1770s in archaeology
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The decade of the 1770s in archaeology involved some significant events.
Explorations
- 1773: Don Ramon de Ordoñez y Aguilar examines the ruins of Palenque and sends a report to the Captain General at Antigua Guatemala.
- 1777: The ruins of Xochicalco described by explorer Antonio Alzate.
Excavations
- 1776: October - Vertical shaft sunk at Silbury Hill.[1]
- Formal excavations continue at Pompeii.
Finds
- 1774: Discovery of reputed Roman Baths, Strand Lane, London.
- c.1779: Bronze Age shield found in a peat bog at Beith in Scotland.[2]
Publications
- 1774: Don Bernardo Miera y Pacheco identifies the Chaco Canyon area as "Chaca" on a map. The term, a Spanish translation of a Navajo word, is thought to be the origin for "Chacra Mesa" and "Chaco".
- 1775: Memoire sur Venus, by Pierre Henri Larcher.
Other events
- 1772: The British Museum acquires its first antiquities of note, Sir William Hamilton's collection of ancient Greek vases.
- 1774: May 2 - The Society of Antiquaries of London open the coffin of King Edward I.[3]
- 1777: National Archaeological Museum, Naples, established.
Births
- 1771: March 10 - Georg Friedrich Creuzer, German Greek philologist and archaeologist (d. 1858)
- 1773: June 13 - Thomas Young, English Egyptologist (d. 1829)[4]
- 1774: June 10 - Carl Haller von Hallerstein, German Greek archaeologist (d. 1817)
- 1776
- January 4 - Bernardino Drovetti, Italian antiquarian and Egyptologist (d. 1852)
- March 12 - Lady Hester Stanhope, English archaeologist (d. 1839)
- 1778: November 5 - Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Italian explorer and Egyptologist (d. 1823)
- 1779: May 29 - John Disney, English barrister, antiquarian and archaeological benefactor (d. 1857)
Deaths
- 1771 Francis Drake (b. 1696)