2023 in archaeology

January

• 5 – A study reports that notational signs from ~37,000 years ago in caves, apparently conveying calendaric meaning about the behaviour of animal species drawn next to them, are the first known (proto-)writing in history.[1][2]
• 17 – 4,500 year-old Sumerian Lord Palace of the Kings was discovered in Iraq, Girsu.[3][4]
• 27 – 1,600-year-old fragment of Roman dodecahedron unearthed in Belgium, Flanders.[5]

February

• 20 – A study reports that 2,000 year-old disembodied 6.3 inches long wooden phallus toy was revealed at the Roman Fort of Vindolanda by the Newcastle University.[6][7]
• 21 – A 2,000-year-old stringed musical instrument about 35 centimeters long was discovered at the Go Ô Chùa archaeological site in Long An province, southern Vietnam.[8][9]
• 22
  • The remains of two elite brothers were found in a Bronze Age tomb in Tel Megiddo, Israel. The early evidence of a Bronze Age cranial surgery called trepanation was also identified in one of the males.[10][11][12]
  • A study reports the earliest evidence of bow and arrow use outside Africa (see also 12 Jun 20) – ~54,000 years ago in France, showing the earliest known H. sapiens to migrate into Neandertal territories used these technologies.[13][14]
• 26 – 16 individual tombs and 6 funerary complex from the Persian, Roman and Coptic periods were discovered by the Egyptian-Spanish archaeological mission at the Al-Bahnasa archaeological site, Minya, Egypt.[15][16]
• 28 – A study reports that steel chisels were already in use in Europe on the Iberian peninsula around 2,900 years ago.[17]

March

• 1 – Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs inscribed on sandstone blocks was discovered in Old Dongola, Sudan by Polish archaeologists.[18]
• 4
  • A submerged prehistoric site with the remains of extinct species was discovered in the Quintero Bay on the central Chilean coast.[19]
  • A treasure hoard weighing 3 kg was uncovered in a ceramic jar in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland.[20]
• 6 – A Roman era sphinx was revealed at the lower level of the Dendera Temple complex in Qena, Egypt.[21]
• 7 – A 1,800 year-old Roman era stone altar was discovered in the grounds of Leicester Cathedral by the University of Leicester, England.[22]
• 9
  • Evidence of the Romano-Celtic religious temple was discovered near the Lancaster Fort during a hydrogeophysics training session in Lancaster, England.[23][24]
  • A cemetery dated to the Tang Dynasty with over 300 artifacts was unearthed in Datong, China.[25]
  • Pre-Columbian temple complex made of dried bricks with destroyed human burials was discovered near Barranca, Peru.[26]
• 10 – The remains of the Roman amphitheater were discovered at the Roman city of Ategua, Cordoba, Spain.[27]
• 13 – The remains of the watermill structure with an associated building that contained two rooms were identified at a small site near Buckingham, England.[28][29]
• 14
  • A collection of medieval artifacts including a clasp and two denarii, the crosses, rings made of copper wire, silver ornaments from the 11th-12th century AD was discovered in Daromin, Poland.[30]
  • 3 Mycenaean bronze swords dating to the 12th century BC were revealed in the Greek tomb on the Trapeza Plateau in the Peloponnese, Greece.[31]
• 17 – Roman era mosaic made of red, blue and white tiles was discovered by Oxford Archaeology team in Olney, Buckinghamshire.[32][33]
• 18
  • An ancient circular shape ring ditch was uncovered in Derbyshre, England.[34]
  • A serpent sculpture which served to guide the route from the El Templo was discovered at Chichen Itza, Yucatán, Mexico.[35]
  • Adobe walls with 1,400 year-old ancient murals depicting double-faced figurines were discovered at Pañamarca, Peru.[36]
• 20
  • Celestial reliefs depicting the heavens with the signs of zodiac were discovered during re-coloring works in the Temple of Esna, Egypt.[37]
  • Maya burial chamber with offerings and skeletal remains was discovered in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico.[38]
  • More remains of the Matriya Sun Temple with a number of quartzite stone from the time of Horemheb was uncovered in Heliopolis, Egypt.[39]
  • Byzantine period mosaic with a series of floral patterns was revealed by the Israel Antiquities Authority in Shoham, Israel.[40]
• 21 – The remains of a mosaic flooring with geometric pattern below the AD 79 floor level of the corridor was revealed in Pompeii, Naples, Italy.[41]
• 25 – 2,000 Ptolemaic era Ram (male sheep) heads with other votive offerings were uncovered at Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos by the University of York archaeologists.[42]
• 27 – 1,800-year-old Roman era artifacts including statuettes of the goddess Venus, a potter's kiln, coins and clothing pins were discovered by archaeologists in Rennes, northwest France.[43][44]
• 30 – 2,500 year-old Bronze Age treasure with an axe head, two bronze hoop ornaments and jewelry was discovered near Zalewo, Poland.[45]
• 31 – A 1,000-year-old square-shaped brick tomb containing three people from the Jurchen Jin dynasty has been found in Shanxi province, China.[46]

