2017 in archaeology

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This page lists major archaeological events of 2017.

Excavations

• May 6–7 – One of the biggest archaeology excavations in Leicester, England is opened to the public over two days. The excavation, overseen by University of Leicester Archaeological Services, has uncovered two large Roman mosaics and two Roman streets. ^[1]
• Summer – First season of rescue excavation of wreck of French-built English ship HMS Invincible (1747) in The Solent. ^{[2] [3]}
• October – Site of Reno nightclub (closed 1986) in Manchester, England. ^[4]
• Autumn – Site of Norman motte-and-bailey castle on Mount Stewart estate in Northern Ireland cleared. ^[5]

Finds

• February – A cave which once held Dead Sea Scrolls is found in the Judean desert by archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The scrolls are believed to have been looted in the 1950s. ^[6]
• March – Archaeologists from Haifa University discover the wreck of a 13th-century crusader ship and its cargo in Acre, Israel. ^[7]
• March 7 – An ancient Egyptian statue of what is initially thought to be Ramesses II is found in groundwater in Cairo by archaeologists from Egypt and Germany. ^[8] The statue is subsequently believed to be of Psamtik I based on inscriptions on the base of the statue. ^[9]
• March 23 – Announcement of discovery of a medieval Jewish cemetery in Rome. ^[10]
• April – Announcement of the earlier accidental discovery at St Mary-at-Lambeth church in London of a vault containing the tombs of five Archbishops of Canterbury dating back to 1610 during refurbishment as a museum. ^[11]
• May 23 – Discovery of the wrecks of SS Ohio (1875) and SS Choctaw in Lake Huron. ^[12]
• May 31 – Announcement of two Roman town houses, thought to date from the 3rd or 4th century, found under Priory Park, Chichester in England. One of the town houses includes a hot room and baths. ^[13]
• June – Archaeologists uncover a city dating back to the 10th century as well as a 12th-century mosque in Eastern Ethiopia. ^[14]
• Summer – Roman boxing gloves found at Vindolanda in the north of England. ^[15]
• August – Boxford Roman mosaic discovered in southern England. ^{[16] [17]}
• August 19 – Heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (launched 1931; sunk 1945) is located in the Philippine Sea. ^[18]
• August 24 – A 6th century mosaic with Greek inscriptions dated from the rule of Justinian I is discovered while installing communication cables in Jerusalem's Old City. ^[19]
• September – Announcement of discovery of two Roman swords and a toy wooden sword in the domestic quarters of Vindolanda, suggesting a hasty departure from the site. ^[20]
• October 5 – Announcement of presumed location of wreck of ocean liner SS Athenia, the first British civilian casualty of World War II, on Rockall Bank. ^[21]
• November 3 – Archaeologists announced the discovery of a 1400 year-old Byzantine sarcophagus with Greek inscriptions on the cover saying "Blessed Kandes sleeps here" in the antique village of Sadak in Satala in Turkey. ^{[22] [23]}
• November 17 – Three Roman-era shipwrecks were found off the coast of Alexandria, which carried a Roman head carving possibly belong to a commander called "Antonio", and three gold coins dating back to the Emperor Octavius. ^[24]
• November 23 – Israeli archaeologists report the discovery of a four-line Greek mosaic inscription at Ashdod, suggesting a Georgian origin on account of its dating to "the 3rd indiction, year 292", which corresponds to AD 539 according to a medieval Christian Georgian calendar. ^[25]
• November 29 – Archaeologists interpret defensive works at Ebbsfleet, Thanet, as evidence of Caesar's invasion of Britain at Pegwell Bay in 54BC. ^[26]
• December 18 – Announcement of discovery of artefacts from the 18th century Clapham's coffeehouse in Cambridge, England. ^[27]
• December 21 – Announcement of discovery of the 1914 wreck of the Royal Australian Navy's first submarine, the British-built HMAS AE1, the first Allied submarine lost in World War I, off Duke of York Islands in Papua New Guinea. ^[28]
• Discovery of early paintings of animals, Celebes warty pigs and anoas (dwarf buffalo), being pursued by human-like figures from (probably) at least 44,000 years BP, in a cave in South Sulawesi (Indonesia) located by an Australian-led team. ^[29]
• A skeleton is excavated near Fenstanton in eastern England which is subsequently identified as a Roman slave victim of crucifixion. ^[30]
• A Fairey Swordfish aircraft, crashed during World War II, is found off Malta. ^[31]

