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Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the
National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
and London Museum, Director-General of the
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...
, and the founder and Honorary Director of the Institute of Archaeology in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, in addition to writing twenty-four books on archaeological subjects. Born in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
to a middle-class family, Wheeler was raised largely in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
before moving to London in his teenage years. After studying classics at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
(UCL), he began working professionally in archaeology, specialising in the
Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...
period. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he volunteered for service in the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, being stationed on the Western Front, where he rose to the rank of major and was awarded the
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...
. Returning to Britain, he obtained his doctorate from UCL before taking on a position at the National Museum of Wales, first as Keeper of Archaeology and then as Director, during which time he oversaw excavation at the Roman forts of
Segontium Segontium ( owl, Cair Segeint) is a Roman fort on the outskirts of Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales. The fort, which survived until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, was garrisoned by Roman auxiliaries from present-day Belgium and Ge ...
,
Y Gaer Y Gaer () is a Roman fort situated near modern-day Brecon in Mid Wales, United Kingdom. Y Gaer is located at (Landranger 160). History Y Gaer was built around AD 75 and sits on a crossroads of Roman roads in the valley of the River Usk at a ...
, and
Isca Augusta Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or ''vicus'', the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban village of Caerleon in the north of the city of ...
with the aid of his first wife, Tessa Wheeler. Influenced by the archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers, Wheeler argued that excavation and the recording of stratigraphic context required an increasingly scientific and methodical approach, developing the " Wheeler method". In 1926, he was appointed Keeper of the London Museum; there, he oversaw a reorganisation of the collection, successfully lobbied for increased funding, and began lecturing at UCL. In 1934, he established the Institute of Archaeology as part of the federal
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, adopting the position of Honorary Director. In this period, he oversaw excavations of the Roman sites at Lydney Park and
Verulamium Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
and the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
of Maiden Castle. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he re-joined the Armed Forces and rose to the rank of
brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...
, serving in the North African Campaign and then the
Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General Sir Harold Alexander's 15th Army ...
. In 1944 he was appointed Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, through which he oversaw excavations of sites at Harappa, Arikamedu, and Brahmagiri, and implemented reforms to the subcontinent's archaeological establishment. Returning to Britain in 1948, he divided his time between lecturing for the Institute of Archaeology and acting as archaeological adviser to Pakistan's government. In later life, his popular books,
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
lectures, and appearances on radio and television, particularly the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
series '' Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?'', helped to bring archaeology to a mass audience. Appointed Honorary Secretary of the
British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...
, he raised large sums of money for archaeological projects, and was appointed British representative for several
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
projects. Wheeler is recognised as one of the most important British archaeologists of the 20th century, responsible for successfully encouraging British public interest in the discipline and advancing methodologies of excavation and recording. Furthermore, he is widely acclaimed as a major figure in the establishment of South Asian archaeology. However, many of his specific interpretations of archaeological sites have been discredited or reinterpreted and he was often criticised for bullying colleagues and sexually harassing young women.


Early life


Childhood: 1890–1907

Mortimer Wheeler was born on 10 September 1890 in the city of
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Scotland. He was the first child of the journalist Robert Mortimer Wheeler and his second wife Emily Wheeler ( Baynes). The son of a tea merchant based in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, in youth Robert had considered becoming a
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
minister, but instead became a staunch
freethinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other metho ...
while studying at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. Initially working as a lecturer in English literature, Robert turned to journalism after his first wife died in childbirth. His second wife, Emily, shared her husband's interest in English literature, and was the niece of
Thomas Spencer Baynes Thomas Spencer Baynes (24 March 1823 – 31 May 1887) was an English philosopher. Life Baynes was born in Wellington, Somerset to a Baptist minister. He intended to study for Baptist ministry, and was at a theological seminary at Bath with that ...
, a
Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
scholar at St. Andrews University. Their marriage was emotionally strained, a situation exacerbated by their financial insecurity. Within two years of their son's birth, the family moved to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, where a daughter named Amy was born. When Wheeler was four, his father was appointed chief
leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
writer for the '' Bradford Observer''. The family relocated to Saltaire, a village northwest of Bradford, a cosmopolitan city in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
, northeast England, then in the midst of the wool trade boom. Wheeler was inspired by the moors surrounding Saltaire and fascinated by the area's archaeology. He later wrote about discovering a late prehistoric cup-marked stone, searching for
lithics Lithic may refer to: *Relating to stone tools **Lithic analysis, the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts **Lithic core, the part of a stone which has had flakes removed from it **Lithic flake, the portion of a rock removed to ...
on Ilkley Moor, and digging into a barrow on Baildon Moor. Although suffering from ill health, Emily Wheeler taught her two children with the help of a maid up to the age of seven or eight. Mortimer remained emotionally distant from his mother, instead being far closer to his father, whose company he favoured over that of other children. His father had a keen interest in natural history and a love of fishing and shooting, rural pursuits in which he encouraged Mortimer to take part. Robert acquired many books for his son, particularly on the subject of
art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
, with Wheeler loving to both read and paint. In 1899, Wheeler joined Bradford Grammar School shortly before his ninth birthday, where he proceeded straight to the second form. In 1902, Robert and Emily had a second daughter, whom they named Betty; Mortimer showed little interest in this younger sister. In 1905, Robert agreed to take over as head of the London office of his newspaper, by then renamed the ''Yorkshire Daily Observer'', so the family relocated to the southeast of the city in December 1905, settling into a house named Carlton Lodge on South Croydon Road,
West Dulwich West Dulwich ( ) is a neighbourhood in South London on the southern boundary of Brockwell Park, which straddles the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark. Croxted Road and South Croxted Road mark the boundary between S ...
. In 1908, they moved to 14 Rollescourt Avenue in nearby
Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the borou ...
. Rather than being sent for a conventional education, when he was 15 Wheeler was instructed to educate himself by spending time in London, where he frequented the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
and the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
.


University and early career: 1907–14

After passing the
entrance exam In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typicall ...
on his second attempt, in 1907 Wheeler was awarded a scholarship to read classical studies at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
(UCL), commuting daily from his parental home to the university campus in Bloomsbury, central London. At UCL, he was taught by the prominent classicist A. E. Housman. During his undergraduate studies, he became editor of the ''Union Magazine'', for which he produced a number of illustrated cartoons. Increasingly interested in art, he decided to switch from classical studies to a course at UCL's
art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...
, the
Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
; he returned to his previous subject after coming to the opinion that – in his words – he never became more than "a conventionally accomplished picture maker". This interlude had adversely affected his classical studies, and he received a second class BA on graduating. Wheeler began studying for a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
degree in classical studies, which he attained in 1912. During this period, he also gained employment as the personal secretary of the UCL Provost Gregory Foster, although he later criticised Foster for transforming the university from "a college in the truly academic sense ntoa hypertrophied monstrosity as little like a college as a plesiosaurus is like a man". It was also at this time of life that he met and began a relationship with Tessa Verney, a student then studying history at UCL, when they were both serving on the committee of the University College Literary Society. During his studies, Wheeler had developed his love of archaeology, having joined an excavation of Viroconium Cornoviorum, a
Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...
settlement in
Wroxeter Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England, which forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. '' Viroconium Cornoviorum'', the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, was site ...
, in 1913. Considering a profession in the discipline, he won a studentship that had been established jointly by the University of London and the Society of Antiquaries in memory of
Augustus Wollaston Franks Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks (20 March 182621 May 1897) was a British antiquarian and museum administrator. Franks was described by Marjorie Caygill, historian of the British Museum, as "arguably the most important collector in the history of ...
. The prominent archaeologist
Sir Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. He is most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete. Based on ...
doubled the amount of money that went with the studentship. Wheeler's proposed project had been to analyse Romano-Rhenish pottery, and with the grant he funded a trip to the
Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...
in Germany, there studying the Roman pottery housed in local museums; his research into this subject was never published. At this period, there were very few jobs available within British archaeology; as the later archaeologist
Stuart Piggott Stuart Ernest Piggott, (28 May 1910 – 23 September 1996) was a British archaeologist, best known for his work on prehistoric Wessex. Early life Piggott was born in Petersfield, Hampshire, the son of G. H. O. Piggott, and was educated t ...
related, "the young Wheeler was looking for a professional job where the profession had yet to be created." In 1913 Wheeler secured a position as junior investigator for the English Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, who were embarking on a project to assess the state of all structures in the nation that pre-dated 1714. As part of this, he was first sent to
Stebbing Stebbing is a small village in the Uttlesford district of northern Essex, England. The village is situated north of the ancient Roman road Stane Street. It is from the nearest railway station (), and from nearest airport (London Stansted). Th ...
in
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
to assess Late Medieval buildings, although once that was accomplished he focused on studying the Romano-British remains of that county. In summer 1914 he married Tessa in a low-key, secular wedding ceremony, before they moved into Wheeler's parental home in Herne Hill.


