2007 in archaeology explained

The year 2007 in archaeology

Excavations

• South China Sea shipwrecks.
• River Boyne shipwreck (1530s) off Drogheda in Ireland.
• Large-scale excavation of Buckton Castle in the north west of England begins under the direction of Brian Grimsditch of the University of Manchester Archaeology Unit. The dig concluded in 2010.
• Excavations at Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome begin.^[1]

Finds

• 6 January: Vale of York Hoard of 617 mostly Anglo-Saxon silver coins and 65 other items of precious metal deposited by Vikings soon after 927 CE is discovered near Harrogate in the north of England^[2] (reported 19 July).^[3]
• 15 January: A Jeulmun Pottery Period pit burial containing the c. 2000 BC skeletons of two humans in a death embrace at the Ando-ri Site in Yeosu, South Korea.^{[4] [5]}
• 16 January: A fossilized human skull found at Pestera cu Oase, Romania, is dated to be about 35,000 years old and described to have features of mixed origin, both from modern Homo sapiens and older branches of the genus Homo.^[6]
• 13 February: Excavation of stone percussive tools made by chimpanzees on a site in the Ivory Coast used by chimps 4,300 years BP is announced.^[7]
• April: First discoveries in River Wear at Elvet Bridge in Durham, England.^[8]
• 7 May: A team of Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great, ruler of Judea (1st century BC).^[9]
• 3 August: Mexican archaeologists announce discovery of what is believed to be the tomb of Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl.^[10]
• Summer: Asthall hoard of mostly 15th century gold angel coins found in Oxfordshire, England.^[11]
• September: Rehov beehives, Israel.^[12]
• 1 September: Discovery under a private ground in Marcianise of what is believed to be the rests of the Roman castrum that probably originated the town. ^[13]
• 13 December: Discovery of what is believed to be the wreckage of the Quedagh Merchant, a pirate ship abandoned by Captain William Kidd in the 17th century, by divers in shallow waters off Catalina Island, Dominican Republic reported.^{[14] [15] [16]}
• Gozo Phoenician shipwreck.
• Divers locate a wreck off the Norfolk coast of England which in 2022 will be disclosed to be which ran aground on a sandbank in 1682 with the future King James II of England on board.^[17]
• Spartia temple, Greece.
• Late Iron Age high-status warrior grave found in rescue dig at Chichester in southern England.^[18]
• Early prehistoric artefacts in Misliya Cave, Israel.
• Paleolithic tools from Jwalapuram in India (published).^[19]
• A carving of a mammoth estimated to be 13,000 years old, is found in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, England.^[20]
• Dornier Do 215 light bomber off Waddenzee in the Netherlands.^[21]

Publications

• David W. Anthony - The Horse, the Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World.^[22]
• Dan Hicks - The Garden of the World: an Historical Archaeology of Sugar Landscapes in the Eastern Caribbean.^[23]
• Ruth M. Van Dyke - The Chaco Experience: Landscape and Ideology at the Center Place.^[24]
• Samuel M. Wilson - The Archaeology of the Caribbean.^[25]

Events

• 30 October: Researchers backdate the male remains known as the "Red Lady of Paviland" (discovered in 1823) by 4,000 years to 29,000 years BP, making it the earliest known human burial in Britain.^[26]
• Report on excavation of Kinsey Cave in North Yorkshire finds evidence of the presence of bears and lynx in early medieval England.^[27]

Deaths

• 20 February: Kenneth Steer, British archaeologist and British Army officer (b. 1913)^[28]
• 19 July: Alanah Woody, American archaeologist (b. 1956)^[29]
• 20 October: Stine Rossel, Danish archaeologist (b. 1975)^[30]
• 24 December: Wilhelmina Feemster Jashemski, American archaeologist (b. 1910)^[31]

