2012 in archaeology

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The year 2012 in archaeology involved some significant events.

Explorations

• January - Discovery of a first-century farmhouse on the building site of the new stadium in the south of Marseille.

Excavations

• June 6 - Excavators from Museum of London Archaeology announce that they have uncovered the remains of the Elizabethan Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch.
• August 24 - The University of Leicester Archaeological Services and Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society, announce that they have joined forces to begin a search for the site of Greyfriars, Leicester, burial place of King Richard III of England. On September 5 the excavators announce that they have identified the church. and on September 12 it is announced that a skeleton discovered during the search could have been that of Richard III, a supposition confirmed in 2013.
• October - Remains of substantial Mesolithic buildings are identified in Britain at Echline in Scotland, Lunt Meadows at Sefton, Merseyside and from new investigations at Starr Carr in North Yorkshire.
• December - Archaeologists complete excavation of a 900-seat Athenaeum from the time of the Emperor Hadrian in Rome discovered during work on a Metro line at Piazza Venezia.

Finds

• Discovery of a rock inscription confirming the existence of Iry-Hor, the earliest ruler of Egypt know by name.
• January
  • The use of maize in Peru as early as 4700 BCE is confirmed.
  • Evidence for early Mayan tobacco use is published.
  • Discovery that the Vikings grew barley in Greenland.
• February 17 - Alabaster colossus of pharaoh Amenhotep III is discovered.
• March - Discovery of an inscribed doorjamb at Karnak giving the hitherto unknown titulary of pharaoh Senakhtenre Ahmose.
• March - A 7th century grave near Cambridge in England provides an early example of the transition from pagan Anglo-Saxon to Christian burial practices.
• March 30 - In Georgia, archeologists report unearthing jars containing what they believe to be the world's oldest honey.
• May - The oldest Mayan astronomical calendar discovered so far, from the 9th century, is reported from Xultun.
• May 9 - Archaeologists announce discovery on The Burren in Ireland of evidence of settlement from 6000 BCE.
• June 25 - In the Channel Island of Jersey, the discovery of a hoard of an estimated 30,000 – 50,000 Roman and Celtic coins by metal detectorists is announced.
• July
  • Discovery of 15th century underwear at Lengberg Castle in Austria is confirmed.
  • The wreck of the polar expedition ship Terra Nova is discovered off Greenland by the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor.
• September - A beeswax filling is discovered in the cracked tooth of a Neolithic man in Slovenia.
• October - In Jersey, the Trinity Hoard of Bronze Age tools and weapons is discovered.
• November - 2,400-year-old golden treasure near the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, Bulgaria
• December - Discovery near Canterbury, England, of a 1st-century Iron Age bronze helmet containing a bag of cremated human remains is announced.

Miscellaneous

• February - Completion of whole genome sequencing on Ötzi (d. c.3255 BCE) identifies his paternal DNA with Sardinia.

Deaths

• 19 July: Brian Dobson, British archaeologist notable for work on Hadrian's Wall and the Roman Army