2015 in archaeology

	… 2005; 2006; 2007; 2008; 2009; 2010; 2011; ; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017; 2018; ; 2019; 2020; 2021; 2022; 2023; 2024; 2025 …;
	In science 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
	Art; Archaeology; Architecture; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Science; +...

This page lists major archaeological events of 2015.

Explorations

July–September – Survey and identification of British Royal Navy submarine HMS D5 (sunk 1914 following the Raid on Yarmouth) in the North Sea.
University of Bradford 'Europe's Lost Frontiers' project begins mapping the Palaeolithic landscapes of Doggerland beneath the North Sea.^[1]

Excavations

April 9–10 – A winter diving expedition on the Franklin expedition ship HMS Erebus, consisting of Parks Canada underwater archaeologists and Royal Canadian Navy divers, commences.^[2]
May–October – Griffin Warrior Tomb near Pylos.
September
- Start of major excavations at Must Farm Bronze Age settlement in The Fens of eastern England by archaeologists from Cambridge.^[3]
- Excavation of abandoned Bradford Park Avenue football stadium in England.^[4]
End – Enigma Shipwrecks Project investigates the Levantine Sea.^[5]
Excavation of Hill 20, a site in the Battle of Ypres, begins.
2015–2017 – Investigation of the Pictish site of Dunnicaer.
Excavations at Craig Rhos-y-felin in the Preseli Hills of south-west Wales end (begun 2011).

Finds

January 4 – The discovery of the tomb of Khentakawess III in Abusir is announced.^[6]
January 27 – Discovery of an extinct Homo bone under Penghu Strait in Taiwan named Penghu 1 is published.^[7]
July – Discovery of two possible tunnels in Tutankhamun's tomb by Nicholas Reeves.^[8]
October – Watlington Hoard of Anglo-Saxon silver coins and other items found in Oxfordshire, England, by a metal detectorist.^[9]
December 19 – Discovery of the wreck of a merchant ship in the Indian Ocean, thought to be the West Ridge (lost 1883).^[10]
Pylos Combat Agate from Griffin Warrior Tomb excavated, but not published until 2017.^[11]
Wreck of British Royal Navy submarine HMS Saracen (P247) (sunk 1943) located off Corsica.^[12]

Publications

January 28 – Nature reports the dating of a modern human skull from Manot cave is the first evidence in support of the Out of Africa theory and shows modern humans living alongside Neanderthals in the Levant.^[13]^[14]

Events

March 5–8 – The ancient city sites of Nimrud, Hatra and Dur-Sharrukin in Iraq are demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).^[15]^[16]^[17]
May – The Temple of Baalshamin is destroyed by ISIS.^[18]
June – Welsh metal detectorists discover a large Viking and Anglo-Saxon coin and jewellery hoard at Eye, Herefordshire on the English border but steal and conceal most of the find.^[19]

Deaths

January 25 – Giancarlo Ligabue, Italian paleontologist, discoverer of Ligabueino (b. 1931)^[20]
February 25 – Sheppard Frere, British archaeologist of the Roman Empire (b. 1916)^[21]
April 9 – Margaret Rule, British maritime archaeologist (b. 1928)^[22]
August 18 – Khaled al-Asaad, Syrian archaeologist (b. 1934)^[23]

References

^ "Europe's Lost Frontiers". University of Bradford. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
^ Davison, Janet (2015-04-06). "Franklin Expedition search: Ice dive team ready to discover more secrets of HMS Erebus". CBC News. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
^ "About - Must Farm". www.mustfarm.com. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
^ "Archaeological dig starts at old Bradford football stadium". BBC News. 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
^ Alberge, Dalya (2020-04-18). "Mediterranean shipwrecks reveal 'birth of globalisation' in trade". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
^ "Tomb of previously unknown pharaonic queen found in Egypt". The Express Tribune. Karachi. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
^ Chang, Chun-Hsiang; Kaifu, Yousuke; Takai, Masanaru; Kono, Reiko T.; Grün, Rainer; Matsu’ura, Shuji; Kinsley, Les; Lin, Liang-Kong (2015). "The first archaic Homo from Taiwan". Nature Communications. 6: 6037. doi:10.1038/ncomms7037. PMC 4316746. PMID 25625212.
^ "Inspection of King Tut's Tomb Reveals Hints of Hidden Chambers". National Geographic News. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
^ Kennedy, Maev (2015-12-10). "Watlington hoard of Viking silver casts light on Alfred the Great era". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
^ Millward, David (2018-05-03). "Search for missing MH370 solves 19th-century British shipping mystery". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
^ "Unearthing a masterpiece". University of Cincinnati. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
^ Gallagher, Paul (2015-06-27). "HMS Saracen: Meeting the last survivor of a submarine found 72 years after it was scuttled". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
^ Hershkovitz, Israel; Marder, Ofer; Ayalon, Avner; Bar-Matthews, Miryam; Yasur, Gal; Boaretto, Elisabetta; Caracuta, Valentina; Alex, Bridget; Frumkin, Amos; Goder-Goldberger, Mae; Gunz, Philipp; Holloway, Ralph L.; Latimer, Bruce; Lavi, Ron; Matthews, Alan; Slon, Viviane; Mayer, Daniella Bar-Yosef; Berna, Francesco; Bar-Oz, Guy; Yeshurun, Reuven; May, Hila; Hans, Mark G.; Weber, Gerhard W.; Barzilai, Omry (2015). "Levantine cranium from Manot Cave (Israel) foreshadows the first European modern humans". Nature. 520 (7546): 216–9. doi:10.1038/nature14134. PMID 25629628. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |displayauthors= ignored (|display-authors= suggested) (help)
^ "55,000-Year-Old Skull Fossil Sheds New Light on Human Migration out of Africa". Science News. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
^ "ISIL fighters bulldoze ancient Assyrian palace in Iraq". Al Jazeera. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
^ "Reports: ISIS bulldozed ancient Hatra city in Mosul - RiyadhVision". RiyadhVision. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
^ "Ancient site Khorsabad attacked by Islamic State: reports". Toronto Star. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
^ "Here Are the Ancient Sites ISIS Has Damaged and Destroyed". National Geographic. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
^ "Detectorists stole Viking hoard that 'rewrites history'". BBC News. 2019-11-21. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
^ "In memory of Giancarlo Ligabue". www.ligabuemagazine.it. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
^ Manning, William (2015-03-10). "Sheppard Frere obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
^ "Margaret Rule obituary". The Guardian. London. 2015-04-16. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
^ "Khaled al-Asaad, curator - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2017-05-16.

