1879 in archaeology

Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1879.

Excavations

 * Major excavation at Babylon, conducted by Hormuzd Rassam on behalf of the British Museum. Work continues until 1882.
 * Excavation of the group tomb of the Sacred Band of Thebes who fell in the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) in Boeotia by Panagiotis Stamatakis.
 * Excavation of the stone circles of Junapani by J. H. Rivett-Carnac in Maharashtra.

Finds

 * April 12: Burial of a Thracian chieftain at Dalboki in central Bulgaria.
 * Paintings of bison on the ceiling of the Cave of Altamira in Spain. c.12000 BC; accepted as authentic in 1902.
 * Bronze Age weapons hoard at New Bradwell, Buckinghamshire, England.

Events

 * May 10: Establishment of the Archaeological Institute of America.
 * Establishment of the Bureau of Ethnology.
 * Percy Gardner is elected to the Disney Professorship of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge.

Births

 * March 29 - Alan Gardiner, English Egyptologist (died 1963).
 * July 13 - Alan Wace, English Classical archaeologist (died 1957).
 * September 13 - Harry Burton, English archaeological photographer, known for his photos of the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb (died 1940).
 * Grace Mary Crowfoot, née Hood, English textile archaeologist (died 1957).