Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1878.

• Christos Stamatakis excavates the Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae, Greece (built c.1300–1200 BC).
• Excavation of Vinovia Roman fort in the north of England begins.
• September - Carl Humann begins excavations at Pergamon.

• American Antiquarian founded by Rev. Stephen D. Peet.
• Isaac Fletcher - "The Archaeology of the West Cumberland Coal Trade", Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society.

• The Balawat Gates are discovered in Assyria by Hormuzd Rassam.^[1]
• 31 Iguanodon skeletons are discovered in a coal mine at Bernissart, Belgium.
• Pergamon Altar.
• Birka female Viking warrior excavated by Hjalmar Stolpe on the Swedish island of Björkö but believed at this time to be male.^[2]
• Bayou St. John submarine.

• September 12 - 'Cleopatra's Needle' is erected beside the River Thames in London.^[3]

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• December 29 - Félix-Marie Abel, French biblical archaeologist (d. 1953)

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