Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1899.

Events

• 31 December: A large standing stone at Stonehenge falls over.

Explorations

• Tell Halaf, Syria, discovered by Max von Oppenheim.

Excavations

• Excavations of Babylon by Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft directed by Robert Koldewey begin.
• Excavation of Anglo-Saxon town wall in Clarendon Quadrangle of Bodleian Library, Broad Street, Oxford, England.^[1]

Finds

• Chinese oracle bones from the site of Yinxu are identified by Wang Yirong, director of the Imperial College of China, as carrying Shang dynasty writing.
• Roman Empire-related silver plate is found near Qalagah, Azerbaijan.
• Södermanland runic inscription 140.
• Sand quarriers find over 800 fragmentary Neanderthal remains representing at least 12 and likely as many as 70 individuals on the hill of Hušnjakovo in Krapina in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (modern-day Croatia), identified by Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger.

Publications

• John Myres - A catalogue of the Cyprus museum, with a chronicle of excavations undertaken since the British occupation, and introductory notes on Cypriote archaeology.
• Ernest-Théodore Hamy - article on the Dumbarton Oaks birthing figure.^[2]

Births

• 30 December: Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer; co-discoverer of Viking artifacts at L'Anse aux Meadows (d. 2001).
• William Duncan Strong, American archaeologist and anthropologist (d. 1962).^[3]