First World War: 1914–18

After the United Kingdom's entry into
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1914, Wheeler volunteered for the armed forces. Although preferring solitary to group activities, Wheeler found that he greatly enjoyed soldiering, and on 9 November 1914 was commissioned a temporary second lieutenant in the University of London Officer Training Corps, serving with its artillery unit as an instructor. It was during this period, in January 1915, that a son was born to the Wheelers, and named Michael. Michael Wheeler was their only child, something that was a social anomaly at the time, although it is unknown whether or not this was by choice. In May 1915, Wheeler transferred to the 1st Lowland Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery (
Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...
), and was confirmed in his rank on 1 July, with a promotion to temporary
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
from the same date. Shortly thereafter, on 16 July, Wheeler was promoted to temporary captain. In this position he was stationed at various bases across Britain, often bringing his wife and child with him; his responsibility was as a battery commander, initially of field guns and later of howitzers. In October 1917 Wheeler was posted to the 76th Army Field Artillery Brigade, one of the Royal Field Artillery brigades under the direct control of the General Officer Commanding, Third Army. The brigade was then stationed in Belgium, where it had been engaged in the Battle of Passchendaele against German troops along the Western Front. By now a substantive lieutenant (temporary captain), on 7 October he was appointed second-in-command of an artillery battery with the acting rank of captain, but on 21 October became commander of a battery with the acting rank of major, replacing a major who had been poisoned by mustard gas. He was part of the Left Group of artillery covering the advancing Allied infantry in the battle. Throughout, he maintained correspondences with his wife, his sister Amy, and his parents. After the Allied victory in the battle, the brigade was transferred to Italy. Wheeler and the brigade arrived in Italy on 20 November, and proceeded through the
Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( it, Riviera ligure; lij, Rivêa lìgure) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinall ...
to reach
Caporetto Kobarid (; it, Caporetto, fur, Cjaurêt, german: Karfreit) is a settlement in Slovenia, the administrative centre of the Municipality of Kobarid. Kobarid is known for the 1917 Battle of Caporetto, where the Italian retreat was documented by Er ...
, where it had been sent to bolster the Italian troops against a German and Austro-Hungarian advance. As the
Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic. in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...
removed itself from the war, the German Army refocused its efforts on the Western Front, so in March 1918 Wheeler's brigade was ordered to leave Italy, getting a train from Castelfranco to Vieux Rouen in France. Back on the Western Front, the brigade was assigned to the 2nd Division, again part of
Julian Byng Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935) was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation. Known to friends as "Bun ...
's Third Army, reaching a stable area of the front in April. Here, Wheeler was engaged in artillery fire for several months, before the British went on the offensive in August. On 24 August, between the ruined villages of Achiet and Sapignies, he led an expedition that captured two German field guns while under heavy fire from a castle mound; he was later awarded the
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...
for this action: Wheeler continued as part of the British forces pushing westward until the German surrender in November 1918, receiving a
mention in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
on 8 November. He was not demobilised for several months, instead being stationed at Pulheim in Germany until March; during this time he wrote up his earlier research on Romano-Rhenish pottery, making use of access to local museums, before returning to London in July 1919. Reverting to his permanent rank of lieutenant on 16 September, Wheeler was finally discharged from service on 30 September 1921, retaining the rank of major.


Career


National Museum of Wales: 1919–26

On returning to London, Wheeler moved into a top-floor flat near
Gordon Square Gordon Square is a public park square in Bloomsbury, London, England. It is part of the Bedford Estate and was designed as one of a pair with the nearby Tavistock Square. It is owned by the University of London. History and buildings The ...
with his wife and child. He returned to working for the Royal Commission, examining and cataloguing the historic structures of Essex. In doing so, he produced his first publication, an
academic paper Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or theses. The part of academic written output that is not formally pub ...
on Colchester's Roman Balkerne Gate which was published in the ''Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society'' in 1920. He soon followed this with two papers in the ''
Journal of Roman Studies The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (The Roman Society) was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. The Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those interest ...
''; the first offered a wider analysis of Roman Colchester, while the latter outlined his discovery of the vaulting for the city's Temple of Claudius which was destroyed by Boudica's revolt. In doing so, he developed a reputation as a Roman archaeologist in Britain. He then submitted his research on Romano-Rhenish pots to the University of London, on the basis of which he was awarded his
Doctorate of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...
; thenceforth until his knighthood he styled himself as Dr Wheeler. He was unsatisfied with his job in the Commission, unhappy that he was receiving less pay and a lower status than he had had in the army, so began to seek alternative employment. He obtained a post as the Keeper of Archaeology at the
National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
, a job that also entailed becoming a lecturer in archaeology at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire. Taking up this position, he moved to
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
with his family in August 1920, although he initially disliked the city. The museum was in disarray; before the war, construction had begun on a new purpose-built building to house the collections. This had ceased during the conflict and the edifice was left abandoned during Cardiff's post-war economic slump. Wheeler recognised that Wales was very divided regionally, with many Welsh people having little loyalty to Cardiff; thus, he made a point of touring the country, lecturing to local societies about archaeology. According to the later archaeologist Lydia C. Carr, the Wheelers' work for the cause of the museum was part of a wider "cultural-nationalist movement" linked to growing
Welsh nationalism Welsh nationalism ( cy, Cenedlaetholdeb Cymreig) emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self determination which includes ...
during this period; for instance, the Welsh nationalist party
Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...
was founded in 1925. Wheeler was impatient to start excavations, and in July 1921 started a six-week project to excavate at the Roman fort of
Segontium Segontium ( owl, Cair Segeint) is a Roman fort on the outskirts of Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales. The fort, which survived until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, was garrisoned by Roman auxiliaries from present-day Belgium and Ge ...
; accompanied by his wife, he used up his holiday to oversee the project. A second season of excavation at the site followed in 1922. Greatly influenced by the writings of the archaeologist Augustus Pitt-Rivers, Wheeler emphasised the need for a strong, developed methodology when undertaking an archaeological excavation, believing in the need for strategic planning, or what he termed "controlled discovery", with clear objectives in mind for a project. Further emphasising the importance of prompt publication of research results, he wrote full seasonal reports for ''
Archaeologia Cambrensis ''Archaeologia Cambrensis'' is a Welsh archaeological and historical scholarly journal published annually by the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It contains historical essays, excavation reports, and book reviews, as well as society not ...
'' before publishing a full report, ''Segontium and the Roman Occupation of Wales''. Wheeler was keen on training new generations of archaeologists, and two of the most prominent students to excavate with him at Segontium were Victor Nash-Williams and
Ian Richmond Sir Ian Archibald Richmond, (10 May 1902 – 5 October 1965) was a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire at the University of Oxford. In addition, he was Director of the British School at Ro ...
. Over the field seasons of 1924 and 1925, Wheeler ran excavations of the Roman fort of
Y Gaer Y Gaer () is a Roman fort situated near modern-day Brecon in Mid Wales, United Kingdom. Y Gaer is located at (Landranger 160). History Y Gaer was built around AD 75 and sits on a crossroads of Roman roads in the valley of the River Usk at a ...
near
Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...
, a project aided by his wife and two archaeological students, Nowell Myres and Christopher Hawkes. During this project, he was visited by the prominent Egyptologist
Sir Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Flinders Petrie, was a British Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egypt ...
and his wife
Hilda Petrie Hilda Mary Isabel, Lady Petrie (née Urlin; 1871–1957), was an Irish-born British Egyptologist and wife of Sir Flinders Petrie,Margaret S. Drower, 'Petrie' Sir (William Matthew) Flinders (1853–1942)', Oxford Dictionary of national Biograph ...
; Wheeler greatly admired Petrie's emphasis on strong archaeological methodologies. Wheeler published the results of his excavation in ''The Roman Fort Near Brecon''. He then began excavations at
Isca Augusta Isca, variously specified as Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, was the site of a Roman legionary fortress and settlement or ''vicus'', the remains of which lie beneath parts of the present-day suburban village of Caerleon in the north of the city of ...
, a Roman site in Caerleon, where he focused on revealing the Roman amphitheatre. Intent on attracting press attention to both raise public awareness of archaeology and attract new sources of funding, he contacted the press and organised a sponsorship of the excavation by the
middle-market newspaper A middle-market newspaper is a newspaper that caters to readers who like entertainment as well as the coverage of important news events. Middle-market status is the halfway point of a three-level continuum of journalistic seriousness; upper-marke ...
the '' Daily Mail''. In doing so, he emphasised the folkloric and legendary associations that the site had with King Arthur. In 1925,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
published Wheeler's first book for a general audience, ''Prehistoric and Roman Wales''; he later expressed the opinion that it was not a good book. In 1924, the Director of the National Museum of Wales, William Evans Hoyle, resigned amid ill health. Wheeler applied to take on the role of his replacement, providing supportive testimonials from Charles Reed Peers, Robert Bosanquet, and
H. J. Fleure Herbert John Fleure, (6 June 1877 – 1 July 1969) was a British zoologist and geographer. He was secretary of the Geographical Association, editor of ''Geography'', and president of the Cambrian Archaeological Association (1924–25), Ro ...
. Although he had no prior museum experience, he was successful in his application and was appointed director. He then employed a close friend, Cyril Fox, to take on the vacated position of Keeper of Archaeology. Wheeler's proposed reforms included extending the institution's reach and influence throughout Wales by building affiliations with regional museums, and focusing on fundraising to finance the completion of the new museum premises. He obtained a £21,367 donation from the wealthy shipowner William Reardon Smith and appointed Smith to be the museum's treasurer, and also travelled to
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...
, London, where he successfully urged the British Treasury to provide further funding for the museum. As a result, construction on the museum's new building was able to continue, and it was officially opened by King
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
in 1927.