Events

• January 20 – A tetrapylon monument is destroyed and part of a Roman amphitheatre damaged by ISIS in Palmyra. ^[32]
• The Pylos Combat Agate from Griffin Warrior Tomb, excavated in 2015, is cleaned. ^[33]
• DNA analysis of the skeleton of the Birka female Viking warrior excavated on the Swedish island of Björkö in 1878 (and then believed to be male) confirms her sex. ^[34]

Deaths

• January 24 – Peter Woodman, Irish archaeologist (b. 1943) ^[35]
• February 4 – Ivor Noël Hume, British-born historical archaeologist (b. 1927) ^[36]
• March 1 – Dai Morgan Evans, British archaeologist (b. 1944) ^[37]
• June 27 – Bridget Allchin, British archaeologist and prehistorian (b. 1927) ^[38]
• June 29 – Antonio Sagona, Australian archaeologist (b. 1956) ^[39]

See also

• List of years in archaeology

References

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2. "Uncover the secrets of the HMS Invincible this weekend". www.bournemouth.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
3. "HMS Invincible". www.thisismast.org. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
4. Pidd, Helen (2017-10-28). "Digging the Reno: legendary northern nightclub unearthed". The Guardian . London. p. 7. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
5. Leitch, Will (2017-11-17). "Norman-era castle 'hidden by trees'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
6. "New Dead Sea Scrolls cave discovered". BBC News. 9 February 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
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8. "Massive Statue of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Found in City Slum". nationalgeographic.com. 10 March 2017. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
9. Youssef, Nour (17 March 2017). "So Many Pharaohs: A Possible Case of Mistaken Identity in Cairo". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
10. "Medieval Jewish Cemetery Uncovered in Rome". The Jerusalem Post . 2017-03-23. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
11. "Remains of five archbishops found near Lambeth Palace". the Guardian. 16 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
12. "Two century-old shipwrecks discovered in Lake Huron". The Detroit News . Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
13. "Chichester Roman bath house found under Priory Park". BBC News. 31 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
14. "Archaeologists in Ethiopia uncover ancient city in Harlaa". BBC News. 16 June 2017. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
15. "Roman boxing gloves unearthed by Vindolanda dig". BBC News. 2018-02-20. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
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17. Kennedy, Maev (2017-09-02). "Rare Roman mosaic found during Berkshire community project". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
18. "USS Indianapolis discovered 18,000 feet (5,500 m) below Pacific surface". CNN. 2017-08-19. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
19. "Construction workers stumble upon sixth-century mosaic in Jerusalem". ABC News. 25 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
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22. sabah, daily (2017-11-03). "Construction workers find ancient sarcophagus cover in Turkey's Gümüşhane". Daily Sabah. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
23. "Byzantine Sarcophagus Cover Unearthed in Turkey - Archaeology Magazine". www.archaeology.org. 3 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
24. "Remains of 3 ships dating back to Roman era Found in Alex". Egypt Today. 21 November 2017. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022.
25. Bohstrom, Philippe (2017-11-23). "Archaeologists May Have Found Long-lost Byzantine City Ashdod-Yam". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
26. "Julius Caesar's Britain invasion site 'found by archaeologists'". BBC News. 2017-11-29. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
27. "Calf's foot jelly and a tankard of ale? Welcome to the 18th century Starbucks". University of Cambridge. 2017-12-18. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
28. Department of Defence (2017-12-21). "'Found': Australian Navy Submarine HMAS AE1 located after 103 years". Navy Daily . Royal Australian Navy. Archived from the original on 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
29. Devlin, Hannah (2019-12-11). "Earliest known cave art by modern humans found in Indonesia". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2024. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
30. "Crucifixion in the Fens! Slave nailed up in AD130". Metro . 2021-12-09. p. 9.
31. "WII plane found at bottom of sea". Metro . London. 2018-06-21. p. 22.
32. Shaheen, Kareem (20 January 2017). "Isis destroys tetrapylon monument in Palmyra". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 February 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
33. "Ancient Greek 'Masterpiece' Revealed on Thumb-Size Gem". National Geographic. 7 November 2017. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
34. Koffmar, Linda (2017-09-08). "Första DNA-bevisen för kvinnlig vikingakrigare" [First DNA evidence for female Viking warriors] (Press release) (in Swedish). Uppsala University. Archived from the original on 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
35. "Peter Woodman—an Obituary". Archaeology Ireland. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
36. "Ivor Noël Hume, Archaeologist of Colonial America, Dies at 89". The New York Times. 19 February 2017. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
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38. "Bridget Allchin obituary". The Guardian. 23 August 2017. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023.
39. Jamieson, Andrew (12 October 2017). "Scholar brought the ancient world to life". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2017.