1780s in archaeology

The decade of the 1780s in archaeology involved some significant events.

Explorations

 * 1786: Antonio Bernasconi and Colonel Antonio del Rio examine the ruins of Palenque, making the first map of the site and some crude excavations.

Excavations

 * 1786: Excavation of a Roman villa near Warminster in England by antiquarian Catherine Downes.
 * 1788: Excavations of Roman city of Viroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter) in England by civil engineer Thomas Telford.
 * Formal excavations continue at Pompeii.

Finds

 * 1780
 * Tomb of the Scipios rediscovered in Rome.
 * Discobolus Palombara discovered in Rome.
 * 1781: Roman coin hoards found in England near Eye, Suffolk (approximate date) and Stanmore, near London.
 * 1782: Tomb of Catherine Parr (d. 1548) rediscovered in Sudeley Castle, England.
 * 1786: Gold thumb ring of Senicianus discovered near Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) in England.
 * 1789: The Stony Stratford Hoard uncovered in England.
 * Xagħra Stone Circle first discovered in Malta.

Publications

 * 1785: Engineer Diego Ruiz visits and publishes the first account of El Tajín.
 * 1789: Saggio di lingua Etrusca by Luigi Lanzi.

Other events

 * 1780: December 18 - The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is formed.
 * 1783: The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is incorporated.

Births

 * 1784: July 25 - Richard William Howard Vyse, English soldier, anthropologist and Egyptologist (d. 1853).
 * 1785: November 24 - Philipp August Böckh, German classical scholar and antiquarian (d. 1867).
 * 1786: December 11 - William John Bankes, English Member of Parliament, explorer and Egyptologist (d. 1855).
 * 1787: March 28 - Claudius James Rich, English traveller and scholar (d. 1820).
 * 1788: September 10 - Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, French archaeologist (d. 1868)
 * 1788: December 29 - Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, Danish archaeologist (d. 1865).

Deaths

 * 1780: March 14 - Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre, Spanish-born military engineer and pioneer Classical archaeologst (b. 1702)
 * 1788: February 2 - James "Athenian" Stuart, Scottish architect and archaeologist (b. 1713)