London Museum: 1926–33

Upon the retirement of the Keeper of the London Museum, Harmon Oates, Wheeler was invited to fill the vacancy. He had been considering a return to London for some time and eagerly agreed, taking on the post, which was based at
Lancaster House Lancaster House (originally known as York House and then Stafford House) is a mansion in the St James's district in the West End of London. It is close to St James's Palace, and much of the site was once part of the palace complex. This Gr ...
in the
St James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the d ...
area, in July 1926. In Wales, many felt that Wheeler had simply taken the directorship of the National Museum to advance his own career prospects, and that he had abandoned them when a better offer came along. Wheeler himself disagreed, believing that he had left Fox at the Museum as his obvious successor, and that the reforms he had implemented would therefore continue. The position initially provided Wheeler with an annual salary of £600, which resulted in a decline in living standards for his family, who moved into a flat near Victoria Station. Tessa's biographer L. C. Carr later commented that together, the Wheelers "professionalized the London Museum". Wheeler expressed his opinion that the museum "had to be cleaned, expurgated, and catalogued; in general, turned from a junk shop into a tolerably rational institution". Focusing on reorganising the exhibits and developing a more efficient method of cataloguing the artefacts, he also wrote ''A Short Guide to the Collections'', before using the items in the museum to write three books: ''London and the Vikings'', ''London and the Saxons'', and ''London and the Romans''. Upon his arrival, the Treasury allocated the museum an annual budget of £5,000, which Wheeler deemed insufficient for its needs. In 1930, Wheeler persuaded them to increase that budget, as he highlighted increasing visitor numbers, publications, and acquisitions, as well as a rise in the number of educational projects. With this additional funding, he was able to employ more staff and increase his own annual salary to £900. Soon after joining the museum, Wheeler was elected to the council of the Society of Antiquaries. Through the Society, he became involved in the debate as to who should finance archaeological supervision of building projects in Greater London; his argument was that the
City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
should provide the funding, although in 1926 it was agreed that the Society itself would employ a director of excavation based in Lancaster House to take on the position. Also involved in the largely moribund Royal Archaeological Institute, Wheeler organised its relocation to Lancaster House. In 1927, Wheeler took on an unpaid lectureship at University College London, where he established a graduate diploma course on archaeology; one of the first to enroll was Stuart Piggott. In 1928, Wheeler curated an exhibit at UCL on "Recent Work in British Archaeology", for which he attracted much press attention. Wheeler was keen to continue archaeological fieldwork outside London, undertaking excavations every year from 1926 to 1939. After completing his excavation of the Carlaeon amphitheatre in 1928, he began fieldwork at the Roman settlement and temple in Lydney Park,
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
, having been invited to do so by the aristocratic landowner, Charles Bathurst. It was during these investigations that Wheeler personally discovered the Lydney Hoard of coinage. Wheeler and his wife jointly published their excavation report in 1932 as ''Report on the Excavation of the Prehistoric, Roman and Post-Roman Site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire'', which Piggott noted had "set the pattern" for all Wheeler's future excavation reports. From there, Wheeler was invited to direct a Society of Antiquaries excavation at the Roman settlement of
Verulamium Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
, which existed on land recently acquired by the Corporation of St Albans. He took on this role for four seasons from 1930 to 1933, before leaving a fifth season of excavation under the control of the archaeologist
Kathleen Kenyon Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...
and the architect A. W. G. Lowther. Wheeler enjoyed the opportunity to excavate at a civilian as opposed to military site, and also liked its proximity to his home in London. He was particularly interested in searching for a pre-Roman Iron Age
oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
at the site, noting that the existence of a nearby
Catuvellauni The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their ...
settlement was attested to in both classical texts and numismatic evidence. With Wheeler focusing his attention on potential Iron Age evidence, Tessa concentrated on excavating the inside of the city walls; Wheeler had affairs with at least three assistants during the project. After Tessa wrote two interim reports, the final excavation report was finally published in 1936 as ''Verulamium: A Belgic and Two Roman Cities'', jointly written by Wheeler and his wife. The report resulted in the first major published criticism of Wheeler, produced by the young archaeologist Nowell Myres in a review for '' Antiquity''; although stating that there was much to praise about the work, he critiqued Wheeler's selective excavation, dubious dating, and guesswork. Wheeler responded with a piece in which he defended his work and launched a personal attack on both Myres and Myres's employer, Christ Church, Oxford.


