The decade of the1780s in archaeology involved some significant events.

• 1786: Antonio Bernasconi and Colonel Antonio del Rio examine the ruins ofPalenque, making the first map of the site and some crude excavations.

• 1786: Excavation of a Roman villa nearWarminster in England by antiquarianCatherine Downes.^[1]
• 1788: Excavations of Roman city ofViroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter) in England by civil engineerThomas Telford.
• Formal excavations continue atPompeii.

• 1780
  • Tomb of the Scipios rediscovered inRome.^[2]
  • Discobolus Palombara discovered in Rome.
• 1781: Roman coin hoards found in England nearEye, Suffolk (approximate date) andStanmore, near London.
• 1782: Tomb ofKatherine Parr (d. 1548) rediscovered inSudeley Castle,England.^[3]
• 1786: Gold thumb ring of Senicianus discovered nearCalleva Atrebatum (Silchester) in England.
• 1789:The Stony Stratford Hoard uncovered in England.
• Xagħra Stone Circle first discovered inMalta.

• 1785: Engineer Diego Ruiz visits and publishes the first account ofEl Tajín.
• 1789:Saggio di lingua Etrusca byLuigi Lanzi.

• 1780: December 18 – TheSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland is formed.
• 1783: TheSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland isincorporated.

• 1784: July 25 –Richard William Howard Vyse, English soldier,anthropologist and Egyptologist (d.1853).
• 1785: November 24 –Philipp August Böckh,Germanclassical scholar andantiquarian (d.1867).
• 1786: December 11 –William John Bankes, English Member of Parliament, explorer and Egyptologist (d.1855).^[4]
• 1787: March 28 –Claudius James Rich, English traveller and scholar (d.1820).
• 1788: September 10 –Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes,Frencharchaeologist (d.1868)
• 1788: December 29 –Christian Jürgensen Thomsen,Danish archaeologist (d.1865).

• 1780: March 14 –Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre, Spanish-born military engineer and pioneer Classical archaeologist (b.1702)
• 1788: February 2 –James "Athenian" Stuart, Scottish architect and archaeologist (b.1713)^[5]

• Archaeology by decade
• 18th century in archaeology
• 1780s in science

• Articles with short description
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• Short description matches Wikidata