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2026 in archaeology

This page lists significant events in 2026 in archaeology.

Excavations

Finds

January

  • 3 – Discovery of a pristine medieval gold ring adorned with intricate filigree was announced in Tønsberg, Norway.
  • 4 – Traces of human modification beneath dense tropical forest canopy in the Andean Chocó region of eastern Panama was revealed by using LIDAR technology.
  • 6
  • Byzantine-era monastic residential complex was unearthed in Al-Qarya bi-Al-Duweir, Sohag, Upper Egypt, revealing organised early Christian monastic life through well-planned mudbrick buildings, a central church, and Coptic-inscribed artefacts.
  • Late Roman mosaic floor featuring a central Solomon's knot motif was discovered in the ancient city of Smyrna, located beneath the modern city of Ä°zmir, Turkey.
  • 7– Norfolk Carnyx Hoard: Discovery of a near-complete bronze carnyx (war trumpet) together with a metal boar's head flag standard among a 2,000 year-old Iron Age hoard in West Norfolk, England in summer 2025 was announced.
  • 9 – Discovery of a rare 5th-century BC stylus crafted from animal bone was announced during excavations at the ancient Greek site of Gela in Sicily, Italy.
  • 11 – A rare 3,300-year-old faience funerary mask from the Dilmun civilisation was discovered at Al-Hillah site in southern Bahrain.
  • 15
  • Identification of Early Roman marching camps in Germania, providing evidence of Roman military advances into the region during the 3rd century CE.
  • Archaeologists announced the discovery of submerged remains at the El Huarco archaeological complex on Peru's central coast, indicating the site's ancient occupation and complex ritual landscape.
  • 16 – New evidence for the intentional use of geothermal resources during the Neolithic period at Bagno dei Frati within the thermal complex of Terme di Sorano, Italy.
  • 17 – Roman Republican-era tombs including inhumations accompanied by grave goods such as pottery, personal items and animal offerings were uncovered in Rome, Italy.
  • 18 – Researchers from Sevastopol State University announced the discovery of medieval fortress site Isar near the village of Rodnoye in southwestern Crimea.
  • 19
  • Ancient rock paintings on a sheltered rock face depicting geometric patterns, animal figures and abstract motifs were found near Kayseri, Turkey.
  • Remains of a Roman basilica dated to the late 1st century BC were unearthed during rescue excavations beneath Piazza Andrea Costa in the city of Fano, Italy.
  • 20
  • 5,000-year-old human skull bearing evidence of intentional cranial surgery was found at the prehistoric site of Ä°kiztepe Höyüğü, Turkey.
  • A recent epigraphic study revealed the interpretation of previously unreadable inscriptions on ancient Roman wooden writing tablet fragments discovered in Tongeren (ancient Atuatuca), Belgium.
  • 21 – A Roman cemetery associated with the Roman frontier with several hundred graves, including both inhumation and cremation burials was discovered near Brougham, in northern Britain.
  • 23 – A 1,400-year-old tomb from the Zapotec culture was discovered in the municipality of San Pablo Huitzo, Mexico.
  • 24 – A bronze wheel cross dating to the 10th or 11th century AD was found in Havelland, Brandenburg, Germany.
  • 26
  • Earliest evidence of a 430,000 years old wooden tools was announced at the Marathousa 1 site in Greece's central Peloponnese.
  • A well-preserved Bronze Age hilltop settlement dating back to approximately 2400 BC at Harden Quarry in the Cheviot Hills.
  • 27
  • A hidden sacred lake was discovered at the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt.
  • A bronze reliquary cross dating to between the 9th and 11th centuries AD was discovered in the ancient city of Lystra in Konya, Turkey.
  • 29
  • High-status Bronze Age tombs with multiple interments accompanied by rich grave goods, including finely crafted gold and bronze jewellery and pottery was found at the Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus.
  • A 5,000-year-old rock inscription in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula as one of the oldest known visual representations of political domination was identified in Wadi Khamila.
  • 31 – Avar-period archaeological complex including a well-preserved early Avar cemetery with graves containing women's gold and silver jewellery was found in Szeged, Hungary.