Institute of Archaeology: 1934–39

Wheeler had long desired to establish an academic institution devoted to archaeology that could be based in London. He hoped that it could become a centre in which to establish the professionalisation of archaeology as a discipline, with systematic training of students in methodological techniques of excavation and conservation and recognised professional standards; in his words, he hoped "to convert archaeology into a discipline worthy of that name in all senses". He further described his intention that the Institute should become "a laboratory: a laboratory of archaeological science". Many archaeologists shared his hopes, and to this end Petrie had donated much of his collection of Near Eastern artefacts to Wheeler, in the hope that it would be included in such an institution. Wheeler was later able to persuade the University of London, a federation of institutions across the capital, to support the venture, and both he and Tessa began raising funds from wealthy backers. In 1934, the Institute of Archaeology was officially opened, albeit at this point without premises or academic staff; the first students to enroll were Rachel Clay and Barbara Parker, who went on to have careers in the discipline. While Wheeler – who was still Keeper of the London Museum – took on the role of Honorary Director of the institute, he installed the archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon as secretary of the Management Committee, describing her as "a level-headed person, with useful experience". That June, he was appointed an Officer of the
Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
(OStJ). After ending his work at Verulamium, Wheeler turned his attention to the late Iron Age hill-fort of Maiden Castle near Dorchester, Dorset, where he excavated for four seasons from 1934 to 1937. Co-directed by Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler, and the Curator of Dorset County Museum (Charles Drew), the project was carried out under the joint auspices of the Society of Antiquaries and the Dorset Field Club. With around 100 assistants each season, the dig constituted the largest excavation that had been conducted in Britain up to that point, with Wheeler organising weekly meetings with the press to inform them about any discoveries. He was keen to emphasise that his workforce consisted of many young people as well as both men and women, thus presenting the image of archaeology as a modern and advanced discipline. According to later historian Adam Stout, the Maiden Castle excavation was "one of the most famous British archaeological investigations of the twentieth century. It was the classic 'Wheeler dig', both in terms of scale of operations and the publicity which it generated." Wheeler's excavation report was published in 1943 as ''Maiden Castle, Dorset''. The report's publication allowed further criticism to be voiced of Wheeler's approach and interpretations; in his review of the book, the archaeologist W. F. Grimes criticised the highly selective nature of the excavation, noting that Wheeler had not asked questions regarding the socio-economic issues of the community at Maiden Castle, aspects of past societies that had come to be of increasing interest to British archaeology. Over coming decades, as further excavations were carried out at the site and archaeologists developed a greater knowledge of Iron Age Britain, much of Wheeler's interpretation of the site and its development was shown to be wrong, in particular by the work of the archaeologist Niall Sharples. In 1936, Wheeler embarked on a visit to the Near East, sailing from Marseilles to Port Said, where he visited the
Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
tombs of Sakkara. From there he went via Sinai to Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. During this trip, he visited various archaeological projects, but was dismayed by the quality of their excavations; in particular, he noted that the American-run excavation at
Tel Megiddo Tel Megiddo ( he, תל מגידו; ar, مجیدو, Tell el- Mutesellim, ''lit.'' "Mound of the Governor"; gr, Μεγιδδώ, Megiddo) is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo, the remains of which form a tell (archaeological mound), situa ...
was adopting standards that had been rejected in Britain twenty-five years previously. He was away for six weeks, and upon his return to Europe discovered that his wife Tessa had died of a
pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
after a minor operation on her toe. According to Tessa's biographer, for Wheeler this discovery was "the peak of mental misery, and marked the end of his ability to feel a certain kind of love". That winter, his father also died. By the summer of 1937, he had embarked on a new romance, with a young woman named Mavis de Vere Cole, widow of Horace de Vere Cole, who had first met Wheeler when visiting the Maiden Castle excavations with her then-lover, the painter
Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarge ...
. After she eventually agreed to his repeated proposals, the two were married early in 1939 in a ceremony held at Caxton Hall, with a reception at Shelley House. They proceeded on a honeymoon to the Middle East. After a search that had taken several years, Wheeler was able to secure premises for the Institute of Archaeology: St. John's Lodge in
Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
, central London. Left empty since its use as a hospital during the First World War, the building was owned by the Crown and was controlled by the
First Commissioner of Works The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ir ...
, William Ormsby-Gore; he was very sympathetic to archaeology, and leased the building to the Institute at a low rent. The St. John's Lodge premises were officially opened on 29 April 1937. During his speech at the ceremony, the University of London's Vice-Chancellor Charles Reed Peers made it clear that the building was only intended as a temporary home for the institute, which it was hoped would be able to move to Bloomsbury, the city's academic hub. In his speech, the university's Chancellor, Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, compared the new institution to both the
Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...
and the
Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...
. Wheeler had also become President of the Museums Association, and in a presidential address given in
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
talked on the topic of preserving museum collections in wartime, believing that Britain's involvement in a second European conflict was imminent. In anticipation of this event, in August 1939 he arranged for the London Museum to place many of its most important collections into safe keeping. He was also awarded an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from Bristol University, and at the award ceremony met the Conservative Party politician
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
, who was then engaged in writing his multi-volume '' A History of the English-Speaking Peoples''; Churchill asked Wheeler to help him in writing about late prehistoric and early medieval Britain, to which Wheeler agreed. After Maiden Castle, Wheeler turned his attention to France, where the archaeological investigation of Iron Age sites had lagged behind developments in Britain. There, he oversaw a series of surveys and excavations with the aid of Leslie Scott, beginning with a survey tour of
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
in the winter of 1936–37. After this, Wheeler decided to excavate the oppidum at Camp d'Artus, near Huelgoat,
Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.
. In addition to bringing many British archaeologists to work on the site, he hired six local Breton workmen to assist the project, coming to the belief that the oppidum had been erected by local Iron Age tribes to defend themselves from the Roman invasion led by
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
. Meanwhile, Scott had been placed in charge of an excavation at the smaller nearby hill fort of Kercaradec, near Quimper. In July 1939, the project focused its attention on
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, with excavations beginning at the Iron Age hill forts of Camp de Canada and
Duclair Duclair () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France.Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
broke out in Europe, and the team evacuated back to Britain. Wheeler's excavation report, co-written with Katherine Richardson, was eventually published as ''Hill-forts of Northern France'' in 1957.


Second World War: 1939–45

Wheeler had been expecting and openly hoping for war with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
for a year before the outbreak of hostilities; he believed that the United Kingdom's involvement in the conflict would remedy the shame that he thought had been brought upon the country by its signing of the
Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...
in September 1938. Volunteering for the armed services, on 18 July 1939 he returned to active service as a major (Special List). He was assigned to assemble the 48th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery at
Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...
, where he set about recruiting volunteers, including his son Michael. As the 48th swelled in size, it was converted into the 42nd Mobile Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment in the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, which consisted of four batteries and was led by Wheeler – now promoted to the temporary rank of
lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...
(effective 27 January 1940) – as Commanding Officer. Given the nickname of "Flash Alf" by those serving under him, he was recognised by colleagues as a ruthless disciplinarian and was blamed by many for the death of one of his soldiers from influenza during training. Having been appointed secretary of the Society of Antiquaries in 1939 and then director in 1940, he travelled to London to deal with society affairs on various occasions. In 1941 Wheeler was awarded a Fellowship of the British Academy. Cole had meanwhile entered into an affair with a man named Clive Entwistle, who lambasted Wheeler as "that whiskered baboon". When Wheeler discovered Entwistle in bed with his wife, he initiated divorce proceedings that were finalised in March 1942. In the summer of 1941, Wheeler and three of his batteries were assigned to fight against German and Italian forces in the North African Campaign. In September, they set sail from Glasgow aboard the RMS ''Empress of Russia''; because the Mediterranean was controlled largely by enemy naval forces, they were forced to travel via the Cape of Good Hope, before taking shore leave in
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
. There, Wheeler visited the local kraals to compare them with the settlements of Iron Age Britain. The ship docked in Aden, where Wheeler and his men again took shore leave. They soon reached the British-controlled
Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...
, where they disembarked and were stationed on the shores of the Great Bitter Lake. There, Wheeler took a brief leave of absence to travel to
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, where he visited Petrie on his hospital deathbed. Back in Egypt, he gained permission to fly as a front gunner in a Wellington bomber on a bombing raid against Axis forces, to better understand what it was like for aircrew to be fired on by an anti-aircraft battery. Serving with the Eighth Army, Wheeler was present in North Africa when the Axis armies pushed the Allies back to El Alamein. He was also part of the Allied counter-push, taking part in the
Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented th ...
and the advance on Axis-held Tripoli. On the way he became concerned that the archaeological sites of North Africa were being threatened both by the fighting and the occupying forces. After the British secured control of Libya, Wheeler visited Tripoli and Leptis Magna, where he found that Roman remains had been damaged and vandalised by British troops; he brought about reforms to prevent this, lecturing to the troops on the importance of preserving archaeology, making many monuments out-of-bounds, and ensuring that the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
changed its plans to construct a radar station in the midst of a Roman settlement. Aware that the British were planning to invade and occupy the Italian island of
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, he insisted that measures be introduced to preserve the historic and archaeological monuments on the island. Promoted to the acting rank of
brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...
on 1 May 1943, after the German surrender in North Africa, Wheeler was sent to Algiers where he was part of the staff committee planning the invasion of Italy. There, he learned that the India Office had requested that the army relieve him of his duties to permit him to be appointed Director General of Archaeology in India. Although he had never been to the country, he agreed that he would take the job on the condition that he be permitted to take part in the invasion of Italy first. As intended, Wheeler and his 12th Anti-Aircraft Brigade then took part in the invasion of Sicily and then mainland Italy, where they were ordered to use their anti-aircraft guns to protect the British 10th Corps. As the Allies advanced north through Italy, Wheeler spent time in
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and then Capri, where he met various aristocrats who had anti-fascist sympathies. Wheeler left Italy in November 1943 and returned to London. There, he resigned as the director of the London Museum and focused on organising the Institute of Archaeology, preparing it for its adoption of a new director, V. Gordon Childe, after the war. He also resigned as director of the Society of Antiquaries, but was appointed the group's representative to the newly formed
Council for British Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity established in 1944 in the UK. It works to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and futu ...
. He developed a relationship with a woman named Kim Collingridge, and asked her to marry him. As she was a devout
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
, he officially converted to the religion, something which shocked many of his friends, who believed that he was being dishonest because he did not genuinely believe in the doctrines of the faith. He then set sail for
Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
aboard a transport ship, the ''City of Exeter'', in February 1944.