April

• 2
  • 4,500-year-old axe-shaped and tiger patterned ritual weapon was discovered in Wuxi, China.[47][48]
  • The remains of a Roman street and residence have been discovered beneath Exeter Cathedral, Cloister Garden, United Kingdom.[49][50]
• 4 – A number of ancient dwellings including two rectangular buildings, three Bronze Age roundhouses, a Roman-era settlement were discovered by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit team at Newquay, England.
• 6 – A research based on an analysis conducted on human hair published in the journal Scientific Reports has shown direct evidence of drug use by the inhabitants of Bronze Age Menorca in the cult cave of Es Càrritx.[51][52]
• 8
  • A rock-cut Etruscan tomb containing a female burial urn and grave goods dating from the 6th century BC was discovered in Vulci, Italy.[53]
  • Ornate frescos showing Christian scenes with various depictions have been uncovered by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology in Old Dongola, Sudan.[54]
• 10
  • The sunken remains of an ancient Roman villa including marble tiled flooring, and numerous marble columns have been discovered by underwater archaeologists in Baiae, Italy.[55][56]
  • A 4- meter-tall marble Roman statue fragment has been discovered near the St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Chersonesus.[57]
  • 1,5-square-km sand-dune farming with about 370 checkboard crop plots including ceramic, glass, coins and marble fragments was uncovered in Caesarea, Israel.[58]
• 11 – Elite tomb of the noble named Panehsy from the 19th Dynasty with mudbrick walls and offering bearers was discovered in Saqqara, Egypt.[59]
• 12
  • A 40 kg 1,200 year-old ball game marker decorated with a bas-relief glyphic band was discovered in the Casa Colorada complex, Chichen Itza, Mexico.[60]
  • A sunken Nabataean temple dedicated to the deity Dusares along with two marble altars from Roman period was discovered at Pozzuoli, Italy.[61][62]
• 18 – The wreckage of Montevideo Maru, a Japanese auxiliary ship sunk by a United States submarine during World War II with over 1000 captive Australians on board, is discovered in the South China Sea.[63]
• 19
  • Traces of a Roman cemetery with burials and sanctuary was discovered in Elewijt, near Zemst, Belgium.[64]
  • Two ornate stone busts, including jewelry and hairstyles which are thought to be the first facial representations of the Tartessian goddesses were discovered at Turuñuelo, Spain.[65][66]
• 21 – The sacrificial remains of 20 young male were found by INAH in a Mayan pyramid in Moral Reforma, Mexico. Decapitated individuals were associated with the consecration of the pyramid and the consolidation of its relationship with the afterlife.[67][68]

January

• 16 – Poznań Young Researchers' Archeology Conference was held in Poland in Biskupin Archaeological Museum.[69]

February

• 9 – the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Tomb of Meru were opened to the public after the restoration.[70][71]
• 27 – The Archaeological Museum of Elefsina has reopened to the public following the conclusion of restoration works.[72]

March

• 13 – 4th Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Archaeology "Przeszłość ma przyszłość!/ The Past Has a Future!" took place at the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.[73]
• 13 – The National Museum of Antiquities has unveiled a treasure of gold jewelry and silver coins to the public in the Netherlands.[74]

April

• Rosemary Cramp, British archaeologist specialising in Anglo-Saxon studies (born 1929)[75]

• List of years in archaeology