February

  • 1 – Rediscovery of a lost metropolis on the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq, believed to be the ancient city of Alexandria on the Tigris was announced.
  • 2 – Remnants of medieval Grimsby with a well-preserved stratigraphic layer protected by waterlogged, anaerobic soil conditions including fragments of leather shoes and aprons were discovered near the historical Flottergate area.
  • 4
  • Several stone masonry foundations and paved surfaces belonging to residential and commercial quarters that were buried after the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée under several meters of volcanic ash and pyroclastic surge deposits were discovered in Saint-Pierre, Martinique.
  • A 3rd-century AD Roman-era female terracotta head figure with a centrally parted, braided hairstyle was found at Magna Roman Fort, United Kingdom.
  • 5 – A reanalysis of a 7,000-year-old roe deer antler headdress found in Eilsleben, Germany, was recently published, suggesting that Neolithic villagers at the site maintained significant cultural interactions with Mesolithic hunter-gatherer<nowiki/>s.
  • 7 – 4,000-year-old mural that provides data on the cosmological and religious frameworks of formative-period Andean societies was discovered at the Los Corrales site in the Supe Valley of Peru.
  • 9
  • Microscopic analysis reidentified a 5,300-year-old copper-alloy artifact from Predynastic Egypt as the oldest securely attested rotary metal drill in the Nile Valley.
  • A multi-year systematic excavation program featuring Bronze Age kurgan<nowiki/>s, a vast Muslim necropolis at the Khojaly Archaeological Complex was reported by the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, Khojali, Azerbaijan.
  • LiDAR scanning and magnetic survey revealed that Gawroniec Hill in Poland was reshaped by human activity during the Neolithic period.
  • Researchers used tree-ring dating, proving that the "Princess of Bagicz" was buried around 120 CE and that her previous radiocarbon results had been artificially aged by a "reservoir effect" caused by a diet of fish from carbon-rich waters.
  • 11 – Excavations beneath the town hall square in Cologne, Germany, revealed Roman-era remains within the Praetorium complex, including a stone staircase dating to the late 1st century AD and a well-preserved 2nd-century lararium, or household shrine.
  • 14 – The discovery of a high-status Early Bronze Age tomb with 31 flint arrowhead<nowiki/>s, two bronze dagger<nowiki/>s, rock crystal was announced in Écouché-les-Vallées, Normandy.
  • 13 – Aerial drone surveys revealed a previously unknown forum and theatre which is believed by some scholars to be Forum Aemilii, founded in the 2nd–1st century BC at the archaeological site of Fioccaglia, in the municipal territory of Flumeri, Avellino, Italy.
  • 15 – The results of 3D scanning and petrographic analysis of Chalcolithic cornets (cone-shaped ceramic vessels) concluded that these vessels likely served as ritual lamps at the Jordanian site of Teleilat Ghassul.
  • 16
  • A 2,000-year-old stone vessel workshop dates to the Second Temple period and contains hundreds of unfinished stone vessels, production waste, and fragments on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.
  • The discovery of a petroglyph estimated to be between 4,000 and 8,000 years old likely linked to the cultural legacy of the Chaima and Kariña peoples was discovered in the Cedeño Municipality of Monagas, Venezuela.
  • A large cast-iron cannon dating to the late 17th to 18th century was discovered 1.5 meters underground at Queen's Gardens in Hull, England.
  • 17 – 35 polychrome wooden panels dating to the 13th and 14th centuries were found beneath a private home in Toledo, Spain.
  • 18 – Study revealed that sophisticated stone-tool technologies, such as the Levallois method, developed gradually across Europe approximately 400,000 years ago during a warm interglacial period that facilitated cultural exchange and the emergence of early Neanderthal traits.
  • 19
  • The discovery of Stolzenberg, a lost medieval town hidden beneath woodland near the settlement of Zagrody was confirmed in West Pomerania, Poland.
  • The discovery of the lost Ottonian royal palace with St.Radegund's Church, the Palatium, fortifications was announced in Helfta, located near Lutherstadt Eisleben, Germany.
  • A limestone structure is discovered featuring massive blocks inscribed with the cartouches of Pharaoh Apries and ceremonial scenes of the king performing rituals at the Tel Aziz site in Mit Rahina (ancient Memphis), Egypt.
  • 20 – Dozens of gold-enamelled terracotta artifacts, including intricate gold-glazed Bodhi leaf ornaments decorated with dragon motifs at the Ho Dynasty Citadel, Vietnam.
  • 21 – The completion of the excavation of a 1,200-year-old elite tomb was announced at the El Caño Archaeological Park in the Coclé province, Panama.
  • 22 – Rock-cut tombs dating to the Old Kingdom of Egypt were discovered at the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis in Aswan, containing inscribed pottery vessels and funerary objects that were later reused in subsequent periods.
  • 23
  • Greek inscription discovered at the Great Mosque of Homs in Syria provided evidence for the location of the long-lost Temple of the Sun, once home to the solar cult of the Roman emperor Elagabalus.
  • A massive two-kilometer-long geoglyph, a ceremonial temple, and a 100-hectare agricultural complex was found in Peru's Chicama Valley.
  • 24 – 10,500-year-old fishing gear, including antler harpoon<nowiki/>s and hook<nowiki/>s with sophisticated notched fastening systems were found in Siberia.
  • 25
  • Well-preserved 15th-century foundation walls of the Marienbrink Monastery church alongside a World War II air-raid shelter beneath the Brinkerhof quarter in Borken, Germany.
  • 2,000-year-old Roman lead ingot<nowiki/>s, which bear inscriptions dating to AD 87 and refer to the Emperor Domitian, were found in Llangynfelyn, Ceredigion, West Wales.
  • A tomb plate belonging to a centurion of the First Italic Legion, which had been inscribed with a verse about being 'pressed by fate' and later reused as building material for a subsequent burial, was found at the Roman military camp of Nove in Bulgaria.