Archaeological Survey of India: 1944–48

Wheeler arrived in Bombay in the spring of 1944. There, he was welcomed by the city's governor, John Colville, before heading by train to
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
and then
Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...
, where the headquarters of the
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...
were located. Wheeler had been suggested for the job by Archibald Wavell, the
Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
, who had been acting on the recommendations of the archaeologist Leonard Woolley, who had written a report lamenting the state of the archaeological establishment in the British-controlled subcontinent. Wheeler recognised this state of affairs, in a letter to a friend complaining about the lack of finances and equipment, commenting that "We're back in 1850". He initially found much to dislike in India, and in his letters to friends in Britain expressed derogatory and racist sentiments toward Indians: he stated that "they feed wrongly and think wrongly and live wrongly ... I already find myself regarding them as ill-made clockwork toys rather than as human beings, and I find myself bullying them most brutally." He expelled those staff members whom he deemed too idle, and physically beat others in an attempt to motivate them. From the beginning of his tenure, he sought to distance himself from previous Directors-General and their administrations by criticising them in print and attempting to introduce new staff who had no loyalty to his predecessors. Assigned a four-year contract, Wheeler attempted to recruit two archaeologists from Britain,
Glyn Daniel Glyn Edmund Daniel FBA, FRAI (23 April 1914 – 13 December 1986) was a Welsh scientist and archaeologist who taught at Cambridge University, where he specialised in the European Neolithic period. He was appointed Disney Professor of Archa ...
and Stuart Piggott, to aid him in reforming the Archaeological Survey, although they declined the offer. He then toured the subcontinent, seeking to meet all of the Survey's staff members. He had drawn up a prospectus containing research questions that he wanted the Survey to focus on; these included understanding the period between the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilization and the Achaemenid Empire, discerning the socio-cultural background to the
Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
, dating the Aryan invasion, and establishing a dating system for southern India before the 6th century CE. During his time in office he also achieved a 25 per cent budget increase for the Archaeological Survey, and convinced the government to agree to the construction of a National Museum of Archaeology, to be built in New Delhi. In October 1944, he opened his six-month archaeological field school in Taxila, where he instructed various students from across India in the methodologies of the discipline. Wheeler became very fond of his students, with one of them,
B. B. Lal Braj Basi Lal (2 May 1921 – 10 September 2022) was an Indian writer and archaeologist. He was the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from 1968 to 1972 and has served as Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced ...
, later commenting that "behind the gruff exterior, Sir Mortimer had a very kind and sympathetic heart". Throughout his period in India, his students were some of the only individuals to whom Wheeler warmed; more widely, he was annoyed by what he saw as the idleness, incompetence and corruption of Indian society. Initially focusing on the northwest of the subcontinent, Wheeler was particularly fascinated by the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization. On his initial inspection of the Indus Valley sites of
Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Harappa, he organised a very brief excavation which revealed fortifications around both settlements. He later led a more detailed excavation at Harappa, where he exposed further fortifications and established a stratigraphy for the settlement. Turning his attention to southern India, Wheeler discovered remnants of a Roman amphora in a museum, and began excavations at Arikamedu, revealing a port from the 1st century CE that had traded in goods from the Roman Empire. The excavation had been plagued by severe rains and tropical heat, although it was during the excavation that World War II ended; in celebration, Wheeler gave all his workers an extra rupee for the day. It has since been alleged that while Wheeler took credit for discovering the significance of this site, it had previously been established by
A. Aiyappan Ayinapalli Aiyappan (5 February 1905 – 28 June 1988) was a museologist who served as Superintendent of the Government Museum, Madras from 1940 to 1960. He was the first Indian to occupy the post. Aiyappan was also an amateur archaeologi ...
, the Superintendent of the Government Museum in Madras, and the French archaeologist Jouveau Dubreuil, with Wheeler intentionally ignoring their contribution. He later undertook excavations of six megalithic tombs in Brahmagiri,
Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
, which enabled him to gain a chronology for the archaeology of much of southern India. Wheeler established a new archaeological journal, ''
Ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...
'', planning for it to be published twice a year. He had trouble securing printing paper and faced various delays; the first issue was released in January 1946, and he would release three further volumes during his stay. Wheeler married Kim Collingridge in Simla, before he and his wife took part in an Indian Cultural Mission to Iran. The Indian government had deemed Wheeler ideal to lead the group, which departed via train to
Zahidan Zahedan ( Balochi and fa, , ' ) is a city and capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 587,730. The city was the site of a deadly crackdown in October 2022, with dozens citizens killed by pro- ...
before visiting
Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...
,
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, Isfahan,
Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
, Pasargadae, and
Kashan Kashan ( fa, ; Qashan; Cassan; also romanized as Kāshān) is a city in the northern part of Isfahan province, Iran. At the 2017 census, its population was 396,987 in 90,828 families. Some etymologists argue that the city name comes from ...
. Wheeler enjoyed the trip, and was envious of Tehran's archaeological museum and library, which was far in advance of anything then found in India. Crossing into Iraq, in
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
the team caught a flight back to Delhi. In 1946, he was involved in a second cultural mission, this time to Afghanistan, where he expressed a particular interest in the kingdom of ancient Bactria and visited the archaeology of Balkh. Wheeler was present during the 1947 Partition of India into the
Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...
and the Union of India and the accompanying ethnic violence between Hindu and Muslim communities. He was unhappy with how these events had affected the Archaeological Survey, complaining that some of his finest students and staff were now citizens of Pakistan and no longer able to work for him. He was based in New Delhi when the city was rocked by sectarian violence, and attempted to help many of his Muslim staff members escape from the Hindu-majority city unharmed. He further helped smuggle Muslim families out of the city hospital, where they had taken refuge from a violent Hindu mob. As India neared independence from the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
, the political situation had changed significantly; by October 1947 he was one of the last British individuals in a senior position in the country's governing establishment, and recognised that many Indian nationalists wanted him to leave as well. For his work in India, Wheeler was appointed a Companion of the
Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...
(CIE) in the final imperial honours list issued the day before Indian independence (gazetted in the
1948 New Year Honours The 1948 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1948 for the Briti ...
). As their relationship had become increasingly strained, his wife had left and returned to Britain. Although hoping to leave his post in India several months early, he was concerned for his economic prospects, and desperately searched for a new position. Through friends in the British archaeological community, he was offered a job as the Secretary of the
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; cy, Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectur ...
, although he was upset that this would mean a drop in his professional status and income and decided to turn it down. Instead, he agreed to take up a chair in the Archaeology of the Roman Provinces at the Institute of Archaeology. In addition, the Pakistani Minister of Education invited him to become the Archaeological Adviser to the Pakistani government; he agreed also to take up this position, on the condition that he would only spend several months in the country each year over the next three. On 1 September 1948, having exceeded the age limit, he relinquished his Territorial Army commission, ending his military service as a war-substantive lieutenant-colonel (honorary brigadier). He was awarded the
Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the Te ...
(TD) in September 1956.


