2013 in archaeology explained

The year 2013 in archaeology involved some significant events.

Excavations

• May
  • Excavations conducted at the Sobibór Museum in Poland unearth an escape tunnel made by victims of the Holocaust in the Sobibor extermination camp.^[1]
  • Excavation of Portuguese carrack Esmeralda, wrecked off the coast of Oman in 1503, by David Mearns begins.^[2]
• Excavation of abandoned Bradford Park Avenue football stadium in England begins.^[3]
• Excavation and recording of the large-scale military terrain model of the Battle of Messines (1917) on Cannock Chase in England is conducted.^[4]
• Excavations of the Roman site at Bloomberg London, beginning in 2010 and including discovery of the Bloomberg tablets, end.
• Excavations conducted in Kaarina found ruins of oldest church building in Finland.^[5]

Exploration

• September - Service tunnel network beneath Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, Italy.

Finds

• February 4 - DNA evidence confirms that bones found in 2012 at the site of Greyfriars, Leicester, are those of King Richard III of England (k. 1485).^[6]
• April - Burial of 5 Celtic warriors at Buchères in France discovered.^[7]
• May - Happisburgh footprints, the oldest hominin footprints outside of Africa, dating to more than 800,000 years ago, are discovered on the beach at Happisburgh, Norfolk, England.^[8]
• June - Chactún, a Mayan ruin, is discovered in Campeche, Mexico.^[9]
• July
  • A substantial and well-preserved section of the Willington Waggonway, an 18th century wooden railway on Tyneside in England, is found.^[10]
  • The unexpected discovery of Pacific walrus bones among 19th-century human burials in St Pancras Old Church graveyard in London (in advance of High Speed 1 railway works) is reported.^[11]
• August - A 500-kg bronze statue of Apollo is found by Palestinian fisherman Joudat Ghrab.^[12] Dated between the 5th and the 1st century BC, the statue is seized by Hamas officials after briefly appearing on eBay.^[12]
• September - Wreck of Lake freighter (sank 1953) located in Lake Superior.^[13]
• November - The Seaton Down Hoard of 22,888 Roman coins is found by metal detectorists in Devon, England.^[14]
• A grave and first remains of what will be identified as the oldest human burial in Africa  - a 3-year old named Mtoto by archaeologists  - from 78,000 years BP are located in Kenya.^[15]
• Wreck found in Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua, subsequently thought to be French ship Beaumont (1762).^[16]

Events

• A wreck found off the coast of modern-day Sweden is identified as the Danish flagship Gribshunden (sank 1495).^[17]
• Experimental archaeology: Construction of Campus Galli, a replica Carolingian monastic community in Meßkirch, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, according to period techniques, begins.

Deaths

• 6 June: Malcolm Todd, English archaeologist of the Roman Empire (b. 1939)
• 24 June: Mick Aston, English archaeologist notable for his work with Time Team (b. 1946)^[18]

See also

• List of years in archaeology

Notes and References

1. Web site: Próba ucieczki z obozu zagłady. Odkryli nieznany tunel w Sobiborze. Gazeta Wyborcza. Wiadomości lokalne. 2013-06-05. 2013-06-11.
2. Mearns. David L.. David. Parham. Bruno. Frohlich. A Portuguese East Indiaman from the 1502–1503 Fleet of Vasco da Gama off Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman: an interim report. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 2016-03-14. 46. 2. 331–350. 10.1111/1095-9270.12175. free. 2016IJNAr..45..331M .
3. Web site: Breaking Ground: Art, Archaeology and Mythology. 2017. National Football Museum. Manchester. 2018-01-16.
4. Book: M.. Brown. K.. Nichol. Messines Model, Cannock Chase, Staffordhire: Excavation and Survey 2013. No Man's Land for Staffordshire County Council. 2014.
5. Web site: Suomen vanhin kirkko löytyi . Leppänen, Mari . 2013-09-04 . Yle . 2020-11-24 .
6. Web site: Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king. BBC News. 2013-02-04. 2013-02-04.
7. Web site: Celtic Burials Discovered in France. Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America. 2013-04-16. 2023-10-21.
8. Web site: Ghosh. Pallab. Pallab Ghosh . Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk. BBC News. 2014-02-07. 2014-02-07.
9. Web site: Ruins of Maya City Discovered in Remote Jungle. Live Science. Megan. Gannon. 2013-06-20. 2018-02-23.
10. Web site: Bell. Dominique. The Willington Waggonway Research Programme. 31 January 2017 . Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. 2018-07-15.
11. Web site: Why Was A Walrus Found Buried Next To 8 Human Bodies In King's Cross?. Alex. Foch. Londonist. 2013-08-13. 2020-11-14.
12. Web site: 'Priceless' bronze statue of Greek god Apollo found in Gaza Strip. The Guardian. London. 2014-02-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20140211112826/http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/feb/10/priceless-bronze-statue-apollo-gaza-strip. 2014-02-11. dead.
13. News: 'Deepest' Great Lakes shipwreck found near Thunder Bay: Scotiadoc found largely intact near Trowbridge Island. CBC News. 2013-10-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20131008202954/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/deepest-great-lakes-shipwreck-found-near-thunder-bay-1.1928781. 2013-10-08. 2020-12-17. live.
14. News: Roman coin hoard, one of the largest found in UK, unearthed by builder. Press Association. The Guardian. London. 2014-09-26. 2019-05-28. Press Association.
15. Earliest known human burial in Africa. María. Martinón-Torres. etal. Nature. 593. 95–100. 2021. 7857 . 10.1038/s41586-021-03457-8 . 33953416 . 2021Natur.593...95M . 10072/413039 . 233871256 . free.
16. News: Excitement over wooden shipwreck found in Antigua's seabed. 2021-10-27. BBC News. 2021-07-25. Gemma. Handy.
17. Web site: Gribshunden: Significance and Preliminary Investigations. Warming. Rolf. Society for Combat Archaeology. 2015-07-01. 2015-08-21.
18. Web site: Dyer. Christopher. Christopher Dyer. Mick Aston obituary. The Guardian. London. 12 March 2017. 25 June 2013.