1790s in archaeology
Encyclopedia
The decade of the 1790s in archaeology involved some significant events.
Excavations
- 1796: The Roman fort, vicus, bridge abutments and associated remains of Hadrian's WallHadrian's WallHadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
are excavated at Chesters, in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. - 1798: The first recorded excavations at StonehengeStonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
are made by William CunningtonWilliam CunningtonWilliam Cunnington was a pioneering English antiquarian and archaeologist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. His work centred on excavating the barrows of Salisbury Plain. The first recorded excavations at Stonehenge were done by William Cunnington & Richard Colt Hoare in 1798...
and Richard Colt HoareRichard Colt HoareSir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet FRS was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home county, Wiltshire.-Career:Hoare was descended from Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of...
. - Formal excavations continue at PompeiiPompeiiThe city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
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Finds
- 1796 (Summer): RibchesterRibchesterRibchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.The village has a long history with evidence of Bronze Age beginnings...
Hoard and helmetRibchester HelmetThe Ribchester Helmet is a Roman bronze ceremonial helmet dating to between the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD, which is now on display at the British Museum. It was found in Ribchester, Lancashire, England in 1796, as part of the Ribchester Hoard...
found in LancashireLancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. - 1797: The tomb of John, King of England is rediscovered at Worcester CathedralWorcester CathedralWorcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
in front of the altar. - 1799: At the town of RosettaRosettaRosetta is a port city on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. It is located east of Alexandria, in Beheira governorate. It was founded around AD 800....
(Rashid), a harbor on the Mediterranean coast of EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, French troops find the Rosetta StoneRosetta StoneThe Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
, inscribed with GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
/demoticDemoticDemotic may refer to:*Demotic Greek, a variety of the Greek language*Demotic , a script and stage of the Egyptian language...
/hieroglyphs (translated in 18221822 in archaeologyThe year 1822 in archaeology involved some significant events.-Finds:* Turin King List is discovered by Bernardino Drovetti.* First discoveries of Golasecca culture.-Publications:...
by Jean-François ChampollionJean-François ChampollionJean-François Champollion was a French classical scholar, philologist and orientalist, decipherer of the Egyptian hieroglyphs....
).
Publications
- 1793: James Douglas - Nenia Britannica, the first account of the excavation of an Anglo-SaxonAnglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
site (in KentKentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
). - 1797: James HuttonJames HuttonJames Hutton was a Scottish physician, geologist, naturalist, chemical manufacturer and experimental agriculturalist. He is considered the father of modern geology...
, a Scotsman who has been called "the Father of Geology," publishes theories describing the earth as destroying and renewing itself in a never-ending cycle. - 1799: Vice President of the United StatesVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, writing in Transactions of the American Philosophical SocietyAmerican Philosophical SocietyThe American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
4, describes the bones of Megalonyx jeffersoniiMegalonyx jeffersoniiMegalonyx jeffersonii, or Jefferson's ground sloth, is an extinct species of giant ground sloth that lived from the Illinoian Stage during the Middle Pleistocene through to the Rancholabrean of the Late Pleistocene . Its closest living relatives are the two-toed tree sloths of the genus...
, an extinct ground sloth.
Other events
- 1797: January 3 - Three of the stones making up StonehengeStonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
fall due to heavy frosts. - 1798: December 10 - Some antiquities being shipped to England by Sir William HamiltonWilliam Hamilton (diplomat)Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800...
are lost in the wreck of HMS ColossusHMS Colossus (1787)HMS Colossus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Gravesend on 4 April 1787 and lost on 10 December 1798.-Early history:...
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Births
- 1790: December 23 - Jean-François ChampollionJean-François ChampollionJean-François Champollion was a French classical scholar, philologist and orientalist, decipherer of the Egyptian hieroglyphs....
(d. 18321832 in archaeology- Explorations :* Jean-Frédéric Waldeck begins two-year stay at the Maya ruins of Palenque-Publications:* Ippolito Rosellini, Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia begins publication....
), decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphsEgyptian hieroglyphsEgyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood... - 1793: January 22 - Caspar ReuvensCaspar ReuvensCaspar Jacob Christiaan Reuvens was a Dutch historian and archaeologist. He was the founding director of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, the world's first ever professor of archaeology , and conducted the first excavations at the Roman provincial site Forum Hadriani...
(d. 1835), founder of the DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
National Museum of AntiquitiesRijksmuseum van OudhedenThe Rijksmuseum van Oudheden is the national archaeological museum of the Netherlands. It is located in Leiden. The Museum grew out of the collection of Leiden University and still closely co-operates with its Faculty of Archaeology...
, first professor of archaeology - 1796: date unknown - John MacEneryJohn MacEneryFather John MacEnery was a Roman Catholic priest from Limerick, Ireland and early archaeologist who came to Devon as Chaplain to the Cary family at Torre Abbey in 1822...
, priest and early archaeologist (d. 18411841 in archaeology- Publications :* Biblical Researches in Palestine, the Sinai, Petrae and Adjacent Regions by Edward Robinson, based on his survey conducted over several years, proposes identification of Biblical names with modern sites....
) - 1797: October 5 - John Gardiner Wilkinson, English traveller, writer and pioneer Egyptologist (d. 18751875 in archaeologyThe year 1875 in archaeology involved some significant events.-Excavations:*Hermes and the infant Dionysos by Praxiteles or his followers, a Hellenistic or Roman copy after the original of 4th century BC is discovered in the rubble of the ruined Temple of Hera at Olympia, Greece...
) - 1799: December 12 (23) - Karl Brullov, author of Last Day of Pompeii (d. 1852)