1897 in archaeology

Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1897.

Explorations

 * Rudolf Ernst Brünnow and Alfred von Domaszewski begin a two-year expedition to the Arabian Peninsula, including Petra.

Excavations

 * Excavation of Glastonbury Lake Village by Arthur Bulleid and Harold St George Gray begins.
 * Maud Cunnington carries out her first excavations in the Devizes area of England.
 * Excavation of the first Mycenaean chamber tombs in Kolonaki at Thebes, Greece, by Dimitrios Filios.
 * Excavation of Nekhen in Egypt begins (continues to 1899).
 * Excavation of Susa in Iran by a French expedition led by Jacques de Morgan begins (continues to 1911).

Finds

 * May - Yde Girl, a bog body, is discovered in the village of Yde, The Netherlands.
 * August 4 - The "Lady of Elche" Iberian sculpture (4th century BCE) is found at L'Alcúdia near Elche in Spain.
 * Coligny calendar.
 * Alekanovo inscription.
 * Silver and gold tubes of the Maykop culture from a burial mound in Armenia, interpreted in 2022 as drinking straws for communal beer consumption.

Events

 * February 18 - Conclusion of the Benin Expedition of 1897, leading to the Benin Bronzes being carried off to London.

Publications

 * William Copeland Borlase - The Dolmens of Ireland: their distribution, structural characteristics, and affinities in other countries, together with the folklore attaching to them; supplemented by considerations on the anthropology, ethnology, and traditions of the Irish people (3 vols, London).

Births

 * June 1 - Yang Zhongjian, father of Chinese vertebrate paleontology (d. 1979).
 * August 21 - Victor Erle Nash-Williams, Welsh archaeologist (d. 1955).
 * October 30 - Einar Gjerstad, Swedish archaeologist of the ancient Mediterranean (d. 1988).

Deaths

 * May 5 - James Theodore Bent, English explorer, archaeologist and author (b. 1852).
 * May 21 - Augustus Wollaston Franks, English antiquarian (b. 1826).