2012 in archaeology

Overview of the events of 2012 in archaeology

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The year 2012 in archaeology involved some significant events.

## Explorations

[edit]

* January - Discovery of a first-century farmhouse on the building site of the new stadium in the south of Marseille.[1]

## Excavations

[edit]

* June 6 - Excavators from Museum of London Archaeology announce that they have uncovered the remains of the Elizabethan Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch.[2][3]
* August 24 - Philippa Langley in association with the Richard III Society, and Leicester City Council, engage University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), and announce that they have joined forces to begin a search for the site of Greyfriars, Leicester, burial place of King Richard III of England.[4][5] On September 5 the excavators announce that they have identified the church.[6][7] and on September 12 it is announced that a skeleton discovered during the search could have been that of Richard III,[8] a supposition confirmed in 2013.[9]
* October - Remains of substantial Mesolithic buildings are identified in Britain at Echline in Scotland,[10] Lunt Meadows at Sefton, Merseyside[11] and from new investigations at Starr Carr in North Yorkshire.[12]
* December - Archaeologists complete excavation of a 900-seat Athenaeum from the time of the Emperor Hadrian in Rome discovered during work on a Metro line at Piazza Venezia.[13]
* Excavation of working-class back-to-back houses from the Industrial Revolution period at Chapel Street in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.[14]
* Excavations at Holt Castle in Wales begin.

## Finds

[edit]

* January
* The use of maize in Peru as early as 4700 BCE is confirmed.[15]
* Evidence for early Mayan tobacco use is published.[16]
* Discovery that the Vikings grew barley in Greenland.[17]
* February 17 - Alabaster colossus of pharaoh Amenhotep III is discovered.[18]
* March - Discovery of an inscribed doorjamb at Karnak giving the hitherto unknown titulary of pharaoh Senakhtenre Ahmose.[19]
* March - A 7th century grave near Cambridge in England provides an early example of the transition from pagan Anglo-Saxon to Christian burial practices.[20]
* March 30 - In Georgia, archeologists report unearthing jars containing what they believe to be the world's oldest honey.[21]
* May - The oldest Mayan astronomical calendar discovered so far, from the 9th century, is reported from Xultun.[22]
* May 9 - Archaeologists announce discovery on The Burren in Ireland of evidence of settlement from 6000 BCE.[23]
* May 19 - The National Trust for Scotland announce that the first cursing stone to be found in the country, dated to circa 800, has been discovered on Canna.[24]
* May 22 - The Bedale Hoard, a hoard of forty-eight silver and gold items dating from the late 9th to early 10th century AD is discovered in a field near Bedale, North Yorkshire by metal detectorists.[25]
* June 25 - In the Channel Island of Jersey, the discovery of the Grouville Hoard of an estimated 30,000 – 50,000 Roman and Celtic coins by metal detectorists is announced.[26]
* July
* Discovery of 15th century underwear at Lengberg Castle in Austria is confirmed.[27][28]
* The wreck of the polar expedition ship Terra Nova is discovered off Greenland by the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor.[29][30]
* September - A beeswax filling is discovered in the cracked tooth of a Neolithic man in Slovenia.[31]
* October - In Jersey, the Trinity Hoard of Bronze Age tools and weapons is discovered.[32]
* November - 2,400-year-old golden treasure near the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, Bulgaria.[33]
* December - Discovery near Canterbury, England, of a 1st-century Iron Age bronze helmet containing a bag of cremated human remains is announced.[34][35]
* Undated
* Devunigutta Temple in India first reported.[36]
* Discovery of a rock inscription confirming the existence of Iry-Hor, the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name.[37]
* Cypriot pottery vessels excavated at Yehud in the land of Canaan (modern-day Israel) subsequently discovered to contain the earliest surviving evidence of opium for use as a narcotic.[38]

## Events

[edit]

* February - Completion of whole genome sequencing on Ötzi (d. c.3255 BCE) identifies his paternal DNA with Sardinia.[39]
* July - Mausoleums and a mosque in Timbuktu (Mali) are deliberately attacked by rebels, a war crime for which Ahmad al-Mahdi in 2016 pleads guilty before the International Criminal Court.[40]
* August - The Krak des Chevaliers is shelled by the Syrian Army.[41]
* November - Study from the Kathu Archaeological Complex in South Africa suggests that hominids, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, may have developed the technology of hafted stone-tipped spears about 500,000 years ago.[42][43]

## Deaths

[edit]

* July 19: Brian Dobson, British archaeologist notable for work on Hadrian's Wall and the Roman Army (b. 1931)[44]
* July 29: James Mellaart, British archaeologist. (b. 1925)[45]

## See also

[edit]

