1953 in archaeology
Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1953.
Excavations
- German excavations at Uruk, Iraq resume.
Finds
- Banpo, a group of 6,500-year-old Neolithic settlements on the eastern outskirts of the Chinese city of Xi'an.
- "Cave of Letters" at Nahal Hever in the Judaean Desert identified.
- al-Khader Phoenician arrowheads.
- Jerusalem ossuaries found stored in a cave on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem by Franciscans.
- The Narsaq stick is found in Greenland, the first example of Viking Age runic inscriptions found in the country.
- 1st century Roman leather bikini briefs found in the City of London.
Events
- November 21: Piltdown Man is shown to be a hoax.
Publications
- O. G. S. Crawford - Archaeology in the Field.
- B. H. St.J. O'Neil - Castles: an introduction to the castles of England and Wales.
- Gordon R. Willey - Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Virú Valley, Perú.
Births
- Mensun Bound, Falkland Islands-born maritime archaeologist
- Arlen F. Chase, American archaeologist whose work focuses on Mesoamerica
Deaths
- March 24: Félix-Marie Abel, French biblical archaeologist