1981 in archaeology

List of years in archaeology (table)
… 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 …
In science 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

The year 1981 in archaeology involved some significant events.

Explorations

• June: Owen Beattie of the University of Alberta begins the 1845–48 Franklin Expedition Forensic Anthropology Project (FEFAP) on King William Island to trace Franklin's lost expedition.
• Full photographic survey of the wreck of the Breadalbane in the Northwest Passage.

Excavations

• Ain Ghazal is discovered during road construction outside Amman, Jordan.

Publications

• David Burgess-Wise - Automobile Archaeology (Cambridge, England: Patrick Stephens Ltd).
• Derek Roe - The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Periods in Britain (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul).

Finds

• Ceremonial decorated bronze Celtic Agris Helmet found in a cave near Agris in southwestern France.
• Wreck of RMS Republic (1903) located off Nantucket by Captain Martin Bayerle.

Miscellaneous

• Colin Renfrew is elected to the Disney Professorship of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge.
• June 12 - Film Raiders of the Lost Ark, featuring fictional 1930s archaeologist Indiana Jones, is released.