Archaeology Magazine's Top 10 Discoveries of 2008

For some archaeology buffs, 2008 will always be the year of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And we have to admit we were glad to see Indiana back in action again after a 20-year absence (we loved it when he name-checked legendary Australian archaeologist V. Gordon Childe). But we did have some quibbles with the film; let's just say we're not big fans of the theory that aliens invented agriculture and leave it at that.

We also got more letters on our "Indy Spirit Awards" (May/June 2008), a list of archaeologists who embody the adventurous ethos of Indiana Jones, than we have for any other story in years. Most of them took us to task for failing to mention one or another larger-than-life archaeologist. We got enough background from these letters for a decade of profiles.

But as much as crystal skulls were the year's most prominent "artifacts," we're more likely to remember 2008 as the Year of the Earliest North American Coprolites (ancient human feces), or perhaps the Year of the Imperial Roman Marble Heads (two were unearthed in central Turkey). Both stories made our list of the most important discoveries of 2008.

Here you will find the other discoveries that really excited us, along with our first annual list of endangered archaeological sites—ranging from the great Indus city of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan to the rock art of Utah's Nine Mile Canyon.

Sadly, reports of site destruction seem to be just as frequent as announcements of important finds. That's why we were heartened to learn that the world's earliest oil paintings had been identified in caves in Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley, where the Taliban dynamited two colossal Buddha statues in 2001. Even with the world's heritage disappearing at an alarming rate, there are still amazing discoveries to be made.

Sacred Maya Blue Chichén Itzá, Mexico	Wari Masked Mummy Lima, Peru	Kuttamuwa's Soul Zincirli, Turkey	American Genes North America	Oldest Oil Paintings Bamiyan, Afghanistan
First European Atapuerca, Spain	Earliest Shoes Tianyuan Cave, China	Portuguese Indiaman Namibia	Imperial Colossi Sagalassos, Turkey	Origins of Whaling Chukotka Peninsula, Russia

Listing the top or best discoveries for any year is somewhat problematic, and 2008 is no exception. In some cases, we haven't been able to verify what could be major discoveries. In others, the findings were made over a period of years, so that pegging them to 2008 is not really appropriate. And there's the basic fact that, while there was broad consensus, all of us at ARCHAEOLOGY had favorite discoveries or breakthroughs that our colleagues on the staff were not overwhelmed by. So, here is a selection of other important stories we considered for inclusion on the list, but for one reason or another did not.

Ice Age Figurines
Zaraysk, Russia

Reclining Buddhas
Bamiyan, Afghanistan

Mammoths: Hitting
a Genetic Wall?

Our Melting Heritage

Human TB—
Tracking a Disease

Can You Help
Identify this Roman?

History Writ (and
Painted) Large

Under Threat

Even as major discoveries were made throughout the year, important sites worldwide were threatened with imminent destruction. Our list is just a sampling of those that will be lost without intervention on an international scale. Go to list...

Digital Archaeology 2.0

As more and more data go online, both laypeople and scholars are experiencing the world of archaeology in a way that would have been impossible just a few years ago. Read more...

Top 10 Discoveries: 2006 | 2007 | 2009 | 2010