1953 in archaeology explained

Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1953.

Excavations

• German excavations at Uruk, Iraq resume.

Finds

• Banpo, a group of 6,500-year-old Neolithic settlements on the eastern outskirts of the Chinese city of Xi'an.^[1]
• "Cave of Letters" at Nahal Hever in the Judaean Desert (with correspondence from the Bar Kokhba revolt of ca. 132–136 CE) identified.
• al-Khader Phoenician arrowheads.^[2]
• Jerusalem ossuaries found stored in a cave on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem by Franciscans.
• The Narsaq stick is found in Greenland, the first example of Viking Age runic inscriptions found in the country.
• 1st century Roman leather bikini briefs found in the City of London.^[3]

Events

• November 21: Piltdown Man is shown to be a hoax (first presented by Charles Dawson in 1912).^[4]

Publications

• O. G. S. Crawford - Archaeology in the Field (Dent).
• B. H. St.J. O'Neil - Castles: an introduction to the castles of England and Wales (HMSO).
• Gordon R. Willey - Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Virú Valley, Perú (Bureau of American Ethnology).

Births

• Mensun Bound, Falkland Islands-born maritime archaeologist
• Arlen F. Chase, American archaeologist whose work focuses on Mesoamerica^[5]

Deaths

• March 24: Félix-Marie Abel, French biblical archaeologist (b. 1878)

Notes and References

1. Book: Yang, Xiaoping. 10.1007/978-90-481-8716-4_8. Climate Change and Desertification with Special Reference to the Cases in China. Changing Climates, Earth Systems and Society. 2010. 978-90-481-8715-7. 177–187.
2. Milik. J. T.. Cross. Frank M.. Józef Milik. Frank Moore Cross. Inscribed Javelin-Heads from the Period of the Judges: A Recent Discovery in Palestine. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 134. 1954. 1355623. 5–15. 10.2307/1355623. 163381421. 2022-07-22.
3. Web site: Leather bkinis. Living in Roman London. Museum of London. 2016-06-28.
4. Web site: Ancient History in depth: Piltdown Man: Britain's Greatest Hoax. BBC History. 2017-05-30.
5. Web site: Chase, Arlen F. (Arlen Frank) 1953-. worldcat.org. 2017-06-02.