1994 in archaeology
Encyclopedia
The year 1994 in archaeology
involved some significant events.
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
involved some significant events.
Excavations
- National Institute of Anthropology and HistoryNational Institute of Anthropology and HistoryThe Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia is a Mexican federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the research, preservation, protection, and promotion of the prehistoric, archaeological, anthropological, historical, and paleontological heritage of Mexico...
excavations at MayaMaya 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...
site of ChacchobenChacchobenChacchoben is the name of a Mayan ruin approximately 110 mi south of Tulum and 7 mi from the village from which it derives its name.- History :...
begin
Publications
- Alan K. BowmanAlan BowmanAlan Keir Bowman FBA is the Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford.Born in 1944 Bowman was educated at Manchester Grammar School, The Queen's College, Oxford and the University of Toronto...
- Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and its People (British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
). - Marc Bermann - Lukurmata: Household Archaeology in Prehispanic Bolivia (Princeton University Press).
- Gillian Hutchinson - Medieval Ships and Shipping (Leicester University Press).
- Naomi F. Miller and Kathryn L. Gleason (ed.) - The Archaeology of Garden and Field (University of Pennsylvania Press).
- John Schofield and Alan VinceAlan VinceDr. Alan George Vince was a British archaeologist who transformed the study of Saxon, medieval and early modern ceramics through the application of petrological, geological and archaeological techniques...
- Medieval Towns (Leicester University Press).
Finds
- Kafkania pebbleKafkania pebbleThe Kafkania pebble was found in Kafkania, some north of Olympia, on 1 April 1994. It bears a short inscription of eight syllabic signs in Linear B, possibly reading . The reverse side shows a double-axe symbol. The inscription is identified by some to be in the Mycenean language, though this...
. - GoldGoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
coinsCOinSContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...
and jewelleryJewelleryJewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
discovered at Salcombe Cannon WreckSalcombe Cannon WreckThe Salcombe Cannon wrecksite is close to two other designated wrecksites in the Erme Estuary which the South West Maritime Archaeological Group was licensed to investigate. In 1992 this group described the Salcombe Cannon site as:...
site. - DiverUnderwater divingUnderwater diving is the practice of going underwater, either with breathing apparatus or by breath-holding .Recreational diving is a popular activity...
Colin Martin discovers the wreckShipwreckA shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
of the HanoverHanover (ship)The Hanover was a two-masted brigantine owned and operated by the Falmouth Packet Company. The Packet trade operated between 1688 and 1852. Hanover was long and was built in 1757....
(built 1757) off the coast of CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. - Sannai-Maruyama Ruins discovered at AomoriAomori, Aomoriis the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the city had an estimated population of 302,068 and a density of 366 persons per km². Its total area was 824.52 km².- History :...
, northern HonshuHonshuis the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
, Japan (mainly of Jōmon periodJomon periodThe is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC.The term jōmon means "cord-patterned" in Japanese. This refers to the pottery style characteristic of the Jōmon culture, and which has markings made using sticks with cords wrapped around them...
). - 'ArdiArdiArdi is the designation of the fossilized skeletal remains of a female Ardipithecus ramidus, an early human-like species 4.4 million years old...
', the fossilized skeletal remains of a female Ardipithecus ramidus, discovered at Aramis, EthiopiaAramis, EthiopiaAramis is a village and archaeological site in northeastern Ethiopia, where remains of Australopithecus and Ardipithecus have been found...
, in the Afar DepressionAfar DepressionThe Afar Triangle is a geological depression that is caused by the Afar Triple Junction which is part of the Great Rift Valley. It overlaps Eritrea, Djibouti and the entire Afar Region of Ethiopia. The Afar Triangle includes the Danakil Depression and the lowest point in Africa, Lake Asal...
, the oldest known hominid fossil (4.4 million years old). - Remains of Homo heidelbergensisHomo heidelbergensisHomo heidelbergensis is an extinct species of the genus Homo which may be the direct ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens. The best evidence found for these hominins date between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago. H...
found at Boxgrove QuarryBoxgrove QuarryBoxgrove Quarry is a gravel quarry and Lower Palaeolithic archaeological site at Boxgrove in the British-English county of West Sussex. It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest...
. - December - Spotted horses and human hands, Pech MerlePech MerlePech Merle is a cave which opens onto a hillside at Cabrerets in the Lot département of the Midi-Pyrénées region in France, about 35 minutes by road east of Cahors. It is the home of one of the few prehistoric cave painting sites in France which remain open to the general public...
cave, DordogneDordogneDordogne is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river Dordogne that runs through it...
, France (painted c. 16000 BC). - December - Wall painting with horses, rhinoceroses and aurochs, Chauvet CaveChauvet CaveThe Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave is a cave in the Ardèche department of southern France that contains the earliest known cave paintings, as well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life. It is located near the commune of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc on a limestone cliff above the former bed of the Ardèche River...
, Vallon-Pont-d'ArcVallon-Pont-d'ArcVallon-Pont-d'Arc is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is a capital of prehistoric and cultural tourism. This small village, peaceful in wintertime, sees its population expand ten-fold in summer...
, Ardèche Gorges, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(made c. 25,000–17,000 BC).
Other events
- 16 January - BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
archaeological television seriesTelevision programA television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Time TeamTime TeamTime Team is a British television series which has been aired on Channel 4 since 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode features a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining...
first shown on Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. - 12 March - Kabul MuseumKabul MuseumThe National Museum of Afghanistan , also known as the Afghan National Museum or the Kabul Museum, is a two-story building located 9 km southwest of the center of Kabul City in Afghanistan. It was built in 1922 during the reign of King Amanullah Khan...
building hit by rocket fire and destroyed. - The British LibraryBritish LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
acquires the Kharosti scrolls, the oldest collection of Buddhist manuscriptsBuddhist textsBuddhist texts can be categorized in a number of ways. The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars: for example, one authority refers to "scriptures and other canonical texts", while another says that scriptures can be categorized...
in the world.
Deaths
- 10 October - Richard J. C. AtkinsonRichard J. C. AtkinsonRichard John Copland Atkinson CBE was a British prehistorian and archaeologist.-Biography:He was born in Evershot, Dorset and went to Sherborne School and then Magdalen College, Oxford, reading PPE...
, British archaeologist and prehistorian (b. 19201920 in archaeology-Excavations:* Work begins at Pueblo Bonito and other sites in Chaco Canyon by Neil Merton Judd for the National Geographic Society .* Work begins on the Philistine site at Ashkelon by John Garstang .-Miscellaneous:* O. G. S...
).