Biography Activity: Sir Mortimer Wheeler

Name___________________________________________________ Class ______________________ Date ___________________ Chapter 3 Biography Activity It was less than 100 years ago that scientists found evidence about the ancient cultures of both India and China (textbook pages 50–53). Early in the 1920s, in what is now Pakistan, British archaeologists led by Sir John Marshall discovered the unique civilization of the Indus Valley. Later, British, French, and American scientists all explored these cities, followed by others from India and Pakistan. From 1944 on, the leading scholar studying the Indus Valley was British archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler. ◆ As you read, think about the kind of person whose curiosity leads him or her to study the past. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow. Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1890–1976) rom King Arthur’s Camelot to the culture of as director general of archaeology in India, which was Fancient India, Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler still under British rule. Working at Harappa in 1946, spent an adventurous life exploring the mysteries of he found new evidence to show the age of the Indus the past. In the 1950s, a London newspaper called Valley culture. Since the discoveries were made before him “the greatest archaeologist of his day.” radiocarbon dating, scientists estimated the dates of Called “Rik” by his friends, Wheeler grew up in the civilization by matching Indian objects with those Yorkshire, England, where his father was a newspa- found in Mesopotamia, where dates were known. per editor. He entered college in London at 16, tak- Wheeler used this information to suggest dates of ing classics (Greek and Latin) and about 2500 to 1500 B.C. studying art at the same time. He In 1947 India gained indepen- began to do archaeological field dence to become two nations— work and had just married when . a good India and Pakistan. Wheeler then World War I broke out. He became “ became archaeological adviser to a major in the artillery. archaeologist must the new government of Pakistan. He After the war, and during the also worked and lectured in Britain C 1920s, he directed excavations of remember that his and the United States. He wrote H Roman settlements throughout popular books on archaeology as A Britain. At one, he found what may ‘proper aim is to dig well as others that explained how to have been relics of King Arthur’s leg- plan and organize an expedition P endary castle of Camelot. His wife, up people. .’ and an archaeological dig. He was T Tessa Verney, also an archaeologist, ” made a knight in 1952. E worked with him until her death in Wheeler also continued to visit R 1936. Their last project together was at Maiden and work on the Indus Valley sites. He wrote a Castle, a Neolithic fortress in England built about number of books about his discoveries there, as well 3 2000 B.C. as an autobiography, Still Digging (1955). Always When World War II began, Wheeler returned to interested in the human side of his work, Wheeler the army and served in North Africa. In 1944, he said that a good archaeologist must remember that began to work in an entirely new land and culture— his “proper aim is to dig up people,” not just objects. Questions to Think About 1. Where did Mortimer Wheeler do his early 3. Formulating Questions If you could inter- work in archaeology? view Wheeler or another archaeologist who 2. How did Wheeler estimate the dates of the worked in the Indus Valley, what questions Indus Valley civilization? would you consider important to ask? Think of two or three that relate to this culture. © Prentice-Hall, Inc. 44 • Biography Activity Chapter 3.

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