March

  • 1 – The discovery of a prehistoric human skeleton in a submerged cave system on the Yucatán Peninsula, which likely represents an 8,000-year-old burial site was announced in Mexico.
  • 10
  • Archaeologists used innovative imaging and carbon-14 analysis to achieve the first absolute dating of Paleolithic paintings in the Dordogne's Font-de-Gaume cave, revealing that a bison was depicted over 13,000 years ago.
  • The discovery of a 10,000-Year-Old Epipaleolithic site Şika Rika 5 in southeastern Turkey, Mardin, provides early evidence of sedentary communities outside the Tigris Valley.
  • 11
  • A joint Egyptian-German mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities and University of Tübingen uncovered about 13,000 inscribed ostraca at Athribis in Sohag, documenting administrative and daily life activities spanning more than 1,000 years.
  • A study utilizing ancient DNA from North Sea sediment revealed that the submerged landmass of Doggerland hosted temperate forests thousands of years earlier than previously believed, suggesting it was a prehistoric heartland rather than just a land bridge.
  • A submerged stone structure off Øygarden, Norway, identified as a medieval whale trap, provides the direct archaeological evidence of organized whaling practices previously known only from historical sources.
  • 12
  • The discovery of charred hazelnut shells near Bodmin Moor provided radiocarbon evidence that hunter-gatherer communities were active in Cornwall as early as 8500 BC.
  • Discovery of Mesolithic burials dating back approximately 10,000 years that were marked by the placement of animal skulls on wooden stakes were announced in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
  • 13 – A subterranean Cold War nuclear bunker buried on the grounds of Scarborough Castle was rediscovered.
  • 16 – Archaeologists reconstructed a well-preserved Bronze Age warp-weighted loom from Cabezo Redondo, revealing that second-millennium BCE weavers used more technologically advanced textile production techniques than previously understood.
  • 17
  • A radiocarbon study of 136 ancient organic weapons revealed that the bow and arrow spread rapidly across western North America 1,400 years ago, nearly simultaneously replacing the atlatl in the south while coexisting with it in the north for centuries.
  • The ancient DNA study of Palau revealed that its original settlers 3,000 years ago were already a genetically mixed population of East Asia<nowiki/>n and Papua<nowiki/>n descent, a profile that has remained stable for nearly three millennia.
  • 18 – A genomic study of the Southern Andes revealed that ancient communities maintained strong genetic continuity and high-altitude adaptations for over a millennium, utilizing extensive trade and social networks to connect diverse environments long before the arrival of the Inca.
  • 19
  • 15,000-year-old clay beads found in Israel contain the fingerprints of children and adults, suggesting that humans used clay for symbolic and social purposes thousands of years before the development of pottery or agriculture.
  • A fully intact cannonball likely dating to the 1836 Battle of the Alamo buried approximately one meter below ground near the Alamo Church was found at Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
  • A nearly 6,000-year-old Neolithic wooden trackway discovered at Honeygar in Somerset, England.
  • Headless stucco sculptures discovered at Tetlatlahuca in Mexico indicate destruction tied to political or ideological power shifts in Epiclassic Mesoamerican societies.
  • New archaeological research suggests that prehistoric burnt mound<nowiki/>s in Britain and Ireland were primarily used for hide tanning, resolving a long-standing debate over their function.
  • Submerged structures dating up to 2,400 years old were documented beneath the Dicle Dam reservoir in southeastern Turkey, revealing a partially preserved ancient settlement flooded in the late 20th century.
  • A 2,000-year-old Roman funerary monument with gladiatorial reliefs was uncovered near Appian Way in Apollosa, highlighting the social status and public identity of elites connected to gladiatorial games.
  • 20
  • Three well-preserved 17th-century oak barrel<nowiki/>s in Skien, Norway were found revealing how slaked lime was stored and managed for early modern urban construction.
  • A well-preserved Roman funerary inscription discovered after heavy rains in the Livorno, Italy.
  • 21 – A study has identified Mazovia in central Poland as a major centre of large-scale iron production in pre-Roman Europe, dating back to at least the 4th century BCE.
  • 23
  • The discovery of a 5th-century Coptic monastic building was announced at the Al Qalaye site in the Beheira Governorate, Egypt.
  • Nordic Iron Age gold foil figure (“gullgubbe”) depicting a couple was discovered on a farm in Rogaland, Norway, highlighting the ritual and elite cultural practices of early Scandinavian societies.
  • A large medieval funerary complex with over 200 graves was uncovered in Valence, France, revealing a previously unknown burial site centered around an early Christian structure.
  • 25
  • During restoration work near the altar of St Peter and Paul Church in Maastricht (Netherlands), a skeleton consistent with accounts of French musketeer Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan (killed in battle 1673) is found.
  • The discovery of the Melsonby Hoard, one of the largest Iron Age metalwork deposits in Britain, reveals new evidence of elite wealth, ritual practices, and the use of complex vehicles around 2,000 years ago.

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Events

January

February

March

  • 5 – The book “Çovdar nekropolu”, documenting excavations of a Late Bronze–Early Iron Age burial site in Dashkasan with over 150 graves and thousands of artefacts, was officially presented to the public.

April

May

June

August

September

October

November

December

See also

References