Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1889.

Excavations

• Early excavations at Lindholm Høje.
• Birka female Viking warrior in Sweden.
• Excavations in Plataea by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens begin.^[1]

Finds

• October – Folkton Drums (decorated Neolithic chalk cylinders) found in a barrow in Yorkshire, England.^[2]
• Tauroctony found in Walbrook adjacent to the site of the London Mithraeum.

Births

• January 22 – Umberto Zanotti Bianco, Italian archaeologist, environmentalist and senator (d. 1963)
• July 18 – Axel Boëthius, Swedish-born archaeologist of Etruscan culture (d. 1969)
• August 5 – Rhys Carpenter, American Classical art historian (d. 1980)
• December 1 – Alexander Keiller, Scottish archaeologist of Avebury (d. 1955)^[3]

Deaths