Below are notable events in archaeology that occurred in 1882.

• Expeditions led by Alfred Maudslay and Désiré Charnay independently arrive at the Maya site of Yaxchilan.
• Nature of site at Heuneburg identified by Eduard Paulus.

• Carl Humann works at Smyrna (with Alfred von Domaszewski) on behalf of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and at Sam'al for the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft.
• Gaston Maspero first excavates at Lisht in Egypt, including the Pyramid of Amenemhet I.
• Panagiotis Stamatakis begins excavation of the group tomb of the warriors from Thespiae who fell in the Battle of Delium (424 BCE) in Boeotia.^[1]
• Eugène Eschassériaux excavates le camp Thénac Peu-Richard in France.^[2]
• The Archaeological Society of Athens, along with Demetrios Philios and Wilhelm Dörpfeld, begins excavation of Eleusis.^[3]

• Robert Munro – Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings or Crannogs.

• Vače situla

• The Egypt Exploration Fund is set up in the UK by Amelia Edwards and Reginald Stuart Poole.^[4]
• The Ancient Monuments Protection Act is passed in the United Kingdom and establishes protection of ancient monuments. General Pitt-Rivers is appointed the first Inspector of Ancient Monuments.