Egypte: découverte de la tombe d'une reine pharaonique

Des archéologues tchèques ont découvert en Egypte la tombe d'une reine jusqu'alors inconnue, "Khant Kaous III", épouse d'un pharaon de la Ve dynastie qui régna il y a quelque 4.500 ans, a annoncé dimanche le ministère égyptien des Antiquités.

"Pour la première fois, nous découvrons le nom de cette reine qui était jusqu'alors inconnue avant la découverte de sa tombe," a affirmé le ministre des Antiquités Mamdouh al-Damaty dans un communiqué, cité par l'AFP.

La tombe a été mise au jour au sud-ouest du Caire, sur le site d'Abou Sir, qui comprend plusieurs pyramides de pharaons de la Ve dynastie, qui régna sur la Haute Egypte quelque 2.500 ans avant Jésus-Christ.

La tombe daterait du milieu de la Ve dynastie (2494-2345 av.JC), selon un responsable du ministère.
La tombe a été découverte sur le site du complexe funéraire de Néferefrê, pharaon de la Ve dynastie, a indiqué le directeur de la mission archéologique tchèque, Miroslav Barta, précisant que "cela laisse à penser que la reine était la femme de Néferefrê."

Les archéologues y ont trouvé des ustensiles de la vie quotidienne, 24 en calcaires et quatre autres en cuivre, ainsi que des inscriptions murales faites par les ouvriers de la tombe, comprenant notamment le nom et les titres de la reine, selon le communiqué.
 http://french.ruvr.ru/news/2015_01_04/Egypte-decouverte-de-la-tombe-dune-reine-pharaonique-9716/
4/1/15
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Greece unearths two sculpted female figures in major discovery / Συνέχιση ανασκαφικών εργασιών στον Τύμβο Καστά στην Αμφίπολη

Photo: yppo.gr

Archaeologists have unearthed two sculpted female figures, known as Caryatids, as they slowly make their way into an ancient tomb recently discovered in Greece's northeast, the country's culture ministry said....

They mark a significant new finding in the tomb on the Amphipolis site, about 100 km from Greece's second-biggest city Thessaloniki, which archaeologists have hailed as a major discovery from the era of Alexander the Great.


The figures made of Greek marble were unearthed on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. The Caryatids, with thick curls covering their shoulders, support an inner entrance into the tomb and feature the same sculpting technique used for the heads and wings of two sphinxes found guarding the main entrance of the tomb in August, according to the statement.
"The structure of the second entrance with the Caryatids is an important finding, which supports the view that it is a prominent monument of great importance," the Culture Ministry said.
The face of one of the Caryatids is missing, while both figures have one hand outstretched in a symbolic move to push away anyone who would try to violate the tomb.
Archaeologists have said that the Amphipolis site appeared to be the largest ancient tomb to have been discovered in Greece.
Excavations, which began in 2012, have not yet determined who was buried in the tomb but culture ministry officials have said that the monument appeared to belong to a prominent Macedonian from the 300-325 B.C. era.
 http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/169138/greece-unearths-two-sculpted-female-figures-in-major-discovery
7/9/14
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• Συνέχιση ανασκαφικών εργασιών στον Τύμβο Καστά στην Αμφίπολη-Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού (Δελτίo Τύπου)

.....Το Σάββατο 6 Σεπτεμβρίου, η αφαίρεση του χώματος μπροστά από το επιστύλιο, επέτρεψε την σοβαρή ενίσχυση της υποστύλωσης του θραυσμένου τμήματος του, με κατακόρυφες σωληνωτές δοκούς, σε ξύλινη επαφή. 

Με την αφαίρεση των αμμωδών χωμάτων, στο χώρο μπροστά από τον δεύτερο διαφραγματικό τοίχο, αποκαλύφθηκαν κάτω από το μαρμάρινο επιστύλιο, ανάμεσα στις, επίσης, μαρμάρινες παραστάδες, δύο εξαιρετικής τέχνης καρυάτιδες , από θασίτικο μάρμαρο (φωτο 6) συμφυείς με πεσσό, διατομής 0,20Χ0,60 μ. 

