Editing Mortimer Wheeler (section)

===University and early career: 1907–14===

[[File:Wilkins Building 1, UCL, London - Diliff.jpg|thumb|Wheeler undertook his BA and MA at University College London (pictured).]]

After passing the [[entrance exam]] on his second attempt, in 1907 Wheeler was awarded a scholarship to read [[classical studies]] at [[University College London]] (UCL), commuting daily from his parental home to the university campus in [[Bloomsbury]], central London.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=623|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=40|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3p=77}} At UCL, he was taught by the prominent classicist [[A.&nbsp;E. Housman]].{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=624|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=41}} During his undergraduate studies, he became editor of the ''Union Magazine'', for which he produced a number of illustrated cartoons.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=41–42}} Increasingly interested in art, he decided to switch from classical studies to a course at UCL's [[art school]], the [[Slade School of Fine Art]]; 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".{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=624|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=43–44}} This interlude had adversely affected his classical studies, and he received a [[Upper second-class honours|second class]] BA on graduating.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=45}}

Wheeler began studying for a [[Master of Arts]] degree in classical studies, which he attained in 1912.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=624|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=45|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3p=77}} During this period, he also gained employment as the personal secretary of the UCL Provost [[Gregory Foster]],{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=47}} although he later criticised Foster for transforming the university from "a college in the truly academic sense [into] a hypertrophied monstrosity as little like a college as a plesiosaurus is like a man".{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=40}} It was also at this time of life that he met and began a relationship with [[Tessa Wheeler|Tessa Verney]], a student then studying history at UCL, when they were both serving on the committee of the University College Literary Society.{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1p=47|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2p=77}}

During his studies, Wheeler had developed his love of archaeology, having joined an [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavation]] of [[Viroconium Cornoviorum]], a [[Roman Britain|Romano-British]] settlement in [[Wroxeter]], in 1913.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=49}} 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 of London|Society of Antiquaries]] in memory of [[Augustus Wollaston Franks]]. The prominent archaeologist [[Arthur Evans|Sir Arthur Evans]] 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]] in Germany, there studying the Roman pottery housed in local museums; his research into this subject was never published.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=624|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=49–51|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3p=79}}

At this period, there were very few jobs available within British archaeology; as the later archaeologist [[Stuart Piggott]] related, "the young Wheeler was looking for a professional job where the profession had yet to be created."{{sfn|Piggott|1977|p=625}} In 1913 Wheeler secured a position as junior investigator for the [[Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England)|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]] in [[Essex]] to assess Late Medieval buildings, although once that was accomplished he focused on studying the Romano-British remains of that county.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1pp=625–626|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=51–52|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3p=79}} In summer 1914, he married Tessa in a low-key, secular wedding ceremony, before they moved into Wheeler's parental home in Herne Hill.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=626|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=52–53|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3pp=79–80, 82}}