* List of years in archaeology

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Marseille : Une ferme du Ier siècle au pied du Vélodrome". 2013-02-28.
2. ^ "Remains of Shakespeare's Curtain Theatre discovered in Shoreditch" (Press release). Museum of London Archaeology. 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
3. ^ Kennedy, Maev (2012-06-05). "Shakespeare's Curtain theatre unearthed in east London". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
4. ^ "Historic search for King Richard III begins in Leicester". University of Leicester. 2012-08-24. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
5. ^ "Hunt for Richard III's remains under car park". ABC News (Australia). 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
6. ^ "Researchers find strong evidence for medieval church in Leicester where monarch was buried". University of Leicester. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
7. ^ "Search for Richard III confirms that remains are the long-lost Church of the Grey Friars". University of Leicester. 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
8. ^ "Richard III dig: 'Strong evidence' bones are lost king". BBC News. 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
9. ^ "Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king". BBC News. 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
10. ^ "Scottish dig unearths '10,000-year-old home' at Echline". BBC News. 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
11. ^ "Significant archaeological discovery confirms Environment Agency habitat restoration work". Environment Agency. 2012-11-22. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
12. ^ Conneller, Chantal; et al. (December 2012). "Substantial settlement in the European Early Mesolithic: new research at Star Carr". Antiquity. 86 (334): 1004–1020. doi:10.1017/s0003598x00048213. S2CID 162889280.
13. ^ Kington, Tom (2012-12-26). "Hadrian's hall: archaeologists finish excavation of Roman arts centre". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
14. ^ Nevell, Mike (2012-12-25). "Excavating Engels". archaeologyuos. Archived from the original on 2016-11-16. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
15. ^ "Study suggests ancient Peruvians 'ate popcorn'". BBC News. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
16. ^ Zagorevski, Dmitri V.; Loughmiller-Newman, Jennifer A. (January 2012). "The detection of nicotine in a Late Mayan period flask by gas chromatography and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry methods". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 26 (4): 403–411. Bibcode:2012RCMS...26..403Z. doi:10.1002/rcm.5339. PMID 22279016.
17. ^ Hildebrandt, Sybille (2012-02-03). "Vikings grew barley in Greenland". ScienceNordic. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
18. ^ "Armenian archeologist finds colossus of pharaoh Amenhotep III". News.am. 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
19. ^ Sébastien Biston-Moulin: Le roi Sénakht-en-Rê Ahmès de la XVIIe dynastie, ENiM 5, 2012, p. 61-71, available online.
20. ^ "Anglo-Saxon Christian grave find near Cambridge 'extremely rare'". BBC News. 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
21. ^ Lomsadze, Giorgi (2012-03-30). "Report: Georgia Unearths the World's Oldest Honey". Eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
22. ^ "Maya art and calendar at Xultun stun archaeologists". BBC News. 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
23. ^ Hamilton, Andrew (2012-05-09). "6,000-year-old settlement poses tsunami mystery". Irish Examiner. Cork. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
24. ^ "'Cursing stone' found on Isle of Canna". BBC News. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
25. ^ "Viking Hoard revealed in all its beauty". Northern Echo. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
26. ^ "Roman and Celtic coin hoard worth up to £10m found in Jersey". BBC News. 2012-06-25. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
27. ^ Basckin, Deborah (2012-07-30). "Underwear dating back to the 15th Century found in Austrian castle". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
28. ^ "Medieval lingerie from Lengberg Castle, East-Tyrol". Universität Innsbruck. 2012-07-23. Archived from the original on 2016-02-06. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
29. ^ "Polar Expedition Vessel S.S. Terra Nova Discovered". 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
30. ^ Rincon, Paul (2012-08-16). "Scott's wrecked ship Terra Nova found off Greenland". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
31. ^ Bernardini, Federico; et al. (2012-09-19). "Beeswax as Dental Filling on a Neolithic Human Tooth". PLOS ONE. 7 (9): e44904. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...744904B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044904. PMC 3446997. PMID 23028670.
32. ^ "News, Weather & Information for the Channel Islands - Bronze Age axe heads discovered". channelonline.tv. Archived from the original on 2012-11-29. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
33. ^ "Thracian Gold Treasure Discovered in Bulgaria". National Geographic. Washington, D.C. 2012-11-11. Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
34. ^ "Iron Age bronze helmet found on Canterbury farmland". BBC News. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
35. ^ "A Late Iron Age helmet found near Canterbury". Canterbury Archaeological Trust. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-12-11. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
36. ^ Greaves, Laxshmi Rose (2019). "Devunigutta: A Recently Discovered 6th Century Temple in Telangana". Art of South Asia.
37. ^ P. Tallet, D. Laisnay: Iry-Hor et Narmer au Sud-Sinaï (Ouadi 'Ameyra), un complément à la chronologie des expéditios minière égyptiene, in: BIFAO 112 (2012), 381-395, available online
38. ^ Berg, Raffi (2022-09-20). "Earliest evidence of opium use found in burial site in Israel". BBC News. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
39. ^ Palmer, Jason (2012-02-28). "Oetzi the Iceman's nuclear genome gives new insights". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
40. ^ "Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi: The vandal of Timbuktu". BBC News. 2016-09-27. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
41. ^ Fisk, Robert (2012-08-05). "Syria's ancient treasures pulverised". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
42. ^ Wilkins, J.; et al. (2012-11-16). "Evidence for early hafted hunting technology". Science. 338 (6109): 942–946. Bibcode:2012Sci...338..942W. doi:10.1126/science.1227608. PMID 23161998. S2CID 206544031.
43. ^ Morin, Monte (2012-11-16). "Stone-tipped spear may have much earlier origin". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012.
44. ^ "Lives Remembered: Brian Dobson". The Independent. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
45. ^ "James Mellaart". Telegraph.co.uk. 2012-08-03. Retrieved 16 May 2017.