1927 in archaeology

Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1927.

Explorations

Large scale excavations begin at Peking Man Site in Zhoukoudian, China under Canadian paleoanthropologist Davidson Black with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
The Swedish Cyprus Expedition begins 3½ years of excavations under Einar Gjerstad.
Excavations at Skara Brae begin under V. Gordon Childe (completed in 1930).[1]
Excavations at Tepe Gawra begin by an American team under Ephraim Avigdor Speiser.
Pločnik archaeological site discovered in southern Serbia, with findings of the Vinca culture (5500 BC).
Excavations begin at Garðar Cathedral Ruins.

Davidson Black's excavations at Peking Man Site in Zhoukoudian, China yield a human tooth that he proposed belonged to a new species that he names Sinanthropus pekinensis.
Skeleton of Asselar man discovered by Théodore Monod and Wladimir Besnard in the Adrar des Ifoghas.
Kents Cavern 4 maxilla found in England.
Leonard Woolley's excavations at Ur uncover the Enheduanna calcite disc.
"Priest-King" sculpture from the Indus Valley Civilisation found at Mohenjo-daro.[2]
First location of wreckage from the VOC Zuytdorp in Western Australia.
Pilot Percy Maitland observes stone wheel-like structures across Syria and Saudi Arabia.[3]

March - The journal Antiquity is first published in the United Kingdom. In the first two issues, the editor O. G. S. Crawford dismisses the Glozel artifacts as largely fakes.[4]
Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs is first published.

Work begins on draining Lake Nemi to recover the Nemi ships.
December - An international commission declares most artefacts from the excavations at Glozel to be forgeries.

January 14 - Rodolphe Kasser, Swiss philologist and archaeologist (d. 2013)[5]
February 10 - Bridget Allchin, British archaeologist and prehistorian (d. 2017)[6]
July 1 - Leo Klejn, Russian archaeologist, anthropologist and philologist (d. 2019)
August 20 - John Boardman, British classical archaeologist and art historian (d. 2024)[7]
November 4 - Ivor Noël Hume, British historical archaeologist (d. 2017)[8]

January 21 - Gen. Sir Charles Warren, British Biblical archaeologist (born 1840)

^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Skara Brae (Site no. HY21NW 12)". Retrieved 21 June 2025.
^ Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark. ""Priest King," Mohenjo-daro". Harappa.com. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
^ Hartston, William (2017). "Who built thousands of giant stone wheel-like structures in the Middle East?". The Bumper Book of Things That Nobody Knows. London: Atlantic Books. pp. 383–4. ISBN 978-1-78649-998-1.
^ Magnusson, Magnus (2007) [2006]. Fakers, Forgers & Phoneys. Edinburgh: Mainstream. pp. 144–4. ISBN 978-1-84596-210-4.
^ "Profiles". nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
^ "Bridget Allchin obituary". The Guardian. 23 August 2017.
^ Interview with Diana Scarisbrick. Apollo, May 2006 Archived 2007-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Ivor Noël Hume, Archaeologist of Colonial America, Dies at 89". The New York Times. 19 February 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2017.