1868 in archaeology
Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1868.
Excavations
- Charles Warren starts first excavations of Jericho.
- Grime's Graves in the English county of Norfolk is excavated in 1868-1870, including Gallery III2b of Greenwell's Pit.
- The Mammen excavation, a Viking Age site near Viborg in Jutland is excavated.
- At Les Eyzies, France, a cave site is excavated containing Cro-Magnon remains, at the end of La Rue du Scez overlooking Le Havre du Scez.
- At Nymphaeum, a burial site is excavated, with six Scythian tombs.
- In Greece, philologist Spyridon Findiklis and his assistant Ioannis Papadakis begin the first excavations in Thebes and Plataea.
- Alfred Biliotti starts excavations at Ialysos on Rhodes.
Finds
- The Mesha Stele is found.
- At Rome, the remains of the Porta Capena are found.
- At Les Eyzies, France, alongside the Cro-Magnon remains, numerous flint tools of Aurignacian manufacture are found.
- Hildesheim Treasure is found.
- The first Shapwick hoard of Roman coins is found in England.
Births
- January 3: Franz Cumont, Belgian archaeologist and historian
- March 15: Albert Lythgoe, American Egyptologist, curator of the New York Metropolitan Museum
- July 14: Gertrude Bell, British archaeologist
Deaths
- September 10: Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes, French archaeologist