2016 in archaeology

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This page lists major archaeological events of 2016.

Excavations

January–June – 81 Anglo-Saxon wooden coffin Christian burials of the 7th/9th centuries are excavated in an unusually well-preserved state at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk, England.^[1]
January 12 – Announcement of the discovery and excavation of two roundhouses in an exceptionally good state of preservation at Must Farm Bronze Age settlement in The Fens of eastern England.^[2]
February 19 – Announcement of the discovery and excavation of a largely complete wheel at Must Farm Bronze Age settlement.^[3]
April 17 – Announcement of the discovery and initial excavations of an exceptionally large Roman villa, well-preserved, at Brixton Deverill in Wiltshire, England.^[4]
Summer – Excavation of Early Middle Ages sites at Tintagel Castle on the coast of Cornwall.
November 3 – Announcement of the discovery of a Bronze Age city in Bassetki, Iraq.^[5]
November 24 – Announcement of the discovery of an Early Dynastic Period city and graves near Abydos, Egypt.^[6]
November 30 – Announcement of the excavation of a Black Death plague pit at Thornton Abbey in eastern England.^[7]
Ancient Black Sea shipwrecks – The Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project is initiated; within a few months it locates and investigates 41 shipwrecks off the Bulgarian coast of the Black Sea, some dating date back to Byzantine times.^[8]
Practice trenches probably dug by Australian troops in 1916 at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain in England are excavated.
Foundations of an Anglo-Saxon house at Long Wittenham in the Thames Valley of England are excavated.^[9]

Finds

March
- Announcement of the discovery of a Bronze Age burial site near Morecambe Bay in England.^[10]
- Wrecks in Portsmouth Harbour (England) are identified as World War I German destroyers V44 and V82.^[11]
June 1 – Archaeologists identify a Roman object found during construction of Bloomberg's new offices in the City of London as the oldest known hand-written document in the United Kingdom, dating back to AD 54.^[12]
June 25 – Anglo-Saxon name stone at site of Lindisfarne monastery.^[13]
July – Flower found as part of a Bronze Age votive offering in Lancashire, England.^[14]
September 3 – The second ship of Franklin's lost expedition, HMS Terror (1813), is located.^[15]
September – Wreck of whaleback freighter SS Clifton, lost in 1924, is located in Lake Huron.^[16]
October – An Imperial German Navy U-boat, probably SM UB-85 (sunk 1918), is found off the west coast of Scotland.^[17]
December – Leekfrith torcs in Staffordshire, England.^[18]

Events

October 3 – Announcement that the mound of the motte-and-bailey castle at Skipsea Castle in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England is an Iron Age earthwork, the largest in Britain.^[19]

Deaths

March 6 – María Rostworowski, Peruvian historian (b. 1915).^[20]
March 20 – Stanley South, American archaeologist (b. 1928).^[21]
April 7 – Charles Thomas, Cornish prehistorian (b. 1928)^[22]
July 5 – Beatrice De Cardi, British archaeologist of Asia (b. 1914).^[23]
September 26 – Don Brothwell, British archaeologist (b. 1933)^[24]

