Discovery and first excavation of Fertőrákos mithraeum.
Posthumous publication by Édouard Lartet of Henry Christy's Reliquiae Aquitanicae, being contributions to the archaeology and palaeontology of Perigord and the adjacent provinces of southern France commences.
February 26 - The Calaveras Skull is discovered in California. Purported to be evidence of humans in North America during the Pliocene epoch, it turns out to be a hoax.
The prehistoric sculpture Swimming Reindeer is found in France.
The first copy of the Decree of Canopus is found at Tanis.
May 23 - Edgar J. Banks, American antiquarian (died 1945).
June 26 - George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, British Egyptological excavation sponsor (died 1923).
1866 in archaeology Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
