Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1838.
Explorations
First scientific expedition visits Tikal, Guatemala
Excavations
Publications
Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis First volume of Austen H. Layard's Nineveh and its Remains Final volume of Lord Kingsborough's 9 volume Antiquities of Mexico
Finds
By March 3 - Gibraltar 1, a female skull from Forbes' Quarry in Gibraltar, later identified as Neanderthal, is found by Capt. Edmund Flint RN May 3 - Benty Grange helmet from a tumulus on Benty Grange farm in the Peak District of England Neolithic hoard at East Ayton in England