Later life


Between Britain and Pakistan: 1948–52

Returning to London, Wheeler moved into the Hallam Street flat where his son and daughter-in-law were living. Wheeler and the latter disliked each other, so in summer 1950 he moved out and began renting an apartment in Mount Street. A year later he moved into his wife's house in Mallord Street, in an unsuccessful hope of reigniting their relationship. Taking up his part-time professorship at the Institute of Archaeology, he began to lecture to students almost every day. There, he found that he developed a relationship of mutual respect with the director, Childe, despite their strong personal and professional differences. In April 1949, after the retirement of Cyril Fox, Wheeler was nominated for the Presidency of the Society of Antiquaries, but lost to James Mann; many archaeologists, including Childe and
O. G. S. Crawford Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford (28 October 1886 – 28 November 1957) was a British archaeologist who specialised in the archaeology of prehistoric Britain and Sudan. A keen proponent of aerial archaeology, he spent most of his career as th ...
, resigned from the Society in protest, deeming Wheeler to have been a far more appropriate candidate for the position. Wheeler was nevertheless elected director of the Society. In 1950 he was awarded the Petrie Medal, and was knighted in the 1952 Birthday Honours, with his investiture by the Queen taking place at Buckingham Palace on 8 July. That same year he was invited to give the Norton lectures for the Archaeological Institute of America, and while in the United States was also awarded the Lucy Wharton Drexel medal at Pennsylvania. He nevertheless disliked the country, and in later life exhibited
anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...
. Wheeler spent three months in the
Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...
during early 1949, where he was engaged in organising the fledgling Pakistani Archaeological Department with the aid of former members of the Archaeological Survey and new students whom he recruited. The Minister of Education, Fazlur Rahman, was sympathetic to Wheeler's plans, and the government agreed to establish a National Museum of Pakistan in
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
, which opened in April 1950. Wheeler himself was appointed the first President of the Pakistani Museums Association, and found himself as a mediator in the arguments between India and Pakistan over the redistribution of archaeological and historic artefacts following the partition. He also wrote a work of archaeological propaganda for the newly formed state, ''Five Thousand Years of Pakistan'' (1950). To instruct new Pakistani students in the methods of archaeology, in early 1950 Wheeler ran a training excavation at Mohenjo-daro; there, he was joined by the British student Leslie Alcock, who spoke both Punjabi and
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Bindon Hill in Dorset. It was a leisurely project which he treated as a seaside holiday. He was invited by the Ancient Monuments Department of the Ministry of Works to excavate the Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications in North Riding, Yorkshire, which he proceeded to do over the summers of 1951 and 1952. Aided by many old friends and colleagues from within the British archaeological scene, he was joined by Alcock and Alcock's wife, among others. Wheeler published his report on the site in 1954. In 1949 Wheeler was appointed Honorary Secretary of the
British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...
after Frederic G. Kenyon stepped down from the position. According to Piggott, the institution had "unhappily drifted into senility without the excuse of being venerable", and Wheeler devoted much time attempting to revitalise the organisation and ensured that Charles Webster was appointed president. Together, Wheeler and Webster sought to increase the number of younger members of the Academy, increasing the number of Fellows who were permitted to join and proposing that those over 75 years of age not be permitted to serve on the organisation's council; this latter measure was highly controversial, but, though defeated in 1951, Wheeler and Webster were able to push it through in 1952. In doing so, Piggott stated, Wheeler helped rid the society of its "self-perpetuating gerontocracy". To help him in these projects, Wheeler employed a personal assistant, Molly Myers, who remained with him for the rest of his life.


Popular fame: 1952–69

In 1956, Wheeler retired from his part-time professorship at the Institute of Archaeology. Childe was also retiring from his position of director that year, and Wheeler involved himself in the arguments surrounding who should replace him. Wheeler vocally opposed the nomination of W.F. Grimes, deeming his career undistinguished; instead, he championed Glyn Daniel as a candidate, although ultimately Grimes was selected. That year, Wheeler's marriage broke down, and he moved from his wife's house to a former brothel at 27 Whitcomb Street in central London. From 1954 to 1959, he served as the President of the Society of Antiquaries, and after resigning supported Ian Richmond as his replacement; however, Joan Evans was selected. From 1964 to 1966 he served as Chairman of the
Ancient Monuments Board English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
, stepping down when he concluded that he was too old for the role. In December 1963, Wheeler underwent a
prostate The prostate is both an accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found only in some mammals. It differs between species anatomically, chemically, and phys ...
operation that went wrong, and was hospitalised for over a month. In November 1967, Wheeler became a Companion of Honour (CH), and in 1968 he became a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
(FRS).


Media fame and public archaeology

Wheeler became famous in Britain as "the embodiment of popular archaeology through the medium of television". In 1952, Wheeler was invited to be a panelist on the new
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television series '' Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?''. Based on the American quiz programme '' What in the World?'', the show was hosted by Glyn Daniel and featured three experts in archaeology, anthropology, and natural history being asked to identify artefacts that had been selected from various museums. Wheeler is alleged to have prepared for the show by checking beforehand which objects had been temporarily removed from display. The show proved popular with British audiences, and would air for six more years. It brought Wheeler to public attention, resulting in a Television Personality of the Year award for him in 1954. He also appeared in an episode of ''
Buried Treasure Buried treasure is a literary trope commonly associated with depictions of pirates, criminals, and Old West outlaws. According to popular conception, these people often buried their stolen fortunes in remote places, intending to return to them ...
'', an archaeology show also hosted by Daniel, in which the pair travelled to Denmark to discuss Tollund Man. In 1957, he appeared in a second episode of ''Buried Treasure'', for which he travelled to Pakistan to discuss that nation's archaeology, and in 1958 again appeared in an episode, this time on the site of Great Zimbabwe in
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...
. In 1959 he presented his own three-part series on ''The Grandeur That Was Rome'', for which he travelled to Hadrian's Wall, Pompeii, and Leptis Magna; the show failed to secure high ratings, and was Wheeler's last major foray into television. Meanwhile, he also made appearances on BBC radio, initially featuring on the
John Irving John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American-Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of ''The World According to ...
series ''The Archaeologist'', but later presenting his own eight-part series on Roman Britain and also appearing on the series ''Asian Club'', which was aimed primarily at newly arrived migrants from the Indian subcontinent. From 1954 onward, Wheeler began to devote an increasing amount of his time to encouraging greater public interest in archaeology, and it was in that year that he obtained an agent. Oxford University Press also published two of his books in 1954. The first was a book on archaeological methodologies, ''Archaeology from the Earth'', which was translated into various languages. The second was ''Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontier'', discussing evidence for Roman activity at sites such as Arikamedu and Segontium. In 1955 Wheeler released his episodic autobiography, ''Still Digging'', which had sold over 70,000 copies by the end of the year. In 1959, Wheeler wrote ''Early India and Pakistan'', which was published as part as Daniel's "Ancient Peoples and Places" series for
Thames and Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...
; as with many earlier books, he was criticised for rushing to conclusions. He wrote the section entitled "Ancient India" for Piggott's edited volume ''The Dawn of Civilisation'', which was published by Thames and Hudson in 1961, before writing an introduction for Roger Wood's photography book ''Roman Africa in Colour'', which was also published by Thames and Hudson. He then agreed to edit a series for the publisher, known as "New Aspects of Antiquity", through which they released a variety of archaeological works. The rival publisher
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...
had also persuaded Wheeler to work for them, securing him to write many sections of their book ''Splendours of the East''. They also published his 1968 book ''Flames Over Persepolis'', in which Wheeler discussed Persepolis and the Persian Empire in the year that it was conquered by
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
. In 1954, the tour company R.K. Swan invited Wheeler to provide lectures on the archaeology of ancient Greece aboard their Hellenic cruise line, which he did in 1955. In 1957, he then gave a guided tour of the archaeology of the Indian subcontinent for the rival tour company Fairways and Swinford. After Swans appointed him to the position of chairman of their Hellenic Cruise division, he made two fortnight tours a year, in spring and summer. In late 1969 he conducted the Swans tour to the Indian subcontinent, visiting the south and east of the republic as well as Ceylon. During this period, Wheeler had kept in contact with many of his friends and colleagues in India and Pakistan, helping to secure them work and funding where possible. Wheeler had continued his archaeological investigations, and in 1954 led an expedition to the Somme and
Pas de Calais The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...
where he sought to obtain more information on the French Iron Age to supplement that gathered in the late 1930s. Pakistan's Ministry of Education invited Wheeler to return to their country in October 1956. Here, he undertook test excavations at Charsada to determine a chronology of the site. In 1965, he agreed to take on the position of President of the Camelot Research Committee, which had been established to promote the findings of excavations at Cadbury Castle in
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
run by his friends Ralegh Radford and Alcock; the project ended in 1970. He also agreed to sit as Chairman of the Archaeological Committee overseeing excavations at
York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...
, work which occupied him into the 1970s. Wheeler had also continued his work with museums, campaigning for greater state funding for them. While he had become a trustee of the institution in 1963, he achieved publicity for vocally criticising the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
as "a mountainous corpse", lambasting it as being poorly managed and overcrowded with artefacts. The BBC staged a public debate with the museum director Frank Francis.