References

^ "Great Ryburgh dig finds 81 'rare' Anglo-Saxon coffins". BBC News. BBC. 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
^ "Bronze Age houses uncovered in Cambridgeshire 'best ever'". BBC News. 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
^ "Bronze Age wheel at 'British Pompeii' Must Farm an 'unprecedented find'". BBC News. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
^ "Roman villa unearthed 'by chance' in Wiltshire garden". BBC News. 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
^ "Bedeutende bronzezeitliche Stadt im Nordirak entdeckt" (in German). University of Tübingen. 2016-11-03. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
^ "Egypt ancient city unearthed by archaeologists". BBC News. 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
^ "Thornton Abbey Black Death plague pit excavated". BBC News. 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
^ Coghlan, Andy (2016-10-20). "Dozens of ancient shipwrecks spotted deep beneath the Black Sea". New Scientist. London. Retrieved 2017-09-16.
^ "House of Wessex Anglo-Saxon building opens". BBC News. 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
^ Alberge, Dalya (2016-03-13). "3 rare bronze age burial site lay undisturbed 'for millennia'". The Observer. London. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
^ Keys, David (2016-03-24). "German WWI warships rediscovered in Portsmouth Harbour after lying forgotten for decades". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
^ "UK's oldest hand-written document at Roman London dig". BBC News. BBC. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
^ "Evidence points to earliest Anglo-Saxon monastery - Durham University". www.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
^ Alberge, Dalya (2016-10-01). "3,000-year-old flower found in burial hoard". The Guardian. London. p. 13. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
^ Pringle, Heather (2016-06-13). "Unlikely Tip Leads to Discovery of Historic Shipwreck". National Geographic. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
^ Dier, Arden (2017-09-22). "Great Mystery of the Great Lakes Is Solved: SS Clifton found 100 miles south of last known location in Lake Huron". Newser. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
^ "Wreck of German U-boat found off coast of Stranraer". BBC News. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
^ Kennedy, Maev (2017-02-28). "Detectorists strike gold 20 years after leaving field empty-handed". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
^ "Largest Iron Age monument found at Skipsea Castle". BBC News. 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
^ "María Rostworowski obituary". The Guardian. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
^ "Stanley South Student Archaeological Research Fund". University of South Carolina. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
^ Fowler, Peter (8 May 2016). "Charles Thomas obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
^ "Beatrice de Cardi, archaeologist – obituary". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
^ "In Memoriam Don Brothwell - Archaeology, The University of York". www.york.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2017.

[1] "Great Ryburgh dig finds 81 'rare' Anglo-Saxon coffins". BBC News. BBC. 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2016-11-16.

[2] "Bronze Age houses uncovered in Cambridgeshire 'best ever'". BBC News. 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-12.

[3] "Bronze Age wheel at 'British Pompeii' Must Farm an 'unprecedented find'". BBC News. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2016-02-19.

[4] "Roman villa unearthed 'by chance' in Wiltshire garden". BBC News. 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2016-04-17.

[5] "Bedeutende bronzezeitliche Stadt im Nordirak entdeckt" (in German). University of Tübingen. 2016-11-03. Retrieved 2016-11-07.

[6] "Egypt ancient city unearthed by archaeologists". BBC News. 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2016-11-24.

[7] "Thornton Abbey Black Death plague pit excavated". BBC News. 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2016-11-30.

[8] Coghlan, Andy (2016-10-20). "Dozens of ancient shipwrecks spotted deep beneath the Black Sea". New Scientist. London. Retrieved 2017-09-16.

[9] "House of Wessex Anglo-Saxon building opens". BBC News. 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2019-11-29.

[10] Alberge, Dalya (2016-03-13). "3 rare bronze age burial site lay undisturbed 'for millennia'". The Observer. London. Retrieved 2016-10-04.

[11] Keys, David (2016-03-24). "German WWI warships rediscovered in Portsmouth Harbour after lying forgotten for decades". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2016-04-15.

[12] "UK's oldest hand-written document at Roman London dig". BBC News. BBC. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2016-06-01.

[13] "Evidence points to earliest Anglo-Saxon monastery - Durham University". www.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2017.

[14] Alberge, Dalya (2016-10-01). "3,000-year-old flower found in burial hoard". The Guardian. London. p. 13. Retrieved 2016-10-04.

[15] Pringle, Heather (2016-06-13). "Unlikely Tip Leads to Discovery of Historic Shipwreck". National Geographic. Retrieved 2017-04-10.

[16] Dier, Arden (2017-09-22). "Great Mystery of the Great Lakes Is Solved: SS Clifton found 100 miles south of last known location in Lake Huron". Newser. Retrieved 2017-10-31.

[17] "Wreck of German U-boat found off coast of Stranraer". BBC News. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2016-10-19.

[18] Kennedy, Maev (2017-02-28). "Detectorists strike gold 20 years after leaving field empty-handed". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-02-28.

[19] "Largest Iron Age monument found at Skipsea Castle". BBC News. 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2016-10-04.

[20] "María Rostworowski obituary". The Guardian. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.

[21] "Stanley South Student Archaeological Research Fund". University of South Carolina. Retrieved 30 May 2017.

[22] Fowler, Peter (8 May 2016). "Charles Thomas obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2017.

[23] "Beatrice de Cardi, archaeologist – obituary". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2017.

[24] "In Memoriam Don Brothwell - Archaeology, The University of York". www.york.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2017.

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Excavations

Finds

Events

Deaths

See also

References