1852 in archaeology

Excavations

• January - Excavations of the royal palace at Dur-Sharrukin are resumed by Victor Place.
• Excavations at Nineveh are continued by H. C. Rawlinson.
• Excavations at Babylon by Julius Oppert begin.
• Excavations in the Nile Valley by Hekekyan Bey begin.

Finds

• Antique-collecting grave robbers dig up the bones of Lilias Adie who died in 1704 in custody under investigation for witchcraft at Torryburn, Scotland.
• In May, excavations by Charles Ernest Beulé on the Acropolis of Athens discover the remains of the Beulé Gate.

Publications

• William Michael Wylie - Fairford Graves: a record of researches in an Anglo-Saxon burial place in Gloucestershire.

Births

• March 30 - James Theodore Bent, English explorer, archaeologist and author.

Deaths

• March 5 - Bernardino Drovetti, Piedmontese antiquarian and Egyptologist.
• October 13 - John Lloyd Stephens, American explorer of Maya civilization sites in Mesoamerica.