2015 in archaeology

This page lists major archaeological events of 2015.

Explorations

• September – Start of major excavations at Must Farm Bronze Age settlement in The Fens of eastern England by archaeologists from Cambridge.^[1]

Excavations

• April 9–10 – A winter diving expedition on the Franklin expedition ship HMS Erebus, consisting of Parks Canada underwater archaeologists and Royal Canadian Navy divers, commences.^[2]
• May–October – Griffin Warrior Tomb near Pylos.
• September – Excavation of abandoned Bradford Park Avenue football stadium in England.^[3]
• Excavation of Hill 20, a site in the Battle of Ypres, begins.

Finds

• January 4 – The discovery of the tomb of Khentakawess III in Abusir is announced.^[4]
• January 27 – Discovery of an extinct Homo bone under Penghu Strait in Taiwan named Penghu 1 is published.^[5]
• July – Discovery of two possible tunnels in Tutankhamun's tomb by Nicholas Reeves.^[6]
• December 19 – Discovery of the wreck of a merchant ship in the Indian Ocean, thought to be the West Ridge (lost 1883).^[7]
• Pylos Combat Agate from Griffin Warrior Tomb excavated, but not published until 2017.^[8]

Publications

• January 28 – Nature reports the dating of a modern human skull from Manot cave is the first evidence in support of the Out of Africa theory and shows modern humans living alongside Neanderthals in the Levant.^[9][10]

Events

• March 5–8 – The ancient city sites of Nimrud, Hatra and Dur-Sharrukin in Iraq are demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).^[11][12][13]
• May – The Temple of Baalshamin is destroyed by ISIS.^[14]

Deaths

• January 25 – Giancarlo Ligabue, Italian palaeontologist, discoverer of Ligabueino (b. 1931)^[15]
• February 25 – Sheppard Frere, British archaeologist of the Roman Empire (b. 1916)^[16]
• April 9 – Margaret Rule, British maritime archaeologist (b. 1928)^[17]
• August 18 – Khaled al-Asaad, Syrian archaeologist (b. 1934)^[18]

See also

• List of years in archaeology

References