The year 1978 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 landsca ...

involved some significant events.

Excavations

* New excavations at Brahmagiri by Amalananda Ghosh. * Excavations begin at

Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site The Bontnewydd palaeolithic site (), also known in its unmutated form as Pontnewydd (Welsh language: 'New bridge'), is an archaeological site near St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales. It is one of only three sites in Britain to have produced fossils ...

in Wales. * New excavations begin at Holyhead Mountain Hut Circles on

Holy Island, Anglesey Holy Island ( cy, Ynys Gybi, 'the island of (Saint) Cybi') is an island () on the western side of the larger Isle of Anglesey, Wales, from which it is separated by the Cymyran Strait. It is called "Holy" because of the high concentration of ...

, off the coast of Wales. * Comprehensive excavations at Alepotrypa cave in Greece begin. * Excavation of

Proto-Elamite The Proto-Elamite period, also known as Susa III, is a chronological era in the ancient history of the area of Elam, dating from . In archaeological terms this corresponds to the late Banesh period. Proto-Elamite sites are recognized as the olde ...

levels of Susa in Iran.

Finds

* February 21 - The remains of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan. * March -

Pictish stone A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the Eastern side of the country, these stones are ...

depicting a bearded figure at

Rhynie, Aberdeenshire Rhynie () ( gd, Roinnidh) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is on the A97 road, northwest of Alford. The Rhynie Chert is named after the village as well as the fossil plant genus '' Rhynia''. The Rhynie Chert is a sediment deposited ...

, Scotland. * Bactrian Gold hoard. * A new

Shapwick hoard The Shapwick Hoard is a hoard of 9,262 Roman coins found at Shapwick, Somerset, England in September 1998. The coins dated from as early as 31–30 BC up until 224 AD. The hoard also notably contained two rare coins which had not been discovere ...

of Roman copper coins in England. *

Cherchen Man Cherchen Man or Chärchän Man or Ur-David is the modern name given to a mummy found in the town Cherchen, located in current Xinjiang region of China. The mummy is a member of the group known as Tarim mummies. His naturally-mummified remains were ...

in China. * A fossilized partial human cranium is among hominid remains found in

Apidima Cave The Apidima Cave (, ''Spilaio Apidima'') is a complex of five caves four small caves located on the western shore of Mani Peninsula in Southern Greece. A systematic investigation of the cave has yielded Neanderthal and ''Homo sapiens'' fossils f ...

in southern

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

; in 2019 it is announced as dating to more than 210,000 years BP, making it the earliest example of ''

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'' outside Africa. * First discovery of European lion remains at

Tiryns Tiryns or (Ancient Greek: Τίρυνς; Modern Greek: Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archaeological site in Argolis in the Peloponnese, and the location from which the mythical hero Heracles performed his Twelve Labours. It lies south of M ...

in Mycenaean Greece. * Wreck of a

Basque whaling The Basques were among the first people to catch whales commercially, as opposed to aboriginal whaling, and dominated the trade for five centuries, spreading to the far corners of the North Atlantic and even reaching the South Atlantic. The French ...

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch W ...

, probably the ''San Juan'', off Saddle Island, Labrador.

Publications

* Lewis R. Binford - ''Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology''. * Mounir Bouchenaki - ''Cités antiques d'Algérie''. *

Kenneth Dover Sir Kenneth James Dover, (11 March 1920 – 7 March 2010) was a distinguished British classical scholar and academic. He was president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from 1976 to 1986. In addition, he was president of the British Academy fro ...

- '' Greek Homosexuality''. * Richard A. Gould (ed.) - ''Explorations in Ethnoarchaeology''. *

Keith Muckelroy Keith Muckelroy (1951-1980) was a pioneer of maritime archaeology. Instead of the traditional particularist or historiographic approach used by maritime archaeologists, Muckelroy's ideas were new to the field, influenced by the prehistoric and analy ...

- ''Maritime Archaeology''. * Paleontologist

Björn Kurtén Björn Olof Lennartson Kurtén (19 November 1924 – 28 December 1988) was a Finnish vertebrate paleontologist, belonging to the Swedish-speaking minority of his country. Early life and education Kurtén was born in Vaasa. Career He was a profe ...

's short novel ''

Dance of the Tiger ''Dance of the Tiger'' (Swedish: ''Den Svarta Tigern'') is a novel by Finnish palaeontologist Björn Kurtén, published in 1978 and English translation in 1980. It is a prehistoric novel dealing with the interaction between Neanderthals and C ...

'', dealing with the interaction between Cro-Magnons and

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

s, is published in Sweden as ''Den Svarta Tigern''.

Events

Theban Mapping Project The Theban Mapping Project is an archaeological expedition devoted to Ancient Egypt. It was established in 1978 by the Egyptologist Dr. Kent R. Weeks at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1985, it was moved to the American University in C ...

is established. * September - Thousands march through

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Wood Quay Wood Quay () is a riverside area of Dublin that was a site of Viking settlement. It is now the location of the Dublin City Council offices. Location The site is bounded on the north side by Wood Quay on the River Liffey, on the west by Win ...

to protest against the building of civic offices on the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

site.

Deaths

* August 19 - Sir

Max Mallowan Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan (6 May 1904 – 19 August 1978) was a prominent British archaeologist, specialising in ancient Middle Eastern history. He was the second husband of Dame Agatha Christie. Life and work Born Edgar Mallowan in Wands ...

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 ide ...

archaeologist (born

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library syst ...

). * August 24 - Dame

Kathleen Kenyon Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...

, English archaeologist of the Neolithic Fertile Crescent and college principal (born

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

). * October 8 - Bertha Cody, Native American archaeologist (born

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco ...

). * November 8 -

Terence Mitford Terence Bruce Mitford FBA FSA (sometimes known as Terence Bruce-Mitford) (11 May 1905 – 8 November 1978) was a Scottish archaeologist and classicist. He spent his whole career at the University of St Andrews, and had a special interest in th ...

, British archaeologist of the Near East (born

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia ( Shostakovich's 11th Symphony ...

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 landsca ...

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