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The year 1997 in archaeology involved some significant events.

Excavations

  • The exhumation of Yagan's head.
  • Major salvage excavation of Neolithic-era Ashkelon begun by Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (continues to 1998).
  • Excavation at Jericho by Lorenzo Nigro and Nicolò Marchetti.
  • Excavation of cargo of Vietnamese porcelain in the South China Sea off Hội An (Vietnam), directed by Mensun Bound, begins.

Publications

  • Barry Cunliffe – The Ancient Celts (Oxford University Press)
  • Sarah Milledge Nelson (ed.) – The Archaeology of Northeast China: Beyond the Great Wall (London: Routledge).
  • Sarah Milledge Nelson – Gender in Archaeology: Analyzing Power and Prestige (Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press).
  • Bernard Sergent – Genèse de l'Inde (Paris: Payot).
  • R. E. Witt – Isis in the Ancient World (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press).

Finds

  • January 14: Finding of the probable remains of Aristotle's Lyceum in Athens by Greek archaeologists.
  • March: Pioneer Helmet found in a warrior grave at Wollaston, Northamptonshire, England.
  • April: Roman coin hoard found at Patching, West Sussex, England.
  • Herto Man, remains of a 160,000- to 154,000-year-old human, discovered in Ethiopia.
  • Recovery of Homo skeletal remains at least 350,000 years old from the Sima de los Huesos (Pit of Bones) at the archaeological site of Atapuerca in northern Spain begins.
  • Megalosaurus and Cetiosaurus footprints are identified at Ardley, Oxfordshire, by Christopher Jackson.
  • Scauri shipwreck of c.400&ndash;450 is found off Pantelleria.
  • Fragment of a fifth Incantada sculpture in Thessaloniki, northern Greece.
  • Terpsichore statuette in Dodona, Greece.
  • The remains of a Byzantine church in Jabalia in the Gaza Strip are discovered during roadworks.

Events

  • July 10: In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neandertal skeleton which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
  • July 19: Emergency designation of the 18th century wreck of the Hanover off the coast of Cornwall under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.
  • September: Portable Antiquities Scheme begins in England as a pilot voluntary scheme for the recording of small finds of base metal or non-metallic archaeological artefacts found by metal detectorists or other members of the public.
  • Bryn Euryn, an archaeological site near Colwyn Bay, is identified as the probable base of Cynlas Goch, a 6th-century Welsh king.
  • Experimental archaeology: Construction of Guédelon Castle in France using 13th century techniques begins.

Births

Deaths

  • May 17 - James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (b. 1905).
  • June 30 - Su Bingqi, Chinese archaeologist (b. 1909)
  • November 13 - Elisabeth Munksgaard, Danish historian and archaeologist (b. 1924).
  • November 6 - Anne Stine Ingstad, Norwegian archaeologist (b. 1918).
  • October 4 - Anne Strachan Robertson, Scottish archaeologist and numismatist (b. 1910)

References