British Academy and UNESCO

As Honorary Secretary of the British Academy, Wheeler focused on increasing the organisation's revenues, thus enabling it to expand its remit. He developed personal relationships with various employees at the British Treasury, and offered the Academy's services as an intermediary in dealing with the
Egypt Exploration Society The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organization. The society was founded in 1882 by Amelia Edwards and Reginald Stuart Poole in order to examine and excavate in the areas of Egypt and Sudan. The intent was to study and ana ...
, the British School at Athens, the British School at Rome, the British School at Ankara, the British School in Iraq, and the British School at Jerusalem, all of which were then directly funded independently by the Treasury. Accepting this offer, the Treasury agreed to double its funding of the Academy to £5,000 a year. Approaching various charitable foundations, from 1955 Wheeler also secured funding from both the
Pilgrim Trust The Pilgrim Trust is a national grant-making trust in the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law. It was founded in 1930 with a two million pound grant by Edward Harkness, an American philanthropist. T ...
and the Nuffield Foundation, and in 1957 then secured additional funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. With this additional money, the Academy was able to organise a survey of the state of the humanities and social sciences in the United Kingdom, authoring a report that was published by Oxford University Press in 1961 as ''Research in the Humanities and the Social Sciences''. On the basis of this report, Wheeler was able to secure a dramatic rise in funding from the British Treasury; they increased their annual grant to £25,000, and promised that this would increase to £50,000 shortly after. According to his later biographer Jacquetta Hawkes, in doing so Wheeler raised the position of the Academy to that of "the main source of official patronage for the humanities" within the United Kingdom, while Piggott stated that he set the organisation upon its "modern course". To improve Britain's cultural influence abroad, Wheeler had been urging the establishment of a British Institute of History and Archaeology in East Africa, touring East Africa itself in August 1955. In 1956 the Academy requested £6,000 from the Treasury to fund this new institution, to which they eventually agreed in 1959. The institute was initially established in Dar es Salaam in 1961, although later relocated to
Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...
. Meanwhile, Wheeler had also been campaigning for the establishment of a British Institute of Persian Studies, a project which was supported by the British Embassy in Tehran; they hoped that it would rival the successful French Institute in the city. In 1960, the Treasury agreed, with the new institution being housed on the premises of the University of Tehran. He further campaigned for the establishment of a British Institute in Japan, although these ideas were scrapped amid the British financial crisis of 1967. Wheeler retained an active interest in the running of these British institutions abroad; in 1967 he visited the British School in Jerusalem amid the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...
between Israel and its Arab neighbours, and in January 1968 visited the Persian institute with the archaeologist Max Mallowan and Mallowan's wife Agatha Christie, there inspecting the excavations at
Siraf Bandar Siraf ( fa, بندر سیراف), also Romanized as Bandar-e Sīraf; also known as Sīraf, Ṭāherī, and Tāhiri; as well as Bandar-e Ṭāherī and Bandar-i Ṭāhirī ( fa, بندر طاهری, Bandar-e Ṭāherī), is a city in the Ce ...
. In 1969 he proceeded to the Italian city of Rome to inspect the British School there. That year, he resigned as Honorary Secretary of the Academy. The position became a salaried, professional one, with the numismatist Derek Allen taking on the position. Recognising his stature within the archaeological establishment, the government appointed Wheeler as the British representative on a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
project to undertake a programme of rescue archaeology in the Nile Valley ahead of the construction of the
Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan L ...
, which was going to flood large areas of Egypt and Sudan. Personally securing UK funding for the project, he deemed it an issue of national and personal shame when he was unable to persuade the British government to supply additional funding for the relocation of the Abu Simbel temples. In October 1968, he took part in a UNESCO visit to Pakistan to assess the state of Mohenjo-daro, writing the project's report on how the archaeological site could best be preserved. His involvement with UNESCO continued for the rest of his life, and in March 1973 he was invited to the organisation's conference in Paris.


Final years: 1970–76

During his final years, Wheeler remained involved in various activities, for instance sitting on the advisory panel of the ''Antiquity'' journal and the Management Committee of the Royal Archaeological Institute. In March 1971, the archaeologist Barry Cunliffe and a number of his undergraduate students at the
University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
organised a conference on the subject of "The Iron Age and its Hillforts" to celebrate Wheeler's eightieth birthday. Wheeler attended the event, whose conference proceedings were published as a
festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
for the octogenarian. In spring 1973, Wheeler returned to BBC television for two episodes of the archaeology-themed series '' Chronicle'' in which he discussed his life and career. The episodes were well received, and Wheeler became a close friend of the show's producer, David Collison. In the 1970s, Wheeler became increasingly forgetful and came to rely largely on his assistant, Molly Myres, to organise his affairs. Amid increasing ill health, in September 1973 he moved full-time into Myres's house in
Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...
, Surrey, although he continued to use his central London flat during day-trips to the city. There, he wrote a final book, ''My Archaeological Mission to India and Pakistan'', although much of the text was culled from his previous publications; it was published by Thames and Hudson in 1976. After suffering a stroke, Wheeler died at Myers' home on 22 July 1976. In memoriam, the British Academy, Royal Academy, and Royal Society flew their flags at
half-mast Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a salut ...
. Wheeler's funeral was held with full military honours at a local crematorium, while a larger memorial service was held in
St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. Th ...
in November. His will was proven on 18 October, with his estate valued at £65,842 (equivalent to £ in ).


Personal life

Wheeler was known as "Rik" among friends. He divided opinion among those who knew him, with some loving and others despising him, and during his lifetime, he was often criticised on both scholarly and moral grounds. Archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan asserted that he "was a delightful, light-hearted and amusing companion, but those close to him knew that he could be a dangerous opponent if threatened with frustration". His charm offensives were often condemned as being insincere. During excavations, he was known as an authoritarian leader but favoured those who he thought exhibited bravery by standing up to his authority. Hence, he has been termed "a benevolent dictator". He was meticulous in his writings, and would repeatedly revise and rewrite both pieces for publication and personal letters. Throughout his life, he was a heavy smoker. Wheeler expressed the view that he was "the least political of mortals". Despite not taking a strong interest in politics, Wheeler was described by his biographer as "a natural conservative"; for instance, during his youth he was strongly critical of the Suffragettes and their cause of greater legal rights for women. Nevertheless, he was "usually happy to advance young women professionally", something that may have been based largely on his sexual attraction toward them. He expressed little interest in his relatives; in later life, he saw no reason to have a social relationship with people purely on the basis of family ties. Wheeler was married three times. In May 1914, Wheeler married Tessa Verney. Tessa became an accomplished archaeologist, and they collaborated until her death in 1936. Their only child,
Michael Mortimer Wheeler Michael Mortimer Wheeler (8 January 1915 – 7 August 1992) was a British barrister. Early life and education The son of archaeologists Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler, he attended the Dragon School and Rugby School before going on to study law at ...
, was born in January 1915; he became a barrister. Following Tessa's death, in 1939, Wheeler married Mavis de Vere Cole, widow of prankster Horace de Vere Cole. Their relationship was strained; Cole's diaries revealed that Wheeler hit her when she annoyed him. In 1945, Mortimer Wheeler married his third wife, Margaret Collingridge. Although they became estranged in 1956, Collingridge's Catholicism prevented divorce. Meanwhile, Wheeler was well known for his conspicuous promiscuity, favouring young women for
one-night stands A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...
, many of whom were his students. He was further known for having casual sex in public places. That behaviour led to much emotional suffering among his various wives and mistresses of which he was aware.


