisia
  Djerba a vu dernièrement l’extension et le réaménagement de son musée du patrimoine traditionnel. Il est devenu ainsi une structure moderne, plus accueillante et conforme aux normes internationales.

• Mission d’urgence en Haïti
  Fil des événements, Canada
  Yvon Larose: Quatre spécialistes de Laval vont contribuer à la réalisation d’un inventaire officiel du patrimoine culturel matériel et immatériel du pays.

7 janvier

• Ship wrecks and war time defences discovered by English Heritage study
  The Telegraph, United Kingdom
  Louise Gray: Ship wrecks, wartime defences and medieval salt factories are just some of 1,000 archaeological sites newly discovered by an English Heritage study of aerial photographs.

• Archeologists remake splendid emperor robe in Nanjing
  Xinhua.net, China
  Imagine 18 colorful dragons, 540 cranes and over one-thousand golden characters on the robe of a Chinese emperor, that would be an eyeful. Recently archeologists from the Embroidery Academy of Nanjing presented a replica of a robe worn by Emperor Wan Li to the Museum of Ding Mausoleum.

• 'Historic' low: Thieves steal from Trombley museum mlLive.com, United States
  Tom Gilchrist: Crooks, however, may have reached a historic low last week, looting a copper tea kettle and drinking mug - among other items - during a break-in at Bay City's Trombley Centre House museum.

• Ancient Burial Site Uncovered On Weymouth's Olympic Relief Road
  24 Hour Museum, United Kingdom
  Ed Sexton: Archaeologists have uncovered more than a dozen skeletons at an ancient burial site near Weymouth in Dorset.

• Borghese gladiator statue to be restored to Whitby Abbey
  24 Hour Museum, United Kingdom
  A life-size statue of a sword-toting warrior is to be restored to the abbey where it stood more than 300 years ago as part of a £5.7 million project by English Heritage.

• English Heritage aerial survey reveals North East coastal gems
  24 Hour Museum, United Kingdom
  Almost 1,000 new archaeological sites have been discovered along the north east coast of the UK following an aerial survey by English Heritage which took almost two years to complete.

• Stonehenge Archaeologist Unsurprised By Rave Claims
  24 Hour Museum, United Kingdom
  The heritage of Stonehenge was given a twist earlier this week by the national media. The spiritual history of the grounds, from burials to healing space, is an oft-observed legend, but a report from a university professor saw hacks redub the site “Ravehenge”.

• Inauguration du musée du patrimoine traditionnel de Djerba
  La Presse, Tunisia
  «J’ai l’impression de vivre dans ma propre histoire», laisse échapper Leïla Souissi, créatrice de bijoux à Djerba.

6 janvier

• Gladiators to ‘fight’ again at Rome’s Colosseum
  msnbc, United States
  Rossella Lorenzi: Gladiators are to return to Rome's most famous fight arena almost 2,000 years after their bloody sport last entertained Roman crowds, local authorities announced.

• Mystery Of South American Trophy Heads Solved
  Science Daily, United States
  The mystery of why ancient South American peoples who created the mysterious Nazca Lines also collected human heads as trophies has long puzzled scholars who theorize the heads may have been used in fertility rites, taken from enemies in battle or associated with ancestor veneration.

• Properly preserving our heritage
  Jakarta Post, Indonesia
  Properly preserving heritage sites for people to visit has been a struggle in Indonesia, including in the capital Jakarta.

• A fruitful archaeological year
  El Ahram, Egypt
  Nevine El-Aref: This year saw several important discoveries, the restoration of ancient Egyptian, Coptic and Islamic monuments, and the return of artefacts smuggled illegally out of Egypt.

• Razia's Arthouse: Still waiting...
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Razia Iqbal: The end of last year was the deadline set for raising £50m to buy Titian's painting... That deadline has passed with no indication if the money has been raised.

• Murder, mayhem and museums
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Caroline Wyatt: While Iraq struggles to return to peaceful normality, the British have been working to restore some of the country's pride in its past - with a museum.

• Hemingway archive opens in Cuba
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Cuba has opened up electronic access to thousands of documents belonging to the writer Ernest Hemingway, who wrote some of his greatest works on the island.

