1853 in archaeology
# 1853 in archaeology

Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1853.

## Explorations

* Alexander Cunningham examines and describes the ruins at Harappa in the Punjab
* John Thurnam begins investigating tumuli around Knap Hill in Wiltshire, England

## Finds

* Hormuzd Rassam excavates the clay tablets which will be deciphered as Epic of Gilgamesh
* Winter 1853–54 – Archaeologist Ferdinand Keller identifies the remains of the Meilen–Rorenhaab site, first of the prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich to be located.

## Births

* June 3 – Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist (d. 1942)
* December 26 – Wilhelm Dörpfeld, German architect and archaeologist (d. 1940)

## Deaths

* June 8 – Howard Vyse, English soldier and Egyptologist (b. 1784)
* Charles Masson, British explorer of Buddhist sites (b. 1800)
