2010 in archaeology
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The year 2010 in archaeology


Excavations

* March 26: Archaeologists begin excavations at the site of William Shakespeare's last home,
New Place New Place () was William Shakespeare's final place of residence in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died there in 1616. Though the house no longer exists, the site is owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which maintains it as a specially-design ...
in
Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
(continuing in 2011). * April 2: Teams of anthropologists and archaeologists begin searching the Fresh Kills Landfill on
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
for human remains of victims of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Over 30 fragments of human remains are subsequently identified. * May: Rescue excavations at the Buddhist site of
Mes Aynak Mes Aynak (Pashto/Persian: , meaning "little source of copper"), also called Mis Ainak or Mis-e-Ainak, was a major Buddhist settlement southeast of Kabul, Afghanistan, located in a barren region of Logar Province. The site is also the location ...
in Afghanistan begin (continuing until July 2011). * Excavations of the Roman site at
Bloomberg London Bloomberg London is an office building in London, which was opened in 2017. It is owned by Bloomberg L.P. and functions as their European headquarters. It is at 3 Queen Victoria Street, to the west of Walbrook, on the site previously occupied by ...
begin, continuing until 2013 and including discovery of the
Bloomberg tablets The Bloomberg tablets are a collection of 405 preserved wooden tablets that were found at the site of the Bloomberg building in the City of London, financial district of London. Excavations of the site took place between 2010 and 2013, after whi ...
.