Reception and legacy

Wheeler has been termed "the most famous British archaeologist of the twentieth century" by archaeologists Gabriel Moshenska and
Tim Schadla-Hall Tim Schadla-Hall (born September 1947) is an English archaeologist who specialises in the study of how the archaeological discipline interacts with the public. He is affiliated with the Institute of Archaeology at University College London in Bl ...
. Highlighting his key role in encouraging interest in archaeology throughout British society, they stated that his "mastery of public archaeology was founded on his keen eye for value and a showman's willingness to package and sell the past". This was an issue about which Wheeler felt very strongly; writing his obituary for the ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society'', the English archaeologist Stuart Piggott noted that Wheeler placed "great importance to the archaeologist's obligation to the public, on whose support the prosecution of his subject ultimately depended." Piggott believed that Wheeler's greatest impact was as "the great innovator in field techniques", comparing him in this respect to Pitt-Rivers. Piggott stated that the "importance of Wheeler's contribution to archaeological technique, enormous and far-reaching, lies in the fact that in the early 1920s he not only appreciated and understood what Pitt-Rivers had done, but saw that his work could be used as a basis for adaptation, development and improvement." L. C. Carr stated that it was for his methodological developments, oft termed "the Wheeler Method", that Wheeler was best known; in this she contrasted him with those archaeologists who were best known for their associations with a specific archaeological site, such as Arthur Evans and
Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...
or Leonard Woolley and Ur. Wheeler was well known for his publications on archaeological matters; Carr stated that both Wheeler and his first wife emphasised "technical rigour and a full presentation of materials unearthed, as well as a literary discussion of their meaning calculated to appeal to a larger audience." Focusing on Wheeler's publications regarding South Asian archaeology, Sudeshna Guha noted that he "produced an assemblage of image-objects that embodied the precision he demanded from excavation photography." Mallowan noted that "Immediate and swift presentation of results was more important to him than profound scholarship, although his critical sense made him conscious that it was necessary to maintain high standards and he would approve of nothing that was slipshod." Jacquetta Hawkes commented that he made errors in his interpretation of the archaeological evidence because he was "sometimes too sure of being right, too ready to accept his own authority". She asserted that while Wheeler was not an original thinker, he had "a vision of human history that enabled him to see each discovery of its traces, however small, in its widest significance." Piggott claimed that Wheeler's appointment as Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India represented "the most remarkable archaeological achievement of his career, an enormous challenge accepted and surmounted in the autocratic and authoritarian terms within which he could best deploy his powers as administrator and excavator. No other archaeologist of the time, it seems fair to remark, could have come near to attaining his command of incisive strategy and often ruthless tactics which won him the bewildered admiration and touching devotion of his Indian staff." The Indian archaeologist Dilip K. Chakrabarti later stated that Wheeler's accomplishments while in India were "considerable", particularly given the socio-political turmoil of independence and partition. Chakrabarti stated that Wheeler had contributed to South Asian archaeology in various ways: by establishing a "total view" of the region's development from the
Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...
onward, by introducing new archaeological techniques and methodologies to the subcontinent, and by encouraging Indian universities to begin archaeological research. Ultimately, Chakrabarti was of the opinion that Wheeler had "prepared the archaeology of the subcontinent for its transition to modernity in the post-Partition period." Similarly, Peter Johansen praised Wheeler for systematising and professionalising Indian archaeology and for "instituting a clearly defined body of techniques and methods for field and laboratory work and training." On Wheeler's death, H. D. Sankalia of Deccan College,
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
, described him as "well known among Old World archaeologists in the United States", particularly for his book ''Archaeology from the Earth'' and his studies of the Indus Valley Civilisation. In its 2013 obituary of the English archaeologist
Mick Aston Michael Antony Aston (1 July 1946 – 24 June 2013) was an English archaeologist who specialised in Early Medieval landscape archaeology. Over the course of his career, he lectured at both the University of Bristol and University of Oxford an ...
, ''British Archaeology'' magazine – the publication of the Council for British Archaeology – described Aston as "the Mortimer Wheeler of our times" because despite the strong differences between their personalities, both had done much to bring archaeology to the British public. However, writing in 2011, Moshenska and Schadla-Hall asserted that Wheeler's reputation has not undergone significant revision among archaeologists, but that instead he had come to be remembered as "a cartoonish and slightly eccentric figure" whom they termed "Naughty Morty". Carr described the Institute of Archaeology as "one of the heelercouple's most permanent memorials."


Mortimer Wheeler Archaeological Lectures

On the proposal of Council of the British Academy, a lecture series was established to commemorate Sir Mortimer Wheeler's 80th birthday. The lectures were given annually from 1971 to 1991 and then discontinued as a series of single lectures. In 1992 and again in 2001, Wheeler Lectures were keynote presentations in British Academy archaeological conferences.


Biographies and studies

In 1960, Ronald William Clark published a biography titled ''Sir Mortimer Wheeler''. FitzRoy Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan, reviewed the volume for the journal ''
Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...
'', describing "this very readable little book" as being "adulatory" in tone, "but hardly more so than its subject deserves." In 1982, the archaeologist Jacquetta Hawkes published a second biography, ''Mortimer Wheeler: Adventurer in Archaeology''. Hawkes admitted she had developed "a very great liking" for Wheeler, having first met him when she was an archaeology student at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
. She believed that he had "a daemonic energy", with his accomplishments in India being "almost superhuman". Ultimately, she thought of him as being "an epic hero in an anti-heroic age" in which growing social
egalitarianism Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
had stifled and condemned aspects of his greatness. In the 2000 film ''
Hey Ram ''Hey Ram'' is a 2000 Indian period crime drama film written, directed and produced by Kamal Haasan, who also stars. It was simultaneously made in Tamil and Hindi languages. Shah Rukh Khan plays a supporting role, making his debut in Tamil ci ...
'', the lead character, Saket Ram (played by Kamal Haasan) and his friend, Amjad Khan (played by Shah Rukh Khan) are shown as employees of Wheeler, who was portrayed by Lewis K. Elbinger, before the 1947 Hindu–Muslim riots. In a 2003 volume of the ''South Asian Studies'' journal, Sudeshna Gusha published a research article examining Wheeler's use of photography in his excavations and publications in the Indian subcontinent. In 2011, the academic journal '' Public Archaeology'' published a research paper by Moshenska and Schadla-Hall that analysed Wheeler's role in presenting archaeology to the British public. Two years later, the '' Papers from the Institute of Archaeology'' issued a short comic strip by Moshenska and Alex Salamunovich depicting Wheeler's activities in studying the archaeology of Libya during World War II.


Bibliography

A bibliography of Wheeler's published books was included by Piggott in his obituary, and again by Hawkes in her biography.


References


Footnotes


Sources

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Further reading

* Jane McIntosh, 'Wheeler, Sir (Robert Eric) Mortimer (1890–1976)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, September 201
accessed 11 March 2013


External links


"Sir Mortimer and Magnus" interview available on BBC iPlayer

Dictionary of Art Historians

National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Mortimer 1890 births 1976 deaths Archaeologists from Glasgow Scottish antiquarians Royal Artillery officers Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War I British Army brigadiers of World War II Military personnel from Glasgow Knights Bachelor Academics of the UCL Institute of Archaeology People associated with the Indus Valley civilisation Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Society (Statute 12) Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London Members of the Cambrian Archaeological Association British television presenters People educated at Bradford Grammar School Alumni of the University of London Directors General of the Archaeological Survey of India People associated with the Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales British expatriates in Pakistan Archaeologists of South Asia Indian institute directors People associated with The Institute for Cultural Research BAFTA winners (people) 20th-century archaeologists Presidents of the Royal Archaeological Institute