The decade of the 1760s in archaeology involved some significant events.

Explorations

* 1764: First systematic mapping of the

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as ''Vallum Antonini'', was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twe ...

by William Roy.

Excavations

* Formal excavations continue at

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

. * 1757: Rev.

Bryan Faussett Bryan Faussett (30 October 1720 – 20 February 1776) was an English antiquary. Faussett formed a collection that was rich in Anglo-Saxon objects of personal adornment, such as pendants, brooches, beads and buckles. He discovered the Kingston ...

begins excavations at Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in Kent, England.

Finds

* 1761-1767: Carsten Niebuhr transcribes the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis. * 1765: Nathaniel Davison discovers a stress-relieving chamber (Davison's chamber) above the Kings chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Publications

* 1762: James "Athenian" Stuart and Nicholas Revett's ''Antiquities of Athens''. * 1764: ** Robert Adam's ''Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia''. ** Johann Joachim Winckelmann's ''Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums'' ("History of Ancient Art").

Other events

*1764: French scholar Jean-Jacques Barthélemy deciphers the

Phoenician language Phoenician ( ) is an extinct language, extinct Canaanite languages, Canaanite Semitic languages, Semitic language originally spoken in the region surrounding the cities of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre and Sidon. Extensive Tyro-Sidonian trade and commerci ...

using the inscriptions on the Cippi of Melqart from Malta.

Births

* 1760: ** January 6 - Richard Polwhele, Cornish

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

(d.

1838 Events January–March * January 10 – A fire destroys Lloyd's Coffee House and the Royal Exchange in London. * January 11 – At Morristown, New Jersey, Samuel Morse, Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale give the first public demonstration o ...

) ** June 8 - Karl Böttiger, German

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

(d.

1835 Events January–March * January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist. * January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history. ...

) * 1763: ** November 19 -

Karl Ludwig Fernow Karl Ludwig Fernow (19 November 1763 – 4 December 1808) was a German art critic and archaeologist. Early life Fernow was born in Pomerania, the son of a servant in the household of the lord of Blumenhagen. At the age of twelve he became cle ...

, German art critic and archaeologist (d.

1808 Events January–March * January 1 ** The importation of slaves into the United States is banned, as the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect; African slaves continue to be imported into Cuba, and until the island ab ...

) **

Samuel Lysons Samuel Lysons (1763 – June 1819) was an English antiquarian and engraver who, together with his elder brother Daniel Lysons (1762–1834), published several works on antiquarian topics. He was one of the first archaeologists to investigate ...

, English

(d.

1819 Events January–March * January 2 – The Panic of 1819, the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States, begins. * January 25 – Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia. * January 29 – Si ...

) * 1766: March 16? - Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French antiquarian, cartographer, artist and explorer (d.

1875 Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the ...

) * 1769: ** March 23 - William Smith, English geologist (d.

1839 Events January–March * January 2 – The first photograph of the Moon is taken, by French photographer Louis Daguerre. * January 6 – Night of the Big Wind: Ireland is struck by the most damaging cyclone in 300 years. * January 9 – T ...

) ** August 23 -

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

, French naturalist, zoologist and paleontologist (d.

1832 Events January–March * January 6 – Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison founds the New-England Anti-Slavery Society. * January 13 – The Christmas Rebellion of slaves is brought to an end in Jamaica, after the island's white plan ...

) ** September 14 - Alexander von Humboldt, Prussian explorer and writer (d.

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final u ...

)

Deaths

* 1765: ** March 3 -

William Stukeley William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric ...

, English antiquarian (b.

1689 Events January–March * January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated th ...

) ** September 5 - Anne Claude de Caylus, French archaeologist (d.

1765 Events January–March * January 23 – Prince Joseph of Austria marries Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria in Vienna. * January 29 – One week before his death, Mir Jafar, who had been enthroned as the Nawab of Bengal and ru ...

) * 1767: June 17 -

Jean-Baptiste Greppo Jean-Baptiste Greppo (17 May 1712, in Lyon – 13 June 1767, in Saint-Paul) was a French canon known for his archaeological studies associated with the ancient walls (fortifications) of Lyon.1712 In the Swedish calendar it began as a leap year starting on Monday and remained so until Thursday, February 29. By adding a second leap day (Friday, February 30) Sweden reverted to the Julian calendar and the rest of the year (from Saturday, M ...

) * 1768: June 8 - Johann Joachim Winckelmann, German art critic and archaeologist (b.

1717 Events January–March * January 1 – Count Carl Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador to the Kingdom of Great Britain, is arrested in London over a plot to assist the Pretender to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart. * Ja ...

)

References

{{s-end Archaeology by decade Archaeology