Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1861.

Explorations

• First scientific investigations of Nalanda Mahavihara in Bihar.
• British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham identifies the ancient city of Vaishali with the present-day village of Basrah in Bihar.

Excavations

• June - First modern excavation of the Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave of Maeshowe on Orkney by James Farrer.^[1]
• Excavation of Long Hole Cave in Glamorgan reveals prehistoric flint artefacts.^[2]
• Excavation of Umm al-Amad, Lebanon, by Ernest Renan, abandoned when he finds that the ruins are only about two thousand years old.^[3]
• Excavation of Vergina by Leon Heuzey.

Finds

Publications

• Edward Burnett Tylor - Anahuac: Or Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern.

Events

• Archaeological Survey of India founded.

Births

• October 6 - Gaston Cros, French army officer and archaeologist (killed in action 1915)

Deaths