title: 1888 in archaeology
text: # 1888 in archaeology
  
  Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1888.
  
  ## Explorations
  
  * Chaco Canyon is surveyed and photographed by Victor and Cosmos Mindeleff of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
  * Heinrich Schliemann attempts to locate the tomb of Alexander the Great in Alexandria, but is denied permission to excavate.
  
  ## Excavations
  
  * May 22 - Augustus Pitt Rivers begins excavation of Bokerly Dyke.
  * Excavations of Hawara in Egypt by Flinders Petrie, finds including papyri containing parts of Homer's Iliad (the "Hawara Homer"), and the Fayum mummy portraits.
  * Excavations of Nippur sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania begin (continues through 1900).
  * Excavations of the Cadmea (Καδμεία, citadel) in Thebes, Greece, by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens begin.
  * Carl Humann directs new excavations in Sam'al and a trial excavation in Tralles (modern Aydın).
  
  ## Finds
  
  * December 18 - Discovery of three villages by Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law Charlie Mason while tracking stray cattle: Cliff Palace, Spruce Tree House, and Square Tower House; now part of Mesa Verde National Park.
  * Llantwit Major Roman Villa.
  * The Mourning Athena relief is found near the Acropolis of Athens.
  
  ## Publications
  
  * American Anthropologist journal is founded.
  * Archibald Sayce, The Hittites: The Story of a Forgotten Empire.
  
  ## Miscellaneous
  
  * January 13 - National Geographic Society formed in the United States.
  
  ## Births
  
  * February 1 - Gertrude Caton Thompson, English archaeologist of Africa (d. 1985)
  * August 16 - T. E. Lawrence, British archaeologist of the Middle East, military officer, diplomat and author (d. 1935)
  * October 6 - Birger Nerman, Swedish archaeologist (d. 1971)
  
  ## Deaths
  
  * March 10 - Lucy Wright Mitchell, American archaeologist (b. 1845)
  