Editing Mortimer Wheeler (section)

===Institute of Archaeology: 1934–39===
[[File:Aerial photograph of Maiden Castle from the west, 1937.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|Wheeler led excavations at the Iron Age hill fort of [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] in [[Dorset]]. Photograph by Major George Allen, October 1937]]
Wheeler had long desired to establish an academic institution devoted to archaeology that could be based in London.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=129}} 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".{{sfn|Piggott|1977|p=630}} He further described his intention that the Institute should become "a laboratory: a laboratory of archaeological science".{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=6}}
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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=129}}

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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=130}} In 1934, the [[UCL Institute of Archaeology|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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=130}}

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".{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=132}} That June, he was appointed an Officer of the [[Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)|Order of Saint John]] (OStJ).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34064|date=26 June 1934 |page=4058 |supp=|nolink=y}}</ref>

After ending his work at Verulamium, Wheeler turned his attention to the late Iron Age hill-fort of [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] near [[Dorchester, Dorset]], where he excavated for four seasons from 1934 to 1937.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=633|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=162, 172}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1p=163|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2p=212}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=163, 166}} 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."{{sfn|Stout|2008|pp=217-218}}

Wheeler's excavation report was published in 1943 as ''Maiden Castle, Dorset''.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=633|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=175|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3p=235}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=634|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=175–176|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3p=236}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1p=177|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2p=235}}

In 1936, Wheeler embarked on a visit to the [[Near East]], sailing from [[Marseille]] to [[Port Said]], where he visited the [[Old Kingdom]] tombs of [[Sakkara]]. From there he went via [[Sinai Peninsula|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]] was adopting standards that had been rejected in Britain twenty-five years previously.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=133}} He was away for six weeks, and upon his return to Europe discovered that his wife Tessa had died of a [[pulmonary embolism]] after a minor operation on her toe.{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1pp=134, 138|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2p=231}} 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".{{sfn|Carr|2012|p=241}} That winter, his father also died.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=139}} By the summer of 1937, he had embarked on a new romance, with a young woman named [[Mavis Wheeler|Mavis de Vere Cole]], widow of [[Horace de Vere Cole]], who had first met Wheeler when visiting the [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] excavations with her then-lover, the painter [[Augustus John]].{{sfnm|1a1=Hawkes|1y=1982|1pp=167, 181–184|2a1=Carr|2y=2012|2p=234}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=190-192}}
[[File:St John's Lodge, Regent's Park.jpg|left|thumb|250px|St. John's Lodge in Regent's Park, the first building to house the Institute of Archaeology]]
After a search that had taken several years, Wheeler was able to secure premises for the Institute of Archaeology: [[St John's Lodge, London|St. John's Lodge]] in [[Regent's Park]], 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]], [[William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech|William Ormsby-Gore]]; he was very sympathetic to archaeology, and leased the building to the Institute at a low rent.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=628|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=131–132|3a1=Carr|3y=2012|3pp=149–150}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=140–141}} In his speech, the university's Chancellor, [[Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone]], compared the new institution to both the [[Institute of Historical Research]] and the [[Courtauld Institute of Art]].{{sfn|Piggott|1977|p=629}}

Wheeler had also become President of the [[Museums Association]], and in a presidential address given in [[Belfast]] talked on the topic of preserving museum collections in wartime, believing that Britain's involvement in a second European conflict was imminent.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=184}} 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=193–194}} He was also awarded an [[honorary doctorate]] from [[Bristol University]], and at the award ceremony met the Conservative Party politician [[Winston Churchill]], 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.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=184}}

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]] in the winter of 1936–37.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1pp=634–635|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=178–179}} After this, Wheeler decided to excavate the oppidum at Camp d'Artus, near [[Huelgoat]], [[Finistère]]. 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]]. Meanwhile, Scott had been placed in charge of an excavation at the smaller nearby hill fort of Kercaradec, near [[Quimper]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=181, 184–187}} In July 1939, the project focused its attention on [[Normandy]], with excavations beginning at the Iron Age hill forts of Camp de Canada and [[Duclair]]. They were brought to an abrupt halt in September 1939 as the [[Second World War]] broke out in Europe, and the team evacuated back to Britain.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=192–194}} Wheeler's excavation report, co-written with Katherine Richardson, was eventually published as ''Hill-forts of Northern France'' in 1957.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=635|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=194–195}}