2020 in archaeology

This page lists major events of 2020 in archaeology.

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Excavations

• January 29 – NZR V class steam locomotive no. 127 (1885) is recovered from the Oreti River in New Zealand by the Lumsden Heritage Trust.[1]
• February – Mexico and Spain plan to search for the remains of Nuestra Señora de Juncal ("Our Lady of Juncal") ship, which sank off the coast of Mexico in 1631.[2]
• March – Excavations at Richborough Castle in England start to uncover the Roman amphitheatre hidden under a mound here.[3]
• June 27 – Excavation of a Viking ship burial at Gjellestad near Halden in Norway located in 2018 begins.[4]
• July:
  • Divers find an 11,000-year-old mining site for red ocher pigments at La Mina, a site inside a water-filled cave beneath Yucatán Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico.[5]
  • A shipwreck which was found near Ma'agan Michael carrying amphorae with Christian and Muslim symbols, and dated back to the 7th century, has been excavated by the University of Haifa since 2016.[6]

Finds

• January
  • 23 – A cave with paintings of people and animals is discovered about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Mount Catherine, Sinai Peninsula, dating back to the Chalcolithic Period, circa 5th–4th millennium BCE.[7]
  • 30 – 16 tombs with about 20 sarcophagi are found at Al-Ghoreifa area in Tuna el-Gebel, Egypt,[8] dating back to the 26th Dynasty.[9]
• February
  • 12 – 83 ancient tombs are found in Om al-Khilgan, Dakahlia Governorate, dated back to 4,000 B.C.[10][11]
  • 17 – Carvings depicting animals are found at Cave Font Major, Catalonia, dated back to 15,000 years ago.[12]
  • 21
    • A sarcophagus is discovered in an ancient temple in the Roman Forum, which might belong to Rome's legendary founder, Romulus.[13]
    • A lost city is found at Türkmen-Karahöyük, Konya Plain, which might be related to Tarḫuntašša, and its king Hartapu.[14]
• March
  • 10 – Ancient capital of the Mayan Kingdom of Sak Tz’i is found at Lacanjá Tzeltal, Chiapas, Mexico.[15][16][17]
  • 11 – Discovery of site of railway roundhouse at Birmingham Curzon Street railway station (1838–1966) in England during construction work for High Speed 2 is announced.[18]
  • 13
    • A mantis petroglyph is discovered in the Teymareh rock art site, Khomeyn, Iran, dates back in the range of 40,000–4,000 years ago.[19]
    • A ballcourt is discovered at Etlatongo, Mexico, dating to 1374 BCE.[20]
  • 16 – Two small stone 'plaquettes' are found in the Leang Bulu Bettue cave, Sulawesi, Indonesia, date to a time between 26,000 and 14,000 years ago.[21]
  • 17 – A bone circle of at least 60 mammoths is discovered at Kostenki, Russia, dating back to 25,000 years ago.[22]
  • 31
    • A 5,000-year-old cultic area dedicated to Ningirsu is discovered in Girsu, Iraq.[23]
    • Ancient cairns used to bury neolithic tribespeople are discovered in the Cwmcelyn valley in Blaenau Gwent, Wales, dating back over 4,500 years ago.[24]
• April
  • 26 – Rock art depicting scenes of animals is discovered in the area of Wadi Al-Zulma in North Sinai, Egypt.[25]
• May
  • 11 – Discovery of wreck of USS Nevada (BB-36) off Pearl Harbor is announced.[26]
  • 17 – A tomb at Oxyrhynchus, dating back to the 26th Dynasty of Egypt, along with stelae and bronze coins from the Roman era, is discovered.[27]
  • 20
    • Discovery of underground rooms below the 1,400-year-old mosaic floor of Byzantine structure in the Old City of Jerusalem is announced by Israel Antiquities Authority.[28]
    • The skeleton of a 300.000-year-old female straight-tusked elephant with a weight of 6.8 tonnes in Lower Saxony, Germany, is revealed.[29]
  • 25 – The discovery of 3,000 years old cave paintings in Kui Buri District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand is announced.[30]
  • 26 – Remains of a 200-year-old English sailing ship are discovered in a coral reef off the coast of Quintana Roo in Mexico.[31]
  • 27 – Discovery of a well-preserved Roman mosaic floor in a vineyard at Negrar in the Veneto of Italy is announced.[32]
  • 29 – Remains of at least sixty mammoths are found at an airport construction site in Mexico.[33]
• June
  • Bronze Age horse harness, a sword in its scabbard and other artefacts including a "rattle pendant" are discovered near Peebles in the Scottish Borders by a metal detectorist.[34]
  • 3 – A 3,000-year-old Maya ceremonial platform almost 1,500 yards (1,400 m) long and 440 yards (400 m) wide has been discovered near the San Pedro River in Tabasco, Mexico.[35]
  • 9 – A 6th millennium BC megalithic monument is discovered in Dumat al-Jandal, Saudi Arabia.[36]
  • 21 – Discovery of high-status mummy burials at Taposiris Magna in Egypt is publicised.[37]
  • 22 – Discovery of Durrington Shafts, a series of 10 m-deep neolithic pits in a 2 km (1.2 mi.)-diameter circle surrounding Durrington Walls within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in England, is announced.[38]
• July
  • 11 – Discovery of an Iron Age skeleton, apparently a victim of foul play, near Wendover in England on the route of High Speed 2 is announced.[39]
  • 13 – Remains of the palace of Axayacatl and a house belonging to Hernán Cortés are found by Raúl Barrera Rodríguez and José María García Guerrero of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) in Mexico City.[40]
  • 21 – Prehispanic remains are found at the Cerro de Peña in Santa Cruz Huehuepiaxtla, Puebla, Mexico.[41]
  • 22 – Stone tools found in Zacatecas, Mexico, suggest that people lived in North America 26,500 years ago.[42]
  • 23 – Archaeologists in Jerusalem discover a 3,000-year-old warehouse.[43]
  • 24 – Russian scientists are working to retrieve the well-preserved skeleton of a woolly mammoth from Pechevalavato Lake in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in northern Siberia.[44]
  • 27 – A 3rd-century woman statue was discovered in Perge, Anatolia.[45]
  • 28 – Statues of Sekhmet, Ptah and Hathor were found in Mit Rahina, Egypt, date back to the reign of Ramses II.[46][47]
  • 29 – A 1st-century Roman fort was uncovered at Burscough, England.[48]
  • 30 – A 1,500-year-old Byzantine church was unearthed in Kfar Kama, Israel.[49]
• August
  • 4 – A prehistoric "Woodhenge" has been discovered at Perdigões, Évora District, Portugal.[50]
  • 5 – 8,000-year-old fluted arrowheads have been found at sites in Oman and Yemen.[51]