Το πρόσωπο της δυτικής καρυάτιδας σώζεται σχεδόν ακέραιο,(φωτο 7,8 ), ενώ από την ανατολική λείπει.(φωτο 9). Οι καρυάτιδες έχουν πλούσιους βοστρύχους, που καλύπτουν τους ώμους τους, φέρουν ενώτια, και φορούν χειριδωτό χιτώνα. Το δεξί χέρι της μιας και το αριστερό της άλλης ήταν προτεταμμένα, ώστε με την κίνηση τους να αποτρέπουν συμβολικά εκείνους οι οποίοι θα επιχειρούσαν την είσοδο στον τάφο και ήταν ένθετα. Ακολουθείται, δηλαδή, η ίδια τεχνική, όπως στις κεφαλές και στα φτερά των Σφιγγών. Οι μορφές, επί των οποίων σώζονται ίχνη κόκκινου και μπλε χρώματος, παραπέμπουν στον τύπο της Κόρης. Ανάμεσα στα αμμώδη χώματα βρέθηκαν θραύσματα των γλυπτών, όπως τμήμα παλάμης και μικρότερα θραύσματα από τα δάκτυλα τους. Η διάταξη της δεύτερης εισόδου με τις καρυάτιδες αποτελεί σημαντικό εύρημα, το οποίο συνηγορεί στην άποψη ότι πρόκειται για εξέχον μνημείο, ιδιαίτερης σπουδαιότητας. 

Μπροστά από τις καρυάτιδες, και από το ύψος της μέσης τους και κάτω, αποκαλύπτεται τοίχος σφράγισης από πωρόλιθους σε όλο το πλάτος των 4,5μ. ( φωτο 10, 11) Πρόκειται για δεύτερο τοίχο σφράγισης που ακολουθεί την ίδια τεχνική, όπως και στην πρόσοψη του ταφικού μνημείου. Είναι ένα ακόμη χαρακτηριστικό της προσπάθειας των κατασκευαστών για την αποτροπή εισόδου στο μνημείο...............................http://www.yppo.gr/2/g22.jsp?obj_id=58312
7/9/14
 

Archaeologists have found in Guatemala salt production center of the ancient Maya. -VIDEO: The Salt Harvest Process at Maya Natural Sea Salt Facility in Guatemala.

Photo: nuevecerros.org

A major center for the production of salt of the ancient Mayan civilization discovered by archaeologists in Guatemala...

Discovered center is located in the Salinas de los Nueve Cerros, where he was one of the cities of the Maya. His destination was the mining and processing of salt, which is then supplied to various parts of the State in the territory of the modern Maya of Guatemala and Mexico, according to VOR citing the Ministry of Culture of the Central American country.

At the site found numerous items of work associated with the production of salt, as well as the huge cauldrons in which finished products are stored. Archaeologists have concluded that salt production was carried out there in large quantities.


This is evidenced by the observed special platform measuring 200 by 100 meters and a depth of 13 meters, on which he performed the work. In the year of the Mayan could produce up to 24 thousand tons of salt, using salt water of some rivers.
 http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/15640673-archaeologists-have-found-in-guatemala-salt-production-center-of-the-ancient-maya
28/9/13
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A History of Salt Production

While some of the tools have changed over the more than 3,000 years of salt production at Nueve Cerros, the basic problems and methods have not. Since the salt is collected in a heavy brine, it is necessary to remove the water, either through boiling or solar evaporation. The salt naturally collects in a large plain (the "Playon," or Big Beach) west of the salt dome as the stream floods and recedes with the rains, and most production here likely involved scraping off its surface for easily-acquired salt. Ancient, historical, and modern salt producers boiled down the salt over an open fire as well. The ancient Maya used beaker-shaped jars to boil down the brine, pouring it into large, flat molds to make the salt cakes that were then exported. Before it was shipped out, the salt was stored in enormous vessels (with a diameter of just under 2 meters) that were buried throughout the city's "industrial zone." The historical (largely Spanish or ladino) salt producers used giant iron pots to boil down the salt; one such producer eventually riveted several of the iron pots to a platform that he constructed near one of the salt springs.


