2012 in archaeology
Overview of the events of 2012 in archaeology From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The year 2012 in archaeology involved some significant events.
- June 6 - Excavators from Museum of London Archaeology announce that they have uncovered the remains of the Elizabethan Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch.[2][3]
- August 24 - Philippa Langley in association with the Richard III Society, and Leicester City Council, engage University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), and announce that they have joined forces to begin a search for the site of Greyfriars, Leicester, burial place of King Richard III of England.[4][5] On September 5 the excavators announce that they have identified the church.[6][7] and on September 12 it is announced that a skeleton discovered during the search could have been that of Richard III,[8] a supposition confirmed in 2013.[9]
- October - Remains of substantial Mesolithic buildings are identified in Britain at Echline in Scotland,[10] Lunt Meadows at Sefton, Merseyside[11] and from new investigations at Starr Carr in North Yorkshire.[12]
- December - Archaeologists complete excavation of a 900-seat Athenaeum from the time of the Emperor Hadrian in Rome discovered during work on a Metro line at Piazza Venezia.[13]
- Excavation of working-class back-to-back houses from the Industrial Revolution period at Chapel Street in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.[14]
- Excavations at Holt Castle in Wales begin.
- January
- February 17 - Alabaster colossus of pharaoh Amenhotep III is discovered.[18]
- March - Discovery of an inscribed doorjamb at Karnak giving the hitherto unknown titulary of pharaoh Senakhtenre Ahmose.[19]
- March - A 7th century grave near Cambridge in England provides an early example of the transition from pagan Anglo-Saxon to Christian burial practices.[20]
- March 30 - In Georgia, archeologists report unearthing jars containing what they believe to be the world's oldest honey.[21]
- May - The oldest Mayan astronomical calendar discovered so far, from the 9th century, is reported from Xultun.[22]
- May 9 - Archaeologists announce discovery on The Burren in Ireland of evidence of settlement from 6000 BCE.[23]
- May 19 - The National Trust for Scotland announce that the first cursing stone to be found in the country, dated to circa 800, has been discovered on Canna.[24]
- May 22 - The Bedale Hoard, a hoard of forty-eight silver and gold items dating from the late 9th to early 10th century AD is discovered in a field near Bedale, North Yorkshire by metal detectorists.[25]
- June 25 - In the Channel Island of Jersey, the discovery of the Grouville Hoard of an estimated 30,000 – 50,000 Roman and Celtic coins by metal detectorists is announced.[26]
- July
- Discovery of 15th century underwear at Lengberg Castle in Austria is confirmed.[27][28]
- The wreck of the polar expedition ship Terra Nova is discovered off Greenland by the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor.[29][30]
- September - A beeswax filling is discovered in the cracked tooth of a Neolithic man in Slovenia.[31]
- October - In Jersey, the Trinity Hoard of Bronze Age tools and weapons is discovered.[32]
- November - 2,400-year-old golden treasure near the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, Bulgaria.[33]
- December - Discovery near Canterbury, England, of a 1st-century Iron Age bronze helmet containing a bag of cremated human remains is announced.[34][35]
- Undated
- Devunigutta Temple in India first reported.[36]
- Discovery of a rock inscription confirming the existence of Iry-Hor, the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name.[37]
- Cypriot pottery vessels excavated at Yehud in the land of Canaan (modern-day Israel) subsequently discovered to contain the earliest surviving evidence of opium for use as a narcotic.[38]
- February - Completion of whole genome sequencing on Ötzi (d. c.3255 BCE) identifies his paternal DNA with Sardinia.[39]
- July - Mausoleums and a mosque in Timbuktu (Mali) are deliberately attacked by rebels, a war crime for which Ahmad al-Mahdi in 2016 pleads guilty before the International Criminal Court.[40]
- August - The Krak des Chevaliers is shelled by the Syrian Army.[41]
- November - Study from the Kathu Archaeological Complex in South Africa suggests that hominids, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, may have developed the technology of hafted stone-tipped spears about 500,000 years ago.[42][43]
- July 19: Brian Dobson, British archaeologist notable for work on Hadrian's Wall and the Roman Army (b. 1931)[44]
- July 29: James Mellaart, British archaeologist. (b. 1925)[45]
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