William Flinders Petrie is another man who may legitimately be called the Father

of Archaeology. His painstaking recording and study of artifacts, both in Egypt

and later in Palestine, laid down many of the ideas behind modern archaeologica
l recording; he remarked that "I believe the true line of research lies in the n
oting and comparison of the smallest details." Petrie developed the system of da
ting layers based on pottery and ceramic findings, which revolutionized the chro
nological basis of Egyptology. Petrie was the first to scientifically investigat
e the Great Pyramid in Egypt during the 1880s.[12] He was also responsible for m
entoring and training a whole generation of Egyptologists, including Howard Cart
er who went on to achieve fame with the discovery of the tomb of 14th-century BC
pharaoh Tutankhamun.
earthern fort with many walls
Mortimer Wheeler pioneered systematic excavation in the early 20th century. Pict
ured, are his excavations at Maiden Castle, Dorset, in October 1937.
The first stratigraphic excavation to reach wide popularity with public was that
of Hissarlik, on the site of ancient Troy, carried out by Heinrich Schliemann,
Frank Calvert, Wilhelm Drpfeld and Carl Blegen in the 1870s. These scholars indiv
iduated nine different cities that had overlapped with one another, from prehist
ory to the Hellenistic period.[13] Meanwhile, the work of Sir Arthur Evans at Kn
ossos in Crete revealed the ancient existence of an equally advanced Minoan civi
lization.[14]
The next major figure in the development of archaeology was Sir Mortimer Wheeler
, whose highly disciplined approach to excavation and systematic coverage in the
1920s and 1930s brought the science on swiftly. Wheeler developed the grid syst
em of excavation, which was further improved by his student Kathleen Kenyon.
Archaeology became a professional activity in the first half of the 20th century
, and it became possible to study archaeology as a subject in universities and e
ven schools. By the end of the 20th century nearly all professional archaeologis
ts, at least in developed countries, were graduates. Further adaptation and inno
vation in archaeology continued in this period, when maritime archaeology and ur
ban archaeology became more prevalent and rescue archaeology was developed as a
result of increasing commercial development.[15]