Notes and References

1. News: Rome's Mausoleum of Augustus reopens after 100 years of neglect. Abigail. Blasi. inews. 2021-02-28. 2021-03-01.
2. Web site: BBC. A History of the World. Object: Vale of York Hoard. 22 December 2017.
3. Web site: Viking treasure trove unearthed. BBC News. 22 December 2017. 19 July 2007.
4. Web site: Early Korea Project News.
5. Web site: Daum and Yeonhap. Korean.
6. Web site: European skull's evolving story. BBC News. 16 January 2007. 17 February 2011.
7. Web site: Ancient chimps 'used stone tools'. BBC News. 13 February 2007. 16 June 2016.
8. News: River Wear excavation yields historical treasures. 2014-06-19. BBC. 2018-12-15.
9. Web site: Urquhart. Conal. Herod's tomb found after 35-year search. The Guardian. 22 December 2017. 9 May 2007.
10. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-mexico-aztec-tomb-summary-box,0,1155875.story newsday.com (Associated Press)
11. Web site: Ashmolean acquires a hoard of angels. 9 December 2010. Media. Ashmolean Museum. Oxford. 11 December 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120927170003/http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2010/100912.html. 27 September 2012.
12. Web site: First Beehives in Ancient Near East Discovered. ScienceDaily. 22 December 2017. en.
13. Corriere di Caserta 2/09/2007
14. Web site: 2007-12-13. Captain Kidd Ship Found. Yahoo News. 2007-12-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20071215091704/http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071213/sc_livescience/captainkiddshipfound. 15 December 2007. live.
15. Web site: 2007-12-13. Captain Kidd's Shipwreck Of 1699 Discovered. Science Daily. 2007-12-13.
16. Web site: Captain Kidd (1645–1701). PortCities London. 2007-12-13.
17. News: Shipwreck The Gloucester hailed most important since Mary Rose. 2022-06-10. BBC News. 2022-06-10.
18. Web site: Found: A Mysterious Warrior From Late Iron Age England. Isaac. Schultz. 2019-07-30. Atlas Obscura. 2020-01-29.
19. Middle Paleolithic Assemblages from the Indian Subcontinent Before and After the Toba Super-Eruption . 10.1126/science.1141564 . 2007 . Petraglia . Michael . Korisettar . Ravi . Boivin . Nicole . Clarkson . Christopher . Ditchfield . Peter . Jones . Sacha . Koshy . Jinu . Lahr . Marta Mirazón . Oppenheimer . Clive . Pyle . David . Roberts . Richard . Schwenninger . Jean-Luc . Arnold . Lee . White . Kevin . Science . 317 . 5834 . 114–116 . 17615356 . 2007Sci...317..114P . 20380351 .
20. Web site: Ancient drawing of mammoth found in Cheddar caves . 2023-02-12 . phys.org . en.
21. FlyPast, No. 315, October 2007, pp. 62–63.
22. Book: The Horse, the Wheel, and Language. 15 August 2010 . 9780691148182 . 22 December 2017. en. Anthony . David W. . Princeton University Press .
23. Book: Hicks. Dan. Beaudry. Mary C.. The Oxford Handbook of Material Culture Studies. 2010. OUP Oxford. 9780199218714. 689. en.
24. Lekson. Stephen H.. A New Deal for Chaco Canyon? (Van Dyke's The Chaco Experience: Landscape and Ideology at the Center Place). Current Anthropology. 50. 4. 579–580. 10.1086/600032. 1 August 2009. 142135600 .
25. Book: Wilson. Samuel M.. The Archaeology of the Caribbean. Cambridge Core. 22 December 2017. en. 10.1017/CBO9780511816505. 2007. 9780511816505.
26. Web site: Age of earliest human burial in Britain pinpointed. University of Oxford. 30 October 2007. 17 March 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110809095612/http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_releases_for_journalists/earliest_burial.html. 9 August 2011.
27. Taylor T. et al. (2007). Revised report on English Heritage (HEEP) funded threat-led 715 fieldwork at Kinsey Cave, High Scar, above Giggleswick Scar, Giggleswick, North Yorkshire (SD 80408 716 65709), SAM No.13248. Archive Report to English Heritage, UK.
28. Web site: Kenneth Steer obituary. www.scotsman.com. 27 March 2007 . 22 December 2017. en.
29. Web site: Virginia City News. virginiacitynews.com. 22 December 2017.
30. Book: Kerner. Susanne. Dann. Rachael. Bangsgaard. Pernille. Climate and Ancient Societies. 2015. Museum Tusculanum Press. 9788763541992. en.
31. News: Holley. Joe. Pompeian Historian Wilhelmina Jashemski. The Washington Post. 22 December 2017. 14 January 2008.