1956 in archaeology explained

The year 1956 in archaeology involved some significant events.

Excavations

• Large University of Pennsylvania project at Tikal begins.
• Excavations of the Neolithic settlement at Argissa Magoula in Thessaly by Vladimir Milojčić of the University of Heidelberg begin (continue to 1958).
• Excavations of the Danubian Neolithic settlement at Bylany in Bohemia begin.
• Excavations at Brahmagiri.
• Excavations at Teppe Hasanlu begin (continue to 1974).
• Systematic excavation of Diolkos in Greece by Nikolaos Verdelis begins (continues to 1962).^[1]
• Excavations at Longbridge Deverill Cow Down in the United Kingdom under the direction of Sonia Chadwick for the Ministry of Works (continues to 1960).^[2]

Publications

• Documents in Mycenaean Greek by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick; documenting decipherment of Linear B writing.

Finds

• Anders Franzén locates the Swedish warship Vasa, sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628, in Stockholm harbor.
• K. M. A. Barnett discovers Lo Ah Tsai Stone Circle on Lamma Island in Hong Kong.

Events

• W. F. Grimes succeeds V. Gordon Childe as director of the University of London Institute of Archaeology.

Births

• March 24 - Alanah Woody, American archaeologist (d. 2007).^[3]
• April 30 - Antonio Sagona, Australian archaeologist (d. 2017).^[4]
• Yosef Garfinkel, Israeli archaeologist.^[5]

Deaths

• June 6 - Hiram Bingham III, American rediscoverer of Machu Picchu (b. 1875).
• September 6 - Michael Ventris, English co-decipherer of Linear B (car accident) (b. 1922).^[6]
• September 12 - John Garstang, English archaeologist of the Near East (in Beirut) (b. 1876).^[7]
• November 9 - Alan Wace, English archaeologist who worked on Linear B (b. 1879).

Notes and References

1. Verdelis, Nikolaos. "Le diolkos de L'Isthme". Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963.
2. Hawkes . Sonia Chadwick . 1994 . Longbridge Deverill Cow Down, Wiltshire, House 3: A Major Round House of the Early Iron Age . Oxford Journal of Archaeology . en . 13 . 1 . 49–69 . 10.1111/j.1468-0092.1994.tb00031.x . 0262-5253.
3. Web site: Virginia City News. virginiacitynews.com. 22 December 2017.
4. Web site: Jamieson. Andrew. Scholar brought the ancient world to life. The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 November 2017. 12 October 2017.
5. Web site: Garfinkel, Yosef. worldcat.org. 3 June 2017.
6. Web site: Michael Ventris - British architect and cryptographer. Encyclopedia Britannica. 30 May 2017. en.
7. Web site: John Garstang. Britannica.com. 24 May 2017.