1840 in archaeology
Encyclopedia
Explorations
- John Lloyd StephensJohn Lloyd StephensJohn Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America and in the planning of the Panama railroad....
and Frederick CatherwoodFrederick CatherwoodFrederick Catherwood was an English artist and architect, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization. He explored Mesoamerica in the mid 19th century with writer John Lloyd Stephens...
explore ruins of the Maya civilizationMaya civilizationThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
including QuiriguáQuiriguáQuiriguá is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the department of Izabal in south-eastern Guatemala. It is a medium-sized site covering approximately along the lower Motagua River, with the ceremonial center about from the north bank. During the Maya Classic Period , Quiriguá was situated at...
, Q'umarkaj, PalenquePalenquePalenque was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 AD...
, and UxmalUxmalUxmal was dominant from 875 to 900 CE. The site appears to have been the capital of a regional state in the Puuc region from 850-950 CE. The Maya dynasty expanded their dominion over their neighbors. This prominence didn't last long...
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Births
- February 7 - Charles WarrenCharles WarrenGeneral Sir Charles Warren, GCMG, KCB, FRS was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of Temple Mount...
, BritishBritish peopleThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Biblical archaeologistBiblical archaeologyFor the movement associated with William F. Albright and also known as biblical archaeology, see Biblical archaeology school. For the interpretation of biblical archaeology in relation to biblical historicity, see The Bible and history....
(d. 19271927 in archaeologyThe year 1927 in archaeology involved some significant events.- Excavations:* Large scale excavations begin at Peking Man Site in Zhoukoudian, China under Canadian paleoanthropologist Davidson Black with support from the Rockefeller Foundation....
) - March 26 - George SmithGeorge Smith (assyriologist)George Smith , was a pioneering English Assyriologist who first discovered and translated the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest-known written work of literature.-Early life and early career:...
, British Assyriologist (d. 18761876 in archaeologyThe year 1876 in archaeology involved some significant events.-Finds:* The "Mask of Agamemnon" found at Mycenae by Heinrich Schliemann. Later in the year Schliemann supposedly telegraphs a Greek newspaper "I have gazed on the face of Agamemnon"....
) - August 6 - Adolph Francis Alphonse BandelierAdolph Francis Alphonse BandelierAdolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier was an American archaeologist after whom Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, United States, is named....
, SwissSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
-born New WorldNew WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
archaeologist (d. 19141914 in archaeologyThe year 1914 in archaeology involved some significant events.-Explorations:* March 29 - Katherine Routledge and her husband William Scoresby Routledge arrive on Easter Island to make the first true study of it .- Excavations:...
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