Finds

*April 9: In England, metal detectorist Dave Crisp discovers the
Frome Hoard The Frome Hoard is a hoard of 52,503 Roman coins found in April 2010 by metal detectorist Dave Crisp near Frome in Somerset, England. The coins were contained in a ceramic pot in diameter, and date from AD 253 to 305. Most of the coins are made ...
, 52,503 Roman coins dating to the period 253 to 305, one of the largest hoards ever found in Britain. *May **A fragment of a clay tablet is discovered in the Ophel section of the
City of David "City of David" is a biblical and religious epithet for the ancient city of Jerusalem. It may also refer to: * City of David (archaeological site) - an archaeological excavation associated with ancient Jerusalem * Jerusalem Walls National Park ...
in Jerusalem. The fragment, with a surface of , is the oldest piece of writing from Jerusalem yet discovered, dating back to the 14th century BC. The high quality of the
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
writing indicates that it was engraved by a royal
scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...
and speaks to the importance of Jerusalem as a political center in that era. **In Cumbria, England, a metal detectorist discovers an almost complete Roman cavalry helmet. *June **Skeletons featuring marks that could have resulted from a violent death are uncovered during an ongoing investigation in Driffield Terrace near the centre of York in England. Archaeologists believe the cemetery to be that of gladiators. Bite marks on one skeleton suggest that the gladiator was bitten by a large carnivore which would be consistent with gladiatorial battles in Ancient Rome. **The
Areni-1 shoe The Areni-1 shoe is a 5,500-year-old leather shoe that was found in 2008 in excellent condition in the Areni-1 cave located in the Vayots Dzor province of Armenia. It is a one-piece leather-hide shoe, the oldest piece of leather footwear in the w ...
, the world's oldest leather shoe is found in a cave in the
Vayots Dzor Province Vayots Dzor ( hy, Վայոց Ձոր, ) is a province (''marz'') of Armenia. It lies at the southeastern end of the country, bordering the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan to the west and the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan to the east. It cover ...
of Armenia. The 5,500-year-old shoe dates back to approximately 3,500 BC and is in excellent condition, due in large part to being buried under a pile of sheep dung. ** Vatican officials announce that the earliest-known icons of the
Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
Peter and Paul have been discovered in the
catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...
of an eight-story office building in Rome. The images date to the second half of the 4th century and are believed to decorate the tomb of a Roman noblewoman. The tomb also houses the oldest known images of the Apostles John and Andrew. *July ** Egyptian archaeologists unveil a recently discovered double-tomb in Saqqara. The tomb is the resting place of a father and son who served as heads of the royal scribes. The tomb dates to the 6th dynasty making it 4,300 years old. Archaeologists hail this find as one of the most colorful Old Kingdom tombs ever discovered. They also believe that, when excavated, this area just west of the
Step Pyramid of Djoser The pyramid of Djoser (or Djeser and Zoser), sometimes called the Step Pyramid of Djoser, is an archaeological site in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the ruins of Memphis. The 6-tier, 4-sided structure is the earliest colossal stone b ...
, could be one of the largest cemeteries in ancient Egypt. **The first
Philistine The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...
temple is unearthed at Tell es-Safi, Israel, the historic site of the city of Gath. The find provides archeological context for the
Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
narrative of Samson ( Book of Judges chapters 13 to 16), who destroys a Philistine temple by pulling the two main pillars together. **The second (and larger) of the
Salme ships The Salme ships are two clinker-built ships of Scandinavian origin discovered in 2008 and 2010 near the village of Salme on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. Both ships were used for ship burials here around AD 700–750 in the Nordic Iron Age an ...
from the Viking Age, containing the remains of more than 20 dead men, is found in the village of Salme on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. Several weapons, everyday items, gaming pieces and animal remains are also found. **
Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...
finds wreck of HMS ''Investigator'' (1848) on Banks Island in the
Beaufort Sea The Beaufort Sea (; french: Mer de Beaufort, Iñupiaq: ''Taġiuq'') is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska, and west of Canada's Arctic islands. The sea is named after Sir Fr ...
. *July 22: Archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar announce discovery of an apparent new henge at Stonehenge in England. *August **Stone point
arrowheads An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as s ...
are recovered from Sibudu Cave, South Africa, which date back 64,000 years. The arrowheads have traces of blood and a plant resin
glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...
. This is the oldest known use of arrows. **The
Theban Desert Road Survey The Theban Desert Road Survey is an archaeological research project operated in conjunction with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture's Supreme Council for Antiquities that is being conducted in the Western Desert in Egypt that focuses on the ancien ...
, a program led by Yale University, announces the discovery of an ancient Egyptian settlement along an ancient caravan route in the Western Desert. The settlement was a major administrative and economical center, estimated to have been in use from 1650 BC to 1550 BC. *September: An 8th-century BC
Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...
ite temple is discovered near the city of Madaba, Jordan. The temple contains around three hundred religious artifacts, including a figurine of the animal god
Hadad Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad (Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions. He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. ...
. The artifacts will be displayed in the
Jordan Archaeological Museum The Jordan Archaeological Museum is located in the Citadel of Amman, Jordan. Built in 1951, it presents artifacts from archaeological sites in Jordan, dating from prehistoric times to the 15th century. The collections are arranged in chronologica ...
. *Undated: Excavations at
Taposiris Magna Taposiris Magna is a city established by Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus between 280 and 270 BC. The name means "great tomb of Osiris", which Plutarch identifies with an Egyptian temple in the city. After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 3 ...
in Egypt uncover a huge headless granite statue of a Ptolemaic pharaoh and portions of the original gateway to a temple dedicated to the god Osiris.


