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University College London

University College London Institute of Archaeology Archives

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0103 UCLCA/IA

Held at: University College London

Title: University College London Institute of Archaeology Archives

Date(s): 1884-1998

Level of description: sub-fonds

Extent: c231 boxes, including numerous outsize items

Name of creator(s): University of London | Institute of Archaeology | opened 1937
University College London | Institute of Archaeology | from 1986

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

(Sir) Mortimer Wheeler (1890-1976), archaeologist, author and broadcaster, entered University College London in 1907, winning a classical scholarship in his intermediate arts examination, remaining to take an MA (1912) and DLitt, and becoming committed to a career in archaeology when he won the first Franks Studentship in Archaeology in 1913. He was employed by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments from 1913 and, after service in World War One, was appointed Keeper of Archaeology in the National Museum of Wales in 1920, promoted to Director in 1924. He left Wales for the directorship of the London Museum (1926-1944), transforming the collections in Lancaster House, lecturing and, with his wife Tessa Verney (d 1936), soliciting funds and premises for an Institute of Archaeology within the University of London, which he thought necessary in promoting the scientific study of archaeology. The Institute founded by Wheeler was formally opened in 1937 as a centre for teaching and research in archaeology, originally taking only postgraduate students. Mortimer was its Honorary Director from 1934 until 1944. His excavations set new standards in British archaeology, and he trained many later practitioners.

For the first 20 years of its existence the Institute was housed at St John's Lodge in Regent's Park, but in 1958 it moved to purpose-built premises in Gordon Square. Formerly an independent institute within the University of London, in 1986 the Institute of Archaeology, comprising five academic departments, amalgamated with University College London, within its Faculty of Arts. The Institute thereafter had eight internal sub-departments: Prehistoric Archaeology, Egyptology, Western Asiatic Archaeology, Greek and Roman Archaeology, Medieval Archaeology, Human Environment, Materials and Data Science, and Conservation and Museum Studies. In place of the Institute's Committee of Management an Advisory Committee was set up. A Committee for the Co-ordination and Promotion of Archaeology and Ancient World Studies was also established. The Institute offers a range of degree programmes for undergraduates (admitted from 1968) and graduates, in 2000 constituting the largest university-based archaeological institution in Britain, having nearly 500 students and over 70 academic teaching staff, with teaching rooms, library and laboratories in Gordon Square. It undertakes wide-ranging research, international in scope, producing articles, books and other publications. The Institute hosts lectures by visiting archaeologists, and meetings, seminars and conferences on many different aspects of archaeology. Its Field Archaeology Unit supports the Institute's research and training programme by undertaking fund-generating projects, mainly in south-east England.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Institutional records and other papers of the Institute of Archaeology, 1884-1998.

Administrative records (13 boxes) include correspondence and papers, 1902-1938, of Sir (William Matthew) Flinders Petrie relating to archaeological specimens and to the establishment of the Institute of Archaeology; files of the Institute of Archaeology, 1910, 1914, 1935-1997, comprising correspondence and papers on archaeological collections and specimens from various locations at the Institute of Archaeology and elsewhere, loans from the Institute to various exhibitions or other institutions, the administration of the collections, and other research and administration, including papers, 1984-1995, on artefacts from Baluchistan (Pakistan), and papers, 1962, on an Institute of Archaeology field trip and excavation at Stockton, Wiltshire; 'Senate House' files, 1932-1962, on the establishment of the Institute of Archaeology within the University of London, including legal matters, fundraising, publicity, other administrative and financial subjects, and also including papers on a Future of Archaeology conference in 1944, and on premises, including St John's Lodge, Regent's Park, and the move to Gordon Square; obsolete lists of accessions to and collections of the Institute of Archaeology, c1930s-1970s; files, c1930s-1990s, of the Museum of Classical Archaeology, including papers relating to acquisitions and lists of collections; files of the Institute of Archaeology library, 1936-1989, especially 1936-1964, including acquisitions and administration.

Photographic negatives and prints, some mounted, belonging to the Institute of Archaeology, 1930s-1980s (c10 boxes), include staff, archaeological sites, field trips, exhibitions, interior and exterior shots of premises at St John's Lodge and Gordon Square, and the fiftieth anniversary in 1987.

Material relating to excavations pertains mainly to sites in Western Asia, including a map of Gaza, negatives and photographs of Jerash (Jordan), a stone register for Jericho, and photographic material on Tell Ajjul (Palestine), Tell Akkad (Iraq), and Tell Rifa'at.

An air survey of the Middle East comprises negatives, glass slides and prints of Transjordan, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Sudan (26 boxes).

There are 517 Department of Human Environment site reports, largely dating from the 1950s and 1970s.

There are also papers, largely excavation records and including much photographic material and some plans, of many archaeologists including Vere Gordon Childe, Ian Cornwall, Oliver Davies, Douglas Erith Derry, John Garstang, J Basil Hennessey, H Dunscombe-Holt, Kathleen Rachel Maxwell-Hyslop, John Matthers, Margaret Alice Murray, José Maria De Navarro, Sir (William Matthew) Flinders Petrie, Joan Du Plat Taylor, Gertrude Caton-Thompson, Olga Tufnell, (Mary) Veronica Seton-Williams, Sir Charles Leonard Woolley, and Frederick Everard Zeuner, including 34 of his diaries, 1936-1963, containing working notes and inserts.

Other miscellaneous records include four audio tapes of interviews, 1993, with Rachel Maxwell-Hyslop, Ellen Macnamara, Barbara Mallowan, and Joan Sheldon; Architectural Detail Postal Club sheets, with photographs of architectural details (1 box); miscellaneous archaeological/architectural journals, 1884-1888; miscellaneous photographs of Saxon objects (one envelope).

Seventy-six files (7 boxes), 1931-1998, relate to subjects including: individuals and their work; publications; collections and loans to exhibitions; Readerships and Chairs; the centenary of Sir Flinders Petrie's birth (1953); and other administrative matters.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

The bulk of the collection (c224 boxes) is held at University College London Special Collections. Seven further boxes are held at University College London Records Office, where they may be consulted by appointment. Administrative and committee papers are closed for 30 years.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Enquiries relating to publication should be referred to the Director of the Institute of Archaeology.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Summary list, arranged under 'Name', 'Site', 'Other Collections', and 'Institute Archive', and name and place indexes compiled on transfer. Other lists came with the collection to University College London Special Collections, including those for excavation records.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Transferred from the Institute of Archaeology in 1997 and 1998.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

The Institute of Archaeology Library holds printed material donated by scholars including J M de Navarro, R F Tylecote, and Gordon Childe. The Institute of Archaeology houses museum artefacts and is responsible for the Museum of Classical Archaeology and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, also part of University College London.

A large collection of papers relating to the excavations at Lachisch (Tell Duweir) formerly held by the Institute of Archaeology was transferred to the British Museum.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Sources: Negley Harte and John North, The World of UCL 1828-1990 [1990]; University College London Annual Report 1985-1986, pp 5-6, 32-3; Institute of Archaeology prospectuses, 1988-1997; Dictionary of National Biography and Who's Who entries for Sir Mortimer Wheeler; Janet Foster and Julia Sheppard, British Archives (2nd edition, 1989), pp 386-7; Institute of Archaeology website; 'Report on the archives of the Institute of Archaeology in University College Manuscripts Room' (Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, 2000). Compiled by Rachel Kemsley and Annabel Dodds as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.