Editing Mortimer Wheeler (section)

===London Museum: 1926–33===

[[File:Lancaster House London April 2006 032.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|[[Lancaster House]], where the London Museum was based]]

Upon the retirement of the Keeper of the [[London Museum (1912–1976)|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]] in the [[St James's]] area, in July 1926.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=628|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=99–100|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3p=107}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=101}} 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 [[London Victoria station|Victoria Station]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=107}}

Tessa's biographer L. C. Carr later commented that together, the Wheelers "professionalized the London Museum".{{sfn|Carr|2012|p=137}} 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".{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=109}} 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''.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=628|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=109–110}} Upon his arrival, the Treasury allocated the museum an annual budget of £5,000, which Wheeler deemed insufficient for its needs.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=112}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=113}}

Soon after joining the museum, Wheeler was elected to the council of the Society of Antiquaries.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=110}} 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]] 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=110–112}} Also involved in the largely moribund [[Royal Archaeological Institute]], Wheeler organised its relocation to Lancaster House.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=123–124}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=127–128}} In 1928, Wheeler curated an exhibit at UCL on "Recent Work in British Archaeology", for which he attracted much press attention.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=127}}

[[File:RomanTheatreVerulamium-PS1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|Wheeler excavated at [[Verulamium]], later to become [[St Albans]]; the remains of the city's Roman theatre are shown.]]

Wheeler was keen to continue archaeological fieldwork outside London, undertaking excavations every year from 1926 to 1939.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=144}} After completing his excavation of the Carlaeon amphitheatre in 1928, he began fieldwork at the Roman settlement and temple in [[Lydney Park]], [[Gloucestershire]], having been invited to do so by the aristocratic landowner, [[Charles Bathurst, 1st Viscount Bledisloe|Charles Bathurst]].{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=631|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=145|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3pp=156–160}} It was during these investigations that Wheeler personally discovered the Lydney Hoard of coinage.{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1pp=48–49|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2p=166}} 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'',{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=146}} which Piggott noted had "set the pattern" for all Wheeler's future excavation reports.{{sfn|Piggott|1977|pp=631–632}}

From there, Wheeler was invited to direct a Society of Antiquaries excavation at the Roman settlement of [[Verulamium]], 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]] and the architect A. W. G. Lowther.{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1pp=149–151, 158–159|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2pp=172–175}} Wheeler enjoyed the opportunity to excavate at a civilian as opposed to military site, and also liked its proximity to his home in London.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=152}} He was particularly interested in searching for a pre-Roman Iron Age [[oppidum]] at the site, noting that the existence of a nearby [[Catuvellauni]] settlement was attested to in both classical texts and numismatic evidence.{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1pp=152–155|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2p=179}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=155–156}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1p=159|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2p=181}} The report resulted in the first major published criticism of Wheeler, produced by the young archaeologist [[Nowell Myres]] in a review for ''[[Antiquity (journal)|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]].{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=634|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=159–162|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3pp=188–189}}