The year 1956 in archaeology involved some significant events.

• Large University of Pennsylvania project at Tikal begins.
• Excavations of the Neolithic settlement at Argissa Magoula in Thessaly by Vladimir Milojčić of the University of Heidelberg begin (continue to 1958).
• Excavations of the Danubian Neolithic settlement at Bylany in Bohemia begin.
• Excavations at Brahmagiri.
• Excavations at Teppe Hasanlu begin (continue to 1974).
• Systematic excavation of Diolkos in Greece by Nikolaos Verdelis begins (continues to 1962).^[1]
• Excavations at Longbridge Deverill Cow Down in the United Kingdom under the direction of Sonia Chadwick for the Ministry of Works (continues to 1960).^[2]

• Documents in Mycenaean Greek by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick; documenting decipherment of Linear B writing.

• Anders Franzén locates the Swedish warship Vasa, sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628, in Stockholm harbor.
• K. M. A. Barnett discovers Lo Ah Tsai Stone Circle on Lamma Island in Hong Kong.

• W. F. Grimes succeeds V. Gordon Childe as director of the University of London Institute of Archaeology.

• March 24 - Alanah Woody, American archaeologist (d. 2007).^[3]
• April 30 - Antonio Sagona, Australian archaeologist (d. 2017).^[4]
• Yosef Garfinkel, Israeli archaeologist.^[5]

• June 6 - Hiram Bingham III, American rediscoverer of Machu Picchu (b. 1875).
• September 6 - Michael Ventris, English co-decipherer of Linear B (car accident) (b. 1922).^[6]
• September 12 - John Garstang, English archaeologist of the Near East (in Beirut) (b. 1876).^[7]
• November 9 - Alan Wace, English archaeologist who worked on Linear B (b. 1879).