Events

• January 9 – A gold bar found in Mexico City in 1981 is confirmed as made of material appropriated during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and presumably abandoned by the Spanish at the time of La Noche Triste in 1520.[52]
• February 22 – 3,900 pre-Columbian copper coins from Guerrero and Michoacán will be returned to Mexico from the United States.[53]
• March 6 – Bones first located in 1885 in the wall of St Mary and St Eanswythe's Church, Folkestone in England are announced as identified as almost certainly those of Anglo Saxon princess Eanswith (died c.640), the earliest identified burial of an English saint.[54]
• May – Staff at Vindolanda Museum by Hadrian's Wall in England sorting material held since 1993 during the shutdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom find a leather toy mouse from the auxiliary fort.[55]
• July 8 – The Portable Antiquities Scheme in England and Wales records the 1.5 millionth small artefact found by a member of the public, a lead bulla of Pope Innocent IV from Shropshire.[56]
• July 29 – Identification of the likely source of the sarsen stones at Stonehenge in England at a location 24 km (15 mi) to the north is reported.[57]

Deaths

• February 6 – Wang Jin, Chinese prehistoric archaeologist (b. 1926)
• March 14 – Ofer Bar-Yosef, 82, Israeli Palaeolithic archaeologist (b. 1937)[58]
• March 16 – Pilar Luna, 75, Mexican underwater archaeologist (b. 1944)[59]
• April 8 – Aubrey Burl, 93, British prehistoric archaeologist (b. 1926)[60]
• June 13 – Pepe el Ferreiro, 78, Spanish archaeologist (b. 1942)[61]
• July 2 – Ángela Jeria, 93, Chilean archaeologist and human rights activist (b. 1926)[62]