Events

* January 18–October 22: BBC Radio 4 broadcasts '' A History of the World in 100 Objects'' based on the collections of the British Museum. * June ** Bones found in a church in
Porto Ercole Porto Ercole () is an Italian town located in the municipality of Monte Argentario, in the Province of Grosseto, Tuscany. It is one of the two major towns that form the township, along with Porto Santo Stefano. Its name means "Port Hercules". Ge ...
, near Grosseto in Tuscany, are identified as probably belonging to the painter
Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...
(d. 1610). ** The largest Aztec stone sculpture with its original coloring is unveiled at an exposition at the Templo Mayor museum in Mexico City. The sculpture which was discovered in 2007 depicts the Aztec god Tlaltecuhtli. The exposition also displays many offerings found along with the sculpture. * September 13: First showing of Werner Herzog's documentary film ''
Cave of Forgotten Dreams ''Cave of Forgotten Dreams'' is a 2010 3D documentary film by Werner Herzog about the Chauvet Cave in Southern France, which contains some of the oldest human-painted images yet discovered. Some of them were crafted around 32,000 years ago. The ...
'', about the Chauvet Cave (at the Toronto International Film Festival). * October 7: First publication of the identification of '' Yersinia pestis'' as the cause of the 14th century
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
. * Laboratory analysis of the bones of a close relative of Lucy (''Australopithecus'') reveal how early hominins walked.


Publications

*April 8: Publication of Denisovan DNA. *May 7: Scientists conducting the Neanderthal genome project publish the first draft of their
DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...
, containing enough of the
Neanderthal genome Genetic studies on Neanderthal ancient DNA became possible in the late 1990s. The Neanderthal genome project, established in 2006, presented the first fully sequenced Neanderthal genome in 2013. Since 2005, evidence for substantial admixture of ...
to suggest that Neanderthals and early modern humans may have
interbred In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in ...
. *June **A
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
study of plant matter, usually from offerings at Egyptian kings' burial sites, is published in '' Science''. The researchers have compared these dates with presumed historical dates using
Bayesian inference Bayesian inference is a method of statistical inference in which Bayes' theorem is used to update the probability for a hypothesis as more evidence or information becomes available. Bayesian inference is an important technique in statistics, a ...
to determine if there is any correlation. Among the findings is that the Old Kingdom began between 2691 and 2625 BC, while the
New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
began between 1570 and 1544 BC. **A British archaeologist announces that sedimentary evidence suggests that Neanderthals entered Kent soon after the land bridge from mainland Europe appeared, about 100,000 years BP, 40,000 years earlier than previously thought. *July: Archaeologists working for the Natural History Museum excavating a coastal site at Happisburgh in
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
announce that it was occupied by a date as early as 950,000 years BP, the earliest and northernmost evidence of human expansion into Eurasia. *August 10: Archaeologists working on the
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
site at Star Carr in North Yorkshire announce that they have found the earliest surviving remains of a house in Britain, dating from at least 8,500 years BC. *August 12: Researchers from the
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (german: Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie, shortened to MPI EVA) is a research institute based in Leipzig, Germany, that was founded in 1997. It is part of the Max Plan ...
publish indirect evidence for
stone tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...
use dating to 3.39 million years BP from Dikika, Ethiopia. *P. J. Capelotti - ''The Human Archaeology of Space: Lunar, Planetary and Interstellar Relics of Exploration''. * David J. Mattingly - ''Imperialism, Power, and Identity: Experiencing the Roman Empire''. *
Bjørnar Olsen Bjørnar Julius Olsen (born 2 January 1958, Finnmark, Norway) is professor at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway. He is a Norwegian archaeologist who specializes in archaeological theory, material culture, museology, northern/Arctic archaeology ...
- ''In Defense of Things: Archaeology and the Ontology of Objects''. * Donald B. Redford - ''City of the Ram-Man: the Story of Ancient Mendes''.


Deaths

*February 2:
Donald Wiseman Donald John Wiseman (25 October 1918 – 2 February 2010) was a biblical scholar, archaeologist and Assyriologist. He was Professor of Assyriology at the University of London from 1961 to 1982. Early life and beliefs Wiseman was born in Emswo ...
, former Professor of
Assyriology Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , '' -logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...
at the University of London (b.
1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...
) *September 12:
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 ...
, Mediterranean underwater archaeologist (b.
1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
) *October 28: Ehud Netzer, Professor of archeology at Hebrew University known for his excavations related to Herod the Great (b.
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2010 In Archaeology Archaeology Archaeology by year Archaeology, 2010 In