The problems involved in salt production were the same in ancient and modern times. Nueve Cerros is located at the edge of the Guatemalan highlands in one of the wettest parts of the Maya world--it rains periodically and unpredictably even during the driest months of the year, so salt production is never completely dependable. In addition, moving a soluble powder from the source to the market--often over 100 km and several days' voyage--has required different strategies over time. The ancient Maya likely took advantage of the Chixoy River to send salt further into the lowlands, while the Spaniards and Guatemalans until recently still used canoes and mules to bring salt to Coban and the Peten.
http://nuevecerros.org/index.php?p=1_12_A-History-of-Salt-Production
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In Peru, drones used for agriculture, archeology

Drones are most often associated with assassinations in remote regions of Pakistan and Yemen but in Peru, unmanned aircraft are being used to monitor crops and study ancient ruins.

Forget Reapers and Predators -- the drones used here are hand-held contraptions that look like they were assembled in a garage with gear from a hardware store.

They are equipped with a microcomputer, a GPS tracker, a compass, cameras and an altimeter, and can be easily programmed by using Google Maps to fly autonomously and return to base with vital data.

"These aircraft are small in size, are equipped with high-precision video or photo cameras and go virtually unnoticed in the sky," said Andres Flores, an electrical engineer in charge of the UAV program at Peru's Catholic University.

 Flores heads a multidisciplinary team brainstorming the best ways to use drones for civilian purposes.

"Up to now we have managed to use them for agricultural purposes, where they gather information on the health of the plants, and in archeology, to better understand the characteristics of each site and their extensions," Flores said.

One UAV model built by Catholic University engineers is made with light balsa wood and carbon fiber. At a glance the devices look like souped-up hand-held glider.

One limitation is that these drones must fly below the clouds. If not their instruments, especially the cameras, could fail, said Aurelio Rodriguez, who is both an aerial model-maker and archeologist.

Mapping Ancient Cities

Some of the earliest human settlements in the Americas are found in Peru.

There are thousands of archeological sites, many unexplored, dotting the Peruvian landscape, most of them pre-dating the Incas, a major civilization which was defeated by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Along the dry coastline, where the main construction material was adobe brick, whole societies flourished. After centuries of abandon some of these ancient cities have deteriorated to the point that they are hard to distinguish in the sandy, hilly region.

Archeologist Luis Jaime Castillo is using drones to help map the 1,300 year-old Moche civilization around San Idelfonso and San Jose del Moro, two sites on the Peruvian coast north of Lima.

"We can convert the images that the drones provide into topographical and photogrammetry data to build three-dimensional models," Castillo told AFP.

"By using the pictures taken by drones we can see walls, patios, the fabric of the city." Separately, Hildo Loayza, a physicist with the Lima-based International Potato Center, is perfecting ways to apply drone technology to agriculture.

"The drones allow us to resolve problems objectively, while people do it subjectively," he told AFP.

"In agriculture drones allow us to observe a larger cultivation area and estimate the health of the plants and the growth of the crops. The cameras aboard the drones provide us with 500 pieces of high-technology data, while with the human eye one can barely collect ten," Loayza said.

Precise, high-quality images allow experts to measure the amount of sunlight the plants are getting, and study plant problems like stress from heat, drought or lack of nutrients, he said.

Other potential civilian drone use, Flores said, includes closely observing areas of natural disasters or studying urban traffic patterns.

In the thick Amazon jungle, where access by ground is often extremely difficult, drones can be used to study wild animals. "Every time an animal goes by, it can snap a picture," said Flores.

There are no laws in Peru regulating the civilian use of drones, which allows advocates to push for all kinds of projects.

Their use in urban surveillance, however, could be seen as an invasion of privacy.

While experts are still dreaming up new ways to use the aircraft, security officials do use drones for military and police intelligence purposes, especially in Peru's rugged and remote valleys where coca -- the source plant for cocaine -- is grown. 
hurriyetdailynews.com
15/8/13