1994 in archaeology explained

The year 1994 in archaeology involved some significant events.

Excavations

• National Institute of Anthropology and History excavations at Maya site of Chacchoben begin
• Ruth Shady's work on the Norte Chico civilization site at Caral in Peru begins
• Martin Carver's excavations of an early medieval Pictish monastery at Portmahomack, Scotland, begin
• Jeffrey P. Brain begins work on the Popham Colony^[1]

Publications

• Alan K. Bowman – Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and its People (British Museum).
• Marc Bermann – Lukurmata: Household Archaeology in Prehispanic Bolivia (Princeton University Press).
• Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Paolo Menozzi and Alberto Piazza – The History and Geography of Human Genes (Princeton University Press).
• Gillian Hutchinson – Medieval Ships and Shipping (Leicester University Press).
• Naomi F. Miller and Kathryn L. Gleason (ed.) – The Archaeology of Garden and Field (University of Pennsylvania Press).
• John Schofield and Alan Vince – Medieval Towns (Leicester University Press).

Finds

• 26 June – British submarine, lost on sea trials in 1943,^[2] is rediscovered in the Sound of Bute off the west coast of Scotland.^[3]
• Late – Marine archaeologists led by Jean-Yves Empereur find remains of the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt.^[4]
• December
  • Spotted horses and human hands, Pech Merle cave, Dordogne, France (painted c. 16000 BC).
  • Wall painting with horses, rhinoceroses and aurochs, Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, Ardèche Gorges, France (made c. 25,000–17,000 BC).
• Kafkania pebble.
• Moroccan gold coins and jewellery discovered at Salcombe Cannon Wreck site off the coast of south-west England.
• Diver Colin Martin discovers the wreck of the Hanover (built 1757) off the coast of Cornwall.
• Sannai-Maruyama Site discovered at Aomori, northern Honshu, Japan (mainly of Jōmon period).
• Recovery of Homo antecessor skeletal remains from the Trinchera Dolina at the archaeological site of Atapuerca in northern Spain begins; these are the oldest known hominid fossils found in western Europe (between 850,000 and 780,000 years old).
• 'Ardi', the fossilized skeletal remains of a female Ardipithecus ramidus, discovered at Aramis, Ethiopia, in the Afar Depression, the oldest known hominid fossil (4.4 million years old).
• First of the Schöningen spears.^[5]

Other events

• 16 January – British archaeological television series Time Team first shown on Channel 4.
• 12 March – Kabul Museum building hit by rocket fire and destroyed.
• ASPRO chronology published.^[6]
• The British Library acquires the Kharosti scrolls, the oldest collection of Buddhist manuscripts in the world.

Deaths

• 10 March – Rupert Bruce-Mitford, English archaeologist (b. 1914)
• 27 March – Elisabeth Schmid, German archaeologist and osteologist (b. 1912)^[7]
• 8 September – Margaret Guido, English archaeologist (b. 1912)
• 10 October – Richard J. C. Atkinson, English archaeologist and prehistorian (b. 1920)^[8]

Notes and References

1. Woodard, Colin (August 15, 2007). "Popham, Maine's 'lost' colony, to get its modest due". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
2. Web site: The Loss of HM Submarine Vandal (P64) off the Isle of Arran in 1943. ClydeMaritime. Angus. MacKinnon. 2010. 2018-02-24.
3. Web site: HMS/M Vandal: Inchmarnock Water, Sound of Bute, Firth of Clyde. Canmore. Historic Environment Scotland. Edinburgh. 2011. 2018-02-24.
4. Web site: Nova. Treasures of the Sunken City. 2012-01-12. November 1997.
5. Conard. Nicholas J.. Serangeli. Jordi. Bigga. Gerlinde. Rots. Veerle. May 2020. A 300,000-year-old throwing stick from Schöningen, northern Germany, documents the evolution of human hunting. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 4. 5. 690–693. 10.1038/s41559-020-1139-0. 32313174. 2020NatEE...4..690C . 216033478. 2397-334X. subscription.
6. Web site: ASPRO: Atlas des Sites du Proche-Orient. 11 June 2013 . Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux. 2020-06-22.
7. Book: Ogilvie. Marilyn. Harvey. Joy. Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie. Joy Harvey. The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century. 2003. Routledge. 9781135963422.
8. Web site: Obituary: Professor Richard Atkinson. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/obituary-professor-richard-atkinson-1443428.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription . live. The Independent. 30 May 2017. 17 October 1994.