Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1904.
Events
March 18 – Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904 passed in British India.
Explorations
Leo Frobenius makes an expedition to the Kasai region of the Belgian Congo.
Excavations
Edward Herbert Thompson dredges artifacts from the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza. First formal excavations at Aphrodisias in Anatolia, by French railroad engineer Paul Augustin Gaudin, begin. Oseberg ship.
Finds
Tomb of Nefertari discovered by Ernesto Schiaparelli. Winter 1904–5 – Inscription in a form of Proto-Sinaitic script, dated to the mid-19th century BCE, discovered in Sinai by Hilda and Flinders Petrie. Approximate date – Broe helmet.
Publications
Rudolf Ernst Brünnow and Alfred von Domaszewski begin publication of Die Provincia Arabia, containing a detailed description of Petra.
Births
January 19 – Pei Wenzhong, founding father of Chinese anthropology (died 1982). February 11 – Alan Sorrell, English archaeological illustrator (died 1974). May 6 – Max Mallowan, English archaeologist (died 1978).
Deaths
March – Alexander Stuart Murray, Scottish archaeologist and museum curator (born 1841). November 20 – Luigi Palma di Cesnola, Italian American soldier, diplomat, archaeologist and museum director (born 1832)