Editing Mortimer Wheeler (section)

==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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=271}} A year later he moved into his wife's house in [[Mallord Street]], in an unsuccessful hope of reigniting their relationship.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=279}}
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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=263–263}} 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 (curator)|James Mann]]; many archaeologists, including Childe and [[O. G. S. Crawford]], 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=265–266}} In 1950 he was awarded the [[Petrie Medal]],{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=278}} and was knighted in the [[1952 Birthday Honours]], with his investiture by the Queen taking place at [[Buckingham Palace]] on 8 July.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39555|date=30 May 1952 |page=3008 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39594|date=11 July 1952 |page=3748 |supp=|nolink=y}}</ref>{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=278}} That same year he was invited to give the [[Charles Eliot Norton|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]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=278}}

[[File:Wheeler's Wall.JPG|thumb|right|Wheeler excavated at Stanwick Iron Age fortifications; the section pictured is today known as Wheeler's Wall.]]

Wheeler spent three months in the [[Dominion of Pakistan]] 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=264}} The Minister of Education, [[Fazlur Rahman (Pakistani politician)|Fazlur Rahman]], was sympathetic to Wheeler's plans, and the government agreed to establish a [[National Museum of Pakistan]] in [[Karachi]], which opened in April 1950.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=264, 270}} Wheeler himself was appointed the first President of the Pakistani Museums Association,{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=264}} and found himself as a mediator in the arguments between India and Pakistan over the redistribution of archaeological and historic artefacts following the partition.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=266–267}} He also wrote a work of archaeological propaganda for the newly formed state, ''Five Thousand Years of Pakistan'' (1950).{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=638|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=265}}

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 language|Punjabi]] and [[Urdu]] and who was appointed a site supervisor by Wheeler.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=267–269}} This excavation proved to be the only one for which Wheeler would not write and publish a full excavation report.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=270}} Instead, he made reference to its findings in his book ''The Indus Civilization'', published as part of the series The Cambridge History of India.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=638|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=270}} His relationship with the Pakistani government had become strained, so he declined to return to work for them for a third year.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=271}}

Wheeler had been keen to return to excavation in Britain. Based on the one he had organised in India, Wheeler developed an archaeological training course, which he ran at Verulamium in the summer of 1949 to instruct British students in the methodologies of excavation.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=267}} In summer 1950, he was invited by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments to direct a trial excavation at [[Bindon Hill]] in Dorset. It was a leisurely project which he treated as a seaside holiday.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=272}} He was invited by the Ancient Monuments Department of the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|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.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=638|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=273–277}}

In 1949, Wheeler was appointed Honorary Secretary of the [[British Academy]] after [[Frederic G. Kenyon]] stepped down from the position.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1pp=638–639|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=267, 281}} According to Piggott, the institution had "unhappily drifted into senility without the excuse of being venerable",{{sfn|Piggott|1977|p=639}} and Wheeler devoted much time attempting to revitalise the organisation and ensured that [[Charles Webster (historian)|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.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=639|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=280, 283–284}} In doing so, Piggott stated, Wheeler helped rid the society of its "self-perpetuating [[gerontocracy]]".{{sfn|Piggott|1977|p=639}} To help him in these projects, Wheeler employed a personal assistant, Molly Myers, who remained with him for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=282}}

===Popular fame: 1952–69===

In 1956, Wheeler retired from his part-time professorship at the Institute of Archaeology.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=320}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=320–323}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=319–320}} 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 (art historian)|Joan Evans]] was selected.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=640|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=330–331}} From 1964 to 1966 he served as Chairman of the [[Ancient Monuments Board]], stepping down when he concluded that he was too old for the role.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=640|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=331–332}}
In December 1963, Wheeler underwent a [[prostate]] operation that went wrong, and was hospitalised for over a month.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=341–342}}
In November 1967, Wheeler became a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] (CH),{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=312}} and in 1968 he became a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS).{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=639|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=356}}

====Media fame and public archaeology====

Wheeler became famous in Britain as "the embodiment of popular archaeology through the medium of television".{{sfn|Piggott|1977|p=640}} In 1952, Wheeler was invited to be a panelist on the new [[BBC]] television series ''[[Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?]]''. Based on the American quiz programme ''[[What in the World? (television show)|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.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=640|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=298–301|3a1=Bahn|3y=1999|3p=59}} It brought Wheeler to public attention, resulting in a Television Personality of the Year award for him in 1954.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=640|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=301}} He also appeared in an episode of ''[[Buried Treasure (UK TV programme)|Buried Treasure]]'', an archaeology show also hosted by Daniel, in which the pair travelled to [[Denmark]] to discuss [[Tollund Man]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=302–303}} 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]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=303–305}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=305–307}} Meanwhile, he also made appearances on BBC radio, initially featuring on the [[John Irving]] 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 [[British Asian|migrants from the Indian subcontinent]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=303}}

[[File:Persepolis 1.JPG|thumb|left|Wheeler wrote a book on the city of Persepolis in Iran]]

