Mortimer Wheeler in the context of "British Army"

Modern archaeology is the discipline of archaeology which contributes to excavations.

Johann Joachim Winckelmann was one of the founders of scientific archaeology and first applied the categories of style on a large, systematic basis to the history of art. He was "the prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology". The next major figure in the development of archaeology was Mortimer Wheeler, whose highly disciplined approach to excavation and systematic coverage in the 1920s and 1930s brought the science into the modern era. Wheeler developed the grid system of excavation, which was further improved on by his student Kathleen Kenyon. The two constant themes in their attempts to improve archaeological excavation were first, to maintain strict stratigraphic control while excavating (for this purpose, the baulks between trenches served to retain a record of the strata that had been dug through), and second, to publish a record of the excavation promptly and in a form that would tell the story of the site to the intelligent reader.

The Wheeler–Kenyon method is a method of archaeological excavation. The technique originates from the work of Mortimer Wheeler and Tessa Wheeler at Verulamium (1930–35), and was later refined by Kathleen Kenyon during her excavations at Jericho (1952–58). The Wheeler–Kenyon system involves digging within a series of squares that can vary in size set within a larger grid. This leaves a freestanding wall of earth—known as a "balk"—that can range from 50 cm for temporary grids, and measure up to 2 metres in width for a deeper square. The normal width of a permanent balk is 1 metre on each side of a unit. These vertical slices of earth allow archaeologists to compare the exact provenance of a found object or feature to adjacent layers of earth ("strata"). During Kenyon's excavations at Jericho, this technique helped discern the long and complicated occupational history of the site. It was believed that this approach allowed more precise stratigraphic observations than earlier "horizontal exposure" techniques that relied on architectural and ceramic analysis.

Tessa Wheeler FSA (née Verney; 27 March 1893 – 15 April 1936) was a South Africa-born English archaeologist who made significant contributions to techniques used in archaeological excavation and contributed to the setting up of major British archaeological institutions after the Second World War.

Owing to the gender politics of the era, she remains best known as the wife and professional partner of Mortimer Wheeler. They collaborated on major excavations in Wales and England (including Segontium, Caerleon, and Verulamium) and their investigation of Maiden Castle, Dorset had been ongoing for two years when she died unexpectedly from complications following a minor operation.

Arikamedu is an archaeological site in Southern India, in Kakkayanthope, Ariyankuppam Commune, Puducherry. It is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the capital, Pondicherry of the Indian territory of Puducherry.

Sir Mortimer Wheeler 1945, and Jean-Marie Casal conducted archaeological excavations there in 1947–1950. The site was identified as the port of Podouke, known as an "emporium" in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and Ptolemy. Digs have found Amphorae, Arretine ware, Roman lamps, glassware, glass and stone beads, and gems at the site. Based on these excavations, Wheeler concluded that the Arikamedu was a Greek (Yavana) trading post that traded with Rome, starting during the reign of Augustus Caesar, and lasted about two hundred years—from the late first century BCE to the first and second centuries CE. Subsequent investigation by Vimala Begley from 1989 to 1992 modified this assessment, and now place the period of settlement from the 2nd century BCE to the 8th century CE.