Excavation Films Online
There are a growing number of organisations putting archive excavation films online. Some of the footage we have been looking at in the context of Filming Antiquity is listed below. This list will be added to as new footage is put online.
Stonehenge Panorama (1900) - British Film Institute
A History of Pathe Baby films, and digitised Pathe Baby films, including travelogues and documentaries (not excavation, but some feature archaeological sites) - Princeton University Special Collections.
‘A Day at Jebel Moya: Part Three’ (1912-1913) – Wellcome Library
In two parts: Part 1; Part 2. For further details, see Angela Saward’s Filming Antiquity guest post.
'Luxor at Wembley' (1924) film on the reconstruction of Tutankhamun's tomb at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, London - British Pathe
Petrafilmen (1924) film of the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan - via Danish Film Institute on European Film Gateway
Elinor Gardner's Excavations in Greece (1926) - British Film Institute
'Baskett-Lowke in Egypt' (c. 1927) - Huntley Film Archive
Excavation films from Tell en-Nesbeh (1926, 1935) - Bade Museum
Field Museum-Oxford University Joint Expedition to Mesopotamia (1923-29) - Reel 1 ; second film here - Field Museum, Chicago.
‘Digging Into the Past: Egyptian Excavations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’ (c. 1930) – Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Read more about the history of the Met's educational "Cinema Films" here.
Tell el-Amarna (1930-33) in two parts: Part 1; Part 2 - Hilary Waddington for the Egypt Exploration Society. Further details can be found in our Media section.
Libyan Desert (1930) Ralph Alger Bagnold & friends explorations of the prehistoric landscape and art of the Sahara by car - British Film Institute
Excavations at Mount Carmel, filmed by archaeologist Dorothy Garrod, 1931 - Pitt Rivers Museum
Excavations at Nineveh, c. 1931-1933, thought to have been filmed by archaeologist Reginald Campbell Thompson – Royal Asiatic Society. Further information here and here.
‘The Human Adventure’ (1932-1936) – Charles Breasted & James Henry Breasted for the Oriental Institute, Chicago (with sound)
Early 20thC films relating to the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, listed at the Petra1929 website.
Biskupin Pomnik Historii (2014). Incorporates 1930s excavation footage of Iron Age settlement remains and excavation in Poland - English language version here. Polish language version here.
Newsreel footage of Mortimer Wheeler at Verulamium (St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK): ‘Roman Bathroom is Found At St Albans’; ‘Old Roman City Excavated Near St Albans’- British Movietone
Newsreel footage of excavations at Maiden Castle (Dorset, UK): "Picture Paragraphs in the Week's News: First Snapshot is digging at historic Maiden Castle site, which dates back to 4th Century B. C."- British Movietone
Films from excavations at Antioch (1935) - Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University.
Sutton Hoo excavations, 1939 - shot by photographer Mercie Lack, held at British Museum.
Films in the collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, c. 1930s/1940s including travels to archaeological sites around the world, and episodes of 1950s CBS archaeology game show What in the World? (hosted on Internet Archive).
"Triumph Ovre Time" (1947) - Margaret Thompson (prod.); Oscar Broneer (dir.). More information here and here.
‘To Work’ (1950) – M. R. Apted for the Egypt Exploration Society.
"Archaeology Archives" - a collection of British Pathe newsreels featuring archaeology.
Stonehenge Panorama (1900) - British Film Institute
A History of Pathe Baby films, and digitised Pathe Baby films, including travelogues and documentaries (not excavation, but some feature archaeological sites) - Princeton University Special Collections.
‘A Day at Jebel Moya: Part Three’ (1912-1913) – Wellcome Library
In two parts: Part 1; Part 2. For further details, see Angela Saward’s Filming Antiquity guest post.
'Luxor at Wembley' (1924) film on the reconstruction of Tutankhamun's tomb at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, London - British Pathe
Petrafilmen (1924) film of the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan - via Danish Film Institute on European Film Gateway
Elinor Gardner's Excavations in Greece (1926) - British Film Institute
'Baskett-Lowke in Egypt' (c. 1927) - Huntley Film Archive
Excavation films from Tell en-Nesbeh (1926, 1935) - Bade Museum
Field Museum-Oxford University Joint Expedition to Mesopotamia (1923-29) - Reel 1 ; second film here - Field Museum, Chicago.
‘Digging Into the Past: Egyptian Excavations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’ (c. 1930) – Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Read more about the history of the Met's educational "Cinema Films" here.
Tell el-Amarna (1930-33) in two parts: Part 1; Part 2 - Hilary Waddington for the Egypt Exploration Society. Further details can be found in our Media section.
Libyan Desert (1930) Ralph Alger Bagnold & friends explorations of the prehistoric landscape and art of the Sahara by car - British Film Institute
Excavations at Mount Carmel, filmed by archaeologist Dorothy Garrod, 1931 - Pitt Rivers Museum
Excavations at Nineveh, c. 1931-1933, thought to have been filmed by archaeologist Reginald Campbell Thompson – Royal Asiatic Society. Further information here and here.
‘The Human Adventure’ (1932-1936) – Charles Breasted & James Henry Breasted for the Oriental Institute, Chicago (with sound)
Early 20thC films relating to the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, listed at the Petra1929 website.
Biskupin Pomnik Historii (2014). Incorporates 1930s excavation footage of Iron Age settlement remains and excavation in Poland - English language version here. Polish language version here.
Newsreel footage of Mortimer Wheeler at Verulamium (St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK): ‘Roman Bathroom is Found At St Albans’; ‘Old Roman City Excavated Near St Albans’- British Movietone
Newsreel footage of excavations at Maiden Castle (Dorset, UK): "Picture Paragraphs in the Week's News: First Snapshot is digging at historic Maiden Castle site, which dates back to 4th Century B. C."- British Movietone
Films from excavations at Antioch (1935) - Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University.
Sutton Hoo excavations, 1939 - shot by photographer Mercie Lack, held at British Museum.
Films in the collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, c. 1930s/1940s including travels to archaeological sites around the world, and episodes of 1950s CBS archaeology game show What in the World? (hosted on Internet Archive).
"Triumph Ovre Time" (1947) - Margaret Thompson (prod.); Oscar Broneer (dir.). More information here and here.
‘To Work’ (1950) – M. R. Apted for the Egypt Exploration Society.
"Archaeology Archives" - a collection of British Pathe newsreels featuring archaeology.
