1887 in archaeology

Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1887.

Excavations

 * June–July - Carl Humann works at Hierapolis.

Finds

 * A local woman digging for sebakh at Amarna uncovers a cache of over 300 cuneiform tablets containing diplomatic correspondence of the Pharaohs, now commonly known as the Amarna Letters.
 * German submersible Brandtaucher, which sank on trial in the port of Kiel in 1851, is discovered, and on July 5 is raised.

Publications

 * William Ivison Macadam - "Notes on the Ancient Iron Industry of Scotland", Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
 * Augustus Pitt Rivers - Excavations in Cranborne Chase, vol. 1

Miscellaneous

 * The Reverend George Brown is elected to the Disney Professorship of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge.

Births

 * January 27 - Carl Blegen, American archaeologist of Greece (d. 1971)
 * October 27 - Neil Judd, American archaeologist (d. 1976)

Deaths

 * September 1 - Jules Desnoyers, French geologist and archaeologist (b. 1800)