[1] "Europe's Lost Frontiers". University of Bradford. Retrieved 2019-05-20.

[2] Davison, Janet (2015-04-06). "Franklin Expedition search: Ice dive team ready to discover more secrets of HMS Erebus". CBC News. Retrieved 2015-04-13.

[3] "About - Must Farm". www.mustfarm.com. Retrieved 16 May 2017.

[4] "Archaeological dig starts at old Bradford football stadium". BBC News. 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2017-11-28.

[5] Alberge, Dalya (2020-04-18). "Mediterranean shipwrecks reveal 'birth of globalisation' in trade". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2020-04-21.

[6] "Tomb of previously unknown pharaonic queen found in Egypt". The Express Tribune. Karachi. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.

[7] Chang, Chun-Hsiang; Kaifu, Yousuke; Takai, Masanaru; Kono, Reiko T.; Grün, Rainer; Matsu’ura, Shuji; Kinsley, Les; Lin, Liang-Kong (2015). "The first archaic Homo from Taiwan". Nature Communications. 6: 6037. doi:10.1038/ncomms7037. PMC 4316746. PMID 25625212.

[8] "Inspection of King Tut's Tomb Reveals Hints of Hidden Chambers". National Geographic News. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2017.

[9] Kennedy, Maev (2015-12-10). "Watlington hoard of Viking silver casts light on Alfred the Great era". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2019-12-15.

[10] Millward, David (2018-05-03). "Search for missing MH370 solves 19th-century British shipping mystery". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2018-05-17.

[11] "Unearthing a masterpiece". University of Cincinnati. Retrieved 1 March 2018.

[12] Gallagher, Paul (2015-06-27). "HMS Saracen: Meeting the last survivor of a submarine found 72 years after it was scuttled". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2019-02-24.

[nature15-13] Hershkovitz, Israel; Marder, Ofer; Ayalon, Avner; Bar-Matthews, Miryam; Yasur, Gal; Boaretto, Elisabetta; Caracuta, Valentina; Alex, Bridget; Frumkin, Amos; Goder-Goldberger, Mae; Gunz, Philipp; Holloway, Ralph L.; Latimer, Bruce; Lavi, Ron; Matthews, Alan; Slon, Viviane; Mayer, Daniella Bar-Yosef; Berna, Francesco; Bar-Oz, Guy; Yeshurun, Reuven; May, Hila; Hans, Mark G.; Weber, Gerhard W.; Barzilai, Omry (2015). "Levantine cranium from Manot Cave (Israel) foreshadows the first European modern humans". Nature. 520 (7546): 216–9. doi:10.1038/nature14134. PMID 25629628. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |displayauthors= ignored (|display-authors= suggested) (help)

[14] "55,000-Year-Old Skull Fossil Sheds New Light on Human Migration out of Africa". Science News. Retrieved 2 February 2015.

[15] "ISIL fighters bulldoze ancient Assyrian palace in Iraq". Al Jazeera. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.

[16] "Reports: ISIS bulldozed ancient Hatra city in Mosul - RiyadhVision". RiyadhVision. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.

[17] "Ancient site Khorsabad attacked by Islamic State: reports". Toronto Star. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.

[18] "Here Are the Ancient Sites ISIS Has Damaged and Destroyed". National Geographic. Retrieved 14 June 2017.

[19] "Detectorists stole Viking hoard that 'rewrites history'". BBC News. 2019-11-21. Retrieved 2019-11-21.

[20] "In memory of Giancarlo Ligabue". www.ligabuemagazine.it. Retrieved 16 May 2017.

[21] Manning, William (2015-03-10). "Sheppard Frere obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2017-05-16.

[22] "Margaret Rule obituary". The Guardian. London. 2015-04-16. Retrieved 2017-05-17.

[23] "Khaled al-Asaad, curator - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2017-05-16.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

Explorations

Excavations

Finds

Publications

Events

Deaths

See also

References