From 1954 onward, Wheeler began to devote an increasing amount of his time to encouraging greater public interest in archaeology,{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=314}} and it was in that year that he obtained an agent.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=315}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=314–315}} The second was ''Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontier'', discussing evidence for Roman activity at sites such as Arikamedu and Segontium.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=638|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=315}} In 1955 Wheeler released his episodic autobiography, ''Still Digging'', which had sold over 70,000 copies by the end of the year.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=316–317}} 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]]; as with many earlier books, he was criticised for rushing to conclusions.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=638|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=324–325}}

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,{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=331, 338}} before writing an introduction for Roger Wood's photography book ''Roman Africa in Colour'', which was also published by Thames and Hudson.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=338–339}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=339}} The rival publisher [[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]] had also persuaded Wheeler to work for them, securing him to write many sections of their book ''Splendours of the East''.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=339}} 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]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=340}}

In 1954, the tour company [[Swan Hellenic|R.K. Swan]] invited Wheeler to provide lectures on the archaeology of ancient Greece aboard their Hellenic cruise line, which he did in 1955.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=308–309}} In 1957, he then gave a guided tour of the archaeology of the Indian subcontinent for the rival tour company Fairways and [[Swinford]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=309}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=309–310}} In late 1969 he conducted the Swans tour to the Indian subcontinent, visiting the south and east of the republic as well as [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=313}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=344–347}}

Wheeler had continued his archaeological investigations, and in 1954 led an expedition to [[the Somme]] and [[Pas de Calais]] where he sought to obtain more information on the French Iron Age to supplement that gathered in the late 1930s.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=317–318}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=637|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=325–329}} 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, Somerset|Cadbury Castle]] in [[Somerset]] run by his friends [[Ralegh Radford]] and Alcock; the project ended in 1970.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=342–343}} He also agreed to sit as Chairman of the Archaeological Committee overseeing excavations at [[York Minster]], work which occupied him into the 1970s.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=344}} Wheeler had also continued his work with museums, campaigning for greater state funding for them.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=332}} While he had become a trustee of the institution in 1963,{{sfn|Piggott|1977|p=640}} he achieved publicity for vocally criticising the [[British Museum]] 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]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=332–333}}

====British Academy and UNESCO====

[[File:Abusimbel.jpg|thumb|right|Wheeler was part of the UNESCO team that had the Abu Simbel temples and their sculptures moved to protect them from flooding (pictured)]]

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 [[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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=284–285}}  Approaching various charitable foundations, from 1955 Wheeler also secured funding from both the [[Pilgrim Trust]] and the [[Nuffield Foundation]], and in 1957 then secured additional funding from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=287–289}}

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 science|Social Sciences]]''.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=290–291}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=639|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=291–292}} 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,{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=287}} while Piggott stated that he set the organisation upon its "modern course".{{sfn|Piggott|1977|p=639}}

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]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=293–294}} 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]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=294–297}} He further campaigned for the establishment of a British Institute in Japan, although these ideas were scrapped amid the British financial crisis of 1967.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=297}}

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]] between Israel and its Arab neighbours,{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=350–351}} 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]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=352–353}} In 1969 he proceeded to the Italian city of Rome to inspect the British School there.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=360}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=358}}

Recognising his stature within the archaeological establishment, the government appointed Wheeler as the British representative on a [[UNESCO]] project to undertake a programme of rescue archaeology in the [[Nile Valley]] ahead of the construction of the [[Aswan Dam]], which was going to flood large areas of Egypt and Sudan.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=334–337}} 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]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=334–337}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=256–357}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=371}}

===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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=361}} In March 1971, the archaeologist [[Barry Cunliffe]] and a number of his undergraduate students at the [[University of Southampton]] 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]] for the octogenarian.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=362–363}} In spring 1973, Wheeler returned to BBC television for two episodes of the archaeology-themed series ''[[Chronicle (UK TV 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=363–368}} 1974 saw Wheeler appear in a series of six [[BBC]] TV interviews with presenter and broadcaster [[Magnus Magnusson]] called “Sir Mortimer and Magnus” during which he talked anecdotally about his life and work.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 1974 |title= Sir Mortimer and Magnus |url=https://imdb.com/title/tt5103260 |access-date= 4 June 2024 |website= IMDb |language=en}}</ref>

In the 1970s, Wheeler became increasingly forgetful and came to rely largely on his assistant, Molly Myres, to organise his affairs.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=371}} Amid increasing ill health, in September 1973 he moved full-time into Myres's house in [[Leatherhead]], [[Surrey]], although he continued to use his central London flat during day-trips to the city.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=373}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=374–375}} Following a stroke, Wheeler died at Myers' home on 22 July 1976.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=377}} In memoriam, the British Academy, Royal Academy, and Royal Society flew their flags at [[half-mast]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=377}} 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]] in November.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=377}} His will was proven on 18 October, with his estate valued at £65,842 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|65842|1976|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}).<ref name="probate">{{cite web |url=https://probatesearch.service.gov/Calendar?surname=Wheeler&yearOfDeath=1976&page=7#calendar |title=Wheeler, Sir Robert Eric Mortimer |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1976 |website= probatesearch.service.gov | publisher=UK Government |access-date=8 November 2019 }}</ref>