Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1948.

Explorations

• Caral site in Peru identified by Paul Kosok.

Excavations

• Excavations at Nippur sponsored by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago begin directed by Richard C. Haines.
• Excavations at Kültepe in Turkey resume.

Publications

• Archaeological Institute of America begins publishing the magazine Archaeology.
• Walter W. Taylor publishes A Study of Archeology, a work that carries on from his 1943 PhD dissertation to Harvard University faculty.

Finds

• November - First torc from Snettisham Hoard discovered near King's Lynn, England.
• Therizinosaurus is discovered in Mongolia and is thought to be a very large turtle for several years.

Awards

• Maud Cunnington made CBE for services to archaeology, the first woman archaeologist to receive the honour.

Miscellaneous

• M. M. Postan of Cambridge convenes an influential meeting of archaeologists and historians to discuss the possibilities of excavating medieval peasant houses in England.^[1]
• A Roman mosaic pavement from Brantingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire (England) is stolen.

Births

• July 13 - Richard Avent, British archaeologist, conservationist and civil servant (d. 2006)^[2]

Deaths

• September 2 - Sylvanus G. Morley, American Mayanist (born 1883).