• Acceso electrónico a Hemingway
  BBC Mundo, United Kingdom
  El gobierno cubano abrió el acceso electrónico a miles de documentos que pertenecieron al escritor estadounidense Ernest Hemingway, quien residió en la isla por más de 20 años.

• Teotihuacán: patrimonio histórico y rapiña comercial
  La Jornada, Mexico
  Luis Hernández Navarro: Resplandor teotihuacano es un espectáculo multimedia estilo Televisa con el que se busca convertir el pasado prehispánico en show y la difusión de la historia en negocio para inversionistas privados.

5 janvier

• 1st China College Forum on World Heritage Protection Launched
  RedNet, China
  Sharon Lee: The 1st China College Forum on World Heritage Protection was launched in Dec. 28, 2008 in Wulingyuan Scenic Area of Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province.

• From watercolours to wasps’ nests
  Financial Times, United Kingdom
  Jan Dalley: Donors of art to public collections often try to impose conditions on how their gift is deployed or displayed; most institutions resist as hard as they dare.

• "Nanodiamond" Find Supports Comet Extinction Theory
  National Geographic, United States
  John Roach: The discovery of tiny "nanodiamonds" supports a controversial theory that a catastrophic bombardment of space rocks altered the course of Earth history.

• German battlefield yields Roman surprises
  CNN, United States
  Archaeologists have found more than 600 relics from a huge battle between a Roman army and Barbarians in the third century, long after historians believed Rome had given up control of northern Germany.

• Entrée en vigueur de la Convention de l’Unesco
  RFO, France
  Ratifiée par 20 pays, la Convention pour la protection du patrimoine culturel subaquatique entre en vigueur le 2 janvier.

• Multimatch, le Google culturel de l'UE réservé à un public averti
  Journal du Net, France
  L'Union finit de développer un moteur de recherche de son patrimoine culturel, doté de fonctionnalités très avancées dédiées au multimédia.

• Hemingway inédit
  Nouvel Observateur, France
  Trois mille documents inédits de l'écrivain américain Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), jusqu'à présent conservés au musée Finca Vigia de La Havane, seront mis à la disposition des chercheurs sous forme digitale à partir du 5 janvier.

4 janvier

• Turkish cultural heritage in the hands of foreigners
  Hurriyet, Turkey
  The land of Anatolia, home to many civilizations throughout its long history, is rich in cultural artifacts, many of which are on display in museums around Turkey. Many others, however, are unfortunately in the hands of foreign countries, while Turkey has toiled for their return.

• The 'first true scientist'
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Professor Jim Al-Khalili: For, without doubt, another great physicist, who is worthy of ranking up alongside Newton, is a scientist born in AD 965 in what is now Iraq who went by the name of al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham.

• Cuba Hemingway Letters, Manuscripts to Be Available Online
  Latin American Herald Tribune
  The epilogue of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and the screenplay for "The Old Man and the Sea," letters, coded texts and even insurance policies taken out by Ernest Hemingway will be available starting next month as part of a digital collection of some 3,000 documents belonging to the Nobel laureate.

• Necklaces reveal early man’s intelligence
  The Times, United Kingdom
  Norman Hammond: The date when our ancestors first began to use ornaments — which would indicate a set of thought processes that might be recognised as human — has once again been under debate.

• Smithsonian museum gets much-needed face-lift
  The Star-Telegram, United States
  Philip Kennicot: Efforts to make the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History a more aesthetically pleasing building have been made, and the building has just as determinedly resisted them. The renovated space that opened in late November after an $85 million overhaul is an improvement in many ways.

• Patrimonio cultural se difunde en escuelas
  La Hora, Ecuador
  Alrededor de tres mil textos educativos se entregarán por parte de la Dirección Provincial de Cultura a estudiantes primarios.

3 janvier

• How a modest council house was furnished with thousands of items from the V&A
  The Telegraph, United Kingdom
  Chris Hastings: A former employee at the Victoria and Albert Museum stole more than 2,000 items from the museum in order to decorate his three-bedroomed council house, according to documents released by the National Archives in Kew.

