2002 in archaeology explained

Explorations

• First expedition to Sub Marine Explorer in the Pearl Islands by James P. Delgado.

Excavations

• March – Part of the podium of the Temple of Apollo in Mdina, Malta is discovered and subsequently excavated.^[1]

Finds

• February – Remains of oldest known European early modern humans at this time found in Peștera cu Oase, Romania.
• May 1 – Horncastle boar's head, an early 7th-century Anglo-Saxon ornament, probably part of a helmet crest, discovered in the eastern English town of Horncastle by a metal detectorist.
• May 3 – Amesbury Archer, a Bronze Age burial found near Stonehenge in England.
• June – Newport Ship (medieval) in south-east Wales.
• October – Banc Ty'nddôl sun-disc in mid-Wales.
• 3,500-year-old human remains found in the Citadel of Damascus.
• Mask of la Roche-Cotard (Mousterian) found beside the Loire in France.

Publications

• Thebes tablets.

Events

• Brief reappearance and study of Seaton Carew Wreck.
• Ciampate del Diavolo (early hominid footprints in Italy) come to scientific attention.
• December 29 – 70,000 excavated artifacts from the Ōfune Site in Japan are damaged or destroyed when fire breaks out in an exhibition room.^[2]

Deaths

• March 31 – Carlos J. Gradin, Argentine archaeologist (born 1918)^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}
• April 28 – Gordon Willey, American archaeologist (born 1913)^[7]
• June 26 – Barbara Adams, English Egyptologist (born 1945)^[8]

See also

• Syria - ongoing excavations.

Notes and References

1. News: Testa. Michael. New find at Mdina most important so far in old capital. Times of Malta. 19 March 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20160413115810/http://www.maltamigration.com/news/times93020.shtml. 13 April 2016.
2. News: 最古級の漆製品焼失で視察／関係者が北海道南茅部町に. Officials in Minamikayabe, Hokkaido say oldest lacquerware was burned. ja. Shikoku News. 2002-12-30. 2020-11-01.
3. Web site: Lands, Hands And Cyanide: Mining Expansion In Northwest Santa Cruz. 2021-04-21. www.minesandcommunities.org.
4. Web site: Cueva de las Manos. Historia de las Investigaciones en el sitio arquelógico.. 2021-05-01. www.cuevadelasmanos.org.
5. Web site: Identifiants et référentiels pour l'Enseignement. Gradín, Carlos Joaquín (1918-2002). live. 2021-05-23. fr. https://web.archive.org/web/20210501202125/https://www.idref.fr/17058741X . 2021-05-01 .
6. Book: Gradin. Carlos J.. La región pampeana: su pasado arqueológico. Oliva. Fernando. 2004. Laborde. 987-9459-68-7. 1025944494. In Web site: The Library of Congress. Gradin, Carlos J.. live. 2021-06-22. id.loc.gov. no92033009. https://web.archive.org/web/20210502035552/https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no92033009.html . 2021-05-02 .
7. Web site: Obituary: Gordon Willey. theguardian.com. 10 May 2002 . 15 March 2017.
8. Web site: Obituary: Barbara Adams. The Guardian. 9 October 2017. 13 July 2002.