Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1890.

Explorations

• Alfred Maudslay begins his documentation of the Maya ruins of Palenque.

Excavations

• Arthur Evans excavates a Belgae cemetery site at Aylesford.
• J.R. Mortimer begins excavations at Duggleby Howe.
• The Society of Antiquaries of London begins its excavations of Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester Roman Town).
• Merv.
• Flinders Petrie excavates at Tell el-Hesi, Palestine (mistakenly identified as Lachish), the first scientific excavation of an archaeological site in the Holy Land, during which he discovers how tells are formed.

Finds

• Saltley handaxe excavated in Birmingham, the first paleolithic human artefact found in The Midlands of England.^[1]
• Hermes Criophorus statue found in Troezen, Greece.

Births

• April 21: Benno Landsberger, German Assyriologist (d. 1968)^[2]
• September 10: Mortimer Wheeler, British archaeologist (d. 1976)^[3]

Deaths

• August 2 - Charles Roach Smith, British archaeologist; co-founder of the British Archaeological Association (b. 1807)
• October 28: Jean Baptiste Holzmayer, German archaeologist (b. 1839)
• December 26: Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist, excavator of Troy (b. 1822)^[4]