1859 in archaeology

Excavations

• February – Excavation of Viroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter) under Thomas Wright begins.
• Excavation of Nydam Mose in Denmark under Conrad Engelhardt begins (continues to early 1864).
• Excavation of Camirus on Rhodes under Alfred Biliotti begins (continues to 1864).

Finds

• Great Eleusinian Relief in Eleusis, Greece.
• Vigna Randanini Jewish catacombs in Rome.

Publications

• J. M. García publishes an account of Monte Albán.
• Charles Roach Smith — Illustrations of Roman London.

Miscellaneous

• 26 May & 2 June – Geologist Joseph Prestwich and amateur archaeologist John Evans report (to the Royal Society and Society of Antiquaries of London, respectively) the results of their investigations of gravel-pits in the Somme valley and elsewhere, extending human history back to what will become known as the Paleolithic Era.
• Imperial Archaeological Commission founded in Saint Petersburg.
• Royal Geographical Society is given a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.

Deaths

• 6 May: Alexander von Humboldt, explorer, writer

References

References

1. Salmon, Nicholas. (2019). "Documenting Ancient Rhodes: Proceedings of an International Conference held at the National Museum of Denmark, 16–17 February 2017". Aarhus University Press.
2. "Ten marble fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief".
3. Prestwich, Joseph. (January 1860). "On the Occurrence of Flint-implements, associated with the Remains of Animals of Extinct Species in Beds of a late Geological Period, in France at Amiens and Abbeville, and in England at Hoxne". [[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]].
4. Evans, John. (January 1860). "On the Occurrence of Flint Implements in undisturbed Beds of Gravel, Sand, and Clay". [[Archaeologia (London).
5. "DetaLegacies of British Slave-ownership".