• Superscraper nears date with destiny
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Lawrence Pollard: For over 100 years, where there's been an economic boom and confidence, there have been skyscrapers.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art releases "Collections Management Policy"
  SafeCorner, United States
  SAFE is now pleased to make available the Metropolitan Museums's new Collections Management Policy.

• Archéologie: le mystère de la statue sans tête
  MediaPart, France
  Fabrice Arfi: Le monde de l'art parisien est confronté à une possible affaire de faux archéologique, qui vient jeter une lumière crue sur la fiabilité des expertises menées au sein de grandes maisons de vente aux enchères.

• El Gobierno destinará 8,6 millones a la promoción de la cultura
  El País, Spain
  El Departamento de Cultura ha reservado este año 8,6 millones de euros para ayudas y subvenciones en régimen de "concurrencia competitiva" destinadas a promocionar la cultura. El sector audiovisual será el mayor beneficiado, con 4,2 millones de euros.

• Roban obras de Matisse y Picasso
  BBC Mundo, United Kingdom
  M ás de 30 obras de arte, entre las que destacan litografías de Henri Matisse y Pablo Picasso, fueron robadas de una galería en Berlín, Alemania.

2 janvier

• Surveillance cameras to watch tourists around Machu Picchu, Peru
  Living Peru, Peru
  New surveillance cameras placed around the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu will be in full operation by the 15th of January, reported Lima daily El Comercio.

• Museum Director Is Briton of the Year
  NY Times, United States
  In the looking-glass world across the Atlantic, where cultural and not political figures win person-of-the-year accolades, Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum, was named Briton of the Year by The Times of London.

• The technology of architecture
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Computer technology has had a huge impact on the way buildings are designed and constructed. Tom Feilden visits Lincoln Cathedral and guest editor Zaha Hadid's own offices to investigate a new, technology-inspired burst of architectural creativity.

• Diamond clues to beasts' demise
  BBC News, United Kingdom
  Molly Bentley: The controversial idea that space impacts may have wiped out woolly mammoths and early human settlers in North America has received new impetus.

• Plaque may provide link with Stonehenge
  Chester Chronicle, United Kingdom
  Molly Bentley: The controversial idea that space impacts may have wiped out woolly mammoths and early human settlers in North America has received new impetus.

• La Ruhr, des mines aux pointes
  Le Monde, France
  Passer du charbon et de la sidérurgie à l'art et la culture, de la fermeture de mines à l'ouverture de centres d'expositions, voilà un énorme pas.

• Cámaras de vigilancia en Machu Picchu empezarán a funcionar este mes
  El Comercio, Peru
  Con la instalación de los aparatos se podrá monitorear en tiempo real el ingreso y movimiento de las personas que visiten la ciudadela.

• Roban las figuras de bronce de Rómulo y Remo del paseo Arqueológico de Tarragona
  La Vanguardia, Spain
  Los servicios de la concejalía de Patrimonio del Ayuntamiento de Tarragona han detectado hoy la desaparición de las figuras de bronce de Rómulo y Remo de Loba capitulina, que estaban instaladas en el paseo Arqueológico de la ciudad, han informado fuentes municipales.

1 janvier

• Historic Thang Long Citadel explored
  VietNamNet Bridge, Viet Nam
  A mere five years ago, construction workers stumbled on an archeological treasure trove, the ancient citadel of Thang Long (Ascending Dragon).

• Culture Monster: Getty's antiquities policy gets kudos vs. the Met
  Los Angeles Times, United States
  Colin Renfrew, a British archaeologist who is an authority on the trade in looted antiquities, is poised to come down on New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art like a ton of travertine.

• Diamonds Linked to Quick Cooling Eons Ago
  New York Times, United States
  Kenneth Chang: At least once in Earth’s history, global warming ended quickly, and scientists have long wondered why.

• Les enduits de Fontainebleau
  Le Monde, France
  Le divorce est consommé. A l'amiable. Au château de Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne), la discorde entre Bernard Notari, son directeur, et Jacques Moulin, l'architecte en chef des Monuments historiques chargé de la restauration, a abouti à leur séparation et au départ du second.

mise à jour : 21.02.2009