See also

• List of years in archaeology

References

1. Harding, Evan (2020-01-29). "Rare locomotive pulled from river bank in Northern Southland". Stuff. Fairfax. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
2. "Mexico and Spain to embark on rescue of 17th century vessel". El Universal. 19 February 2020.
3. "Richborough Roman amphitheatre dig: 'Once in lifetime' opportunity". BBC. 9 March 2020.
4. "First Viking ship excavation in a century begins in Norway". BBC. 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
5. Brandi L. MacDonald; et al. (2020). "Paleoindian ochre mines in the submerged caves of the Yucatán Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico". 6 (27). Science Advances. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aba1219.
6. "Christian, Muslim symbols found in 7th century shipwreck in Israel". The Jerusalem Post. 26 July 2020.
7. "Cave Covered in Ancient Egyptian Paintings of Donkeys and People Discovered by Accident". Newsweek. 23 January 2020.
8. "In photos: Communal tombs for high priests uncovered Upper Egypt". ahram.org. 30 January 2020.
9. "Egypt uncovers 20 mummies in vast ancient treasure trove". The Sunday Times. 31 January 2020.
10. "83 Pharaonic tombs unearthed in Egypt". Xinhuanet. 12 February 2020.
11. "الكشف عن 83 مقبرة أثرية بمنطقة آثار كوم الخلجان بمحافظة الدقهلية". youm7.com (in Arabic). 12 February 2020.
12. "Experts Discover a 'Shrine' of 15,000-Year-Old Animal Carvings and Mysterious Symbols in a Spanish Cave". artnet.com. 17 February 2020.
13. "Romulus mystery: Experts divided on 'tomb of Rome's founding father'". BBC. 21 February 2020.
14. "Archaeologists discover lost city that may have conquered the kingdom of Midas". phys.org. 21 February 2020.
15. "Backyard in Mexico yields lost Maya kingdom". Futurity. 10 March 2020.
16. "Archaeologists discover lost capital of ancient Maya Kingdom". HeritageDaily - Archaeology News. 2020-03-12. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
17. "Ancient Maya kingdom unearthed in a backyard in Mexico". phys.org. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
18. "HS2 work unearths Stephenson-designed railway turntable". BBC News. 2020-03-11. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
19. Kolnegari, Mahmood; Naserifard, Mohammad; Hazrati, Mandana; Shelomi, Matan (2020). "Squatting (squatter) mantis man: A prehistoric praying mantis petroglyph in Iran". 29 (1). Journal of Orthoptera Research: 41–44. doi:10.3897/jor.29.39400. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
20. Blomster, Jeffrey P.; Salazar Chávez, Víctor E. (2020). "Origins of the Mesoamerican ballgame: Earliest ballcourt from the highlands found at Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico". 6 (11). Science Advances. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay6964. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
21. Langley, Michelle C.; Hakim, Budianto; Oktaviana, Adhi Agus; Basran, Burhan; Sumantri, Iwan; Sulistyarto, Priyatno Hadi; Lebe, Rustan; McGahan, David; Brumm, Adam (2020). "Portable art from Pleistocene Sulawesi". Nature. doi:10.1038/s41562-020-0837-6. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
22. "Oldest Circular Structure Discovered – and It's Made of Mammoth Bones". Haaretz. 17 March 2020.
23. "Ancient cultic area for warrior-god uncovered in Iraq". Live Science. 31 March 2020.
24. "The new Neolithic site that's been discovered in Blaenau Gwent". msn.com. 31 March 2020.
25. "Ancient cave with distinguished engravings depicting scenes of animals discovered in Sinai". ahram.org. 26 April 2020.
26. USS Nevada Shipwreck Located.
27. "البعثة الإسبانية تكتشف مقبرة أثرية نادرة وعملات برونزية بـ«البهنسا» في المنيا". almasryalyoum.com (in Arabic). 17 May 2020.
28. Post, The Jakarta. "Researchers find ancient rooms under Jerusalem's Western Wall". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
29. "Archaeologists Find 300,000-Year-Old Elephant Skeleton in Germany | Archaeology, Paleontology | Sci-News.com". Breaking Science News | Sci-News.com. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
30. "Ancient cave paintings discovered in western Thailand". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
