The year 1917 in

archaeology 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 landsc ...

involved some significant events.

Explorations

Thomas Gann Thomas William Francis Gann (13 May 1867 – 24 February 1938) was a medical doctor by profession, but is best remembered for his work as an amateur archaeologist exploring ruins of the Maya civilization. Personal history Thomas Gann was bo ...

makes the first detailed description of

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

ruins at Lamanai in British Honduras.

Excavations

Max Uhle Friedrich Max Uhle (25 March 1856 – 11 May 1944) was a German archaeologist, whose work in Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia at the turn of the Twentieth Century had a significant impact on the practice of archaeology of South America. Biograph ...

discovers 12

Chinchorro mummies The Chinchorro mummies are mummified remains of individuals from the South American Chinchorro culture, found in what is now northern Chile. They are the oldest examples of artificially mummified human remains, having been buried up to two thous ...

at Morro I, Arica, Chile. * Religious artefacts discovered beneath the Seven-story Stone Pagoda in Tappyeong-ri, Chungju, Korea.

Publications

Wang Guowei Wang Guowei (; 2 December 18772 June 1927) or Wang Kuo-wei, courtesy name Jing'an () or Boyu (), was a Chinese historian and poet. A versatile and original scholar, he made important contributions to the studies of ancient history, epigraphy, ph ...

reconstructs a complete

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty a ...

royal genealogy based on the translation of

oracle bones Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. ''Scapulimancy'' is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for th ...

from the site of

Yinxu Yinxu (modern ; ) is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chin ...

Births

* 14 October:

Geoffrey Bibby Thomas Geoffrey Bibby (14 October 1917 – 6 February 2001, Aarhus) was an English-born archaeologist. He is best known for discovering the ancient state of Dilmun, referred to in Mesopotamian mythology as a paradise. He is often considered to ...

, English-born

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 landsca ...

(d.

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

) * 15 October:

Ralph Solecki Ralph Stefan Solecki (October 15, 1917 – March 20, 2019) was an American archaeologist. Solecki was born in Brooklyn, New York in October 1917, the son of Polish immigrants – Mary (nee Tarnowska), a homemaker, and Casimir, an insurance sales ...

, American archeologist (d.

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) * 28 October:

Honor Frost Honor Frost (28 October 1917 – 12 September 2010) was a pioneer in the field of underwater archaeology, who led many Mediterranean archaeological investigations, especially in Lebanon, and was noted for her typology of stone anchors and skills ...

, Cyprus-born underwater archaeologist (d.

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) * 31 January:

Sinclair Hood Martin Sinclair Frankland Hood, FBA (31 January 1917 – 18 January 2021), generally known as Sinclair Hood, was a British archaeologist and academic. He was Director of the British School of Archaeology at Athens from 1954 to 1962, and led th ...

, British classical archaeologist (d.

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

)

Deaths

* 15 October: Maxime Collignon, French Classical archaeologist (b. 1849) * 27 October:

Worthington George Smith Worthington George Smith (25 March 1835 – 27 October 1917) was an English cartoonist and illustrator, archaeologist, plant pathologist, and mycologist. Background and career Worthington G. Smith was born in Shoreditch, London, the son of a ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

illustrator, palaeolithic archaeologist and mycologist (b.

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. ...

) * 22 November:

Teoberto Maler Teobert Maler, later Teoberto (12 January 1842 – 22 November 1917) was an explorer who devoted his energies to documenting the ruins of the Maya civilization. Biography Teobert Maler was born in Rome to German parents. His father was a diplo ...

, German explorer, archaeologist and writer of accounts of the ruins of the Maya civilization (b. 1842)

References

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Archaeology 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 landsc ...

Archaeology by year