31. "Descubren restos de un barco inglés que naufragó hace más de 200 años en el sureste de México". www.clarin.com (in Spanish). Retrieved May 30, 2020.
32. "Perfectly preserved ancient Roman mosaic floor discovered in Italy". CNN. 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
33. Fox, Alex. "Remains of 60 Mammoths Discovered in Mexico". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
34. "Detectorist 'shaking with happiness' after Bronze Age find". BBC News. 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
35. "Mayans built massive structures thousands of years ago. Researchers found the biggest one yet". NBC News. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
36. "6th millennium BC structure discovered in Saudi Arabia". phys.org. 9 June 2020.
37. Cleopatra: Sex, Lies, and Secrets (Television production). Science Channel. 2020-06-21.
38. Alberge, Dalya (2020-06-22). "Vast neolithic circle of deep shafts found near Stonehenge". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
39. "Iron Age murder victim". The Times (73209). London. 2020-07-11. p. 6.
40. "Descubrieron en el corazón de CDMX restos del Palacio de Axayácatl, pieza clave para entender los sucesos decisivos de la caída de Tenochtitlán". infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved July 13, 2020.
41. "Pre-Hispanic vestiges discovered atop mountain reveal Puebla's archeological wealth". El Universal (in Spanish). 21 July 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
42. News, A. B. C. "Stone tools suggest earlier human presence in North America". ABC News. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
43. "Hallan un centro de almacenamiento de 2.700 años de antigüedad en Jerusalén". www.msn.com. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
44. "Well-preserved mammoth skeleton found in Siberian lake". AP NEWS. 24 July 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
45. "Turkey: 3rd-century statue unearthed in ancient city". Anadolu Agency. 27 July 2020.
46. "Archaeology: Egypt, Ramesses II and Hathor statues found". ANSA. 28 July 2020.
47. "يعود لعصر رمسيس الثاني..مصر تعلن عن كشف أثري جديد بالجيزة". CNN (in Arabic). 28 July 2020.
48. "New Roman fort uncovered in Lancashire after years of speculation". LancsLive. 29 July 2020.
49. "Israeli archaeologists unearth 1,500-year-old Byzantine church". Archaeology World. 30 July 2020.
50. ""Woodhenge" discovered in prehistoric complex of Perdigões". The Portugal News. 4 August 2020.
51. Rémy Crassard; Vincent Charpentier; Joy McCorriston; Jérémie Vosges; Sofiane Bouzid; Michael D. Petraglia (2020). "Fluted-point technology in Neolithic Arabia: An independent invention far from the Americas". PLOS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0236314. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
52. Reuters (2020-01-10). "Mexico City gold was Aztec loot Spanish abandoned as they fled in 1520, tests show". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
53. Mexico recovers rare 500-year-old coins located in the U.S. El Universal (in English) 22 Feb 2020
54. Williams, Sam (2020-03-06). "Remains found in church are those of St Eanswythe, the patron saint of Folkestone". KentOnline. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
55. Alberge, Dalya (2020-05-17). "Joke or toy? 'Mouse' shows playful side of Romans in Britain". The Observer. London. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
56. Lewis, Michael (2020-07-08). "1.5 million archaeological objects have been unearthed by the public, British Museum reveals". London: Portable Antiquities Scheme. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
57. Morris, Steven (2020-07-29). "Archaeologists discover likely source of Stonehenge's giant sarsen stones". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
58. "Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter: SALON". eepurl.com.
59. Muere la arqueóloga subacuática Pilar Luna Erreguerena (in Spanish)
60. "Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter: SALON". eepurl.com.
61. Fallece Pepe el Ferreiro
62. "A los 93 años fallece Ángela Jeria, madre de la expresidenta Michelle Bachelet". La Tercera. 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2020-07-02.