It seems that every profession has its celebrities. Although Arthur John Evans may not have been a household name, he was certainly responsible for finding some incredible artifacts during his lifetime.
Born in 1851 in Nash Mills, England, Evans was later educated at Harrow School, Brasenose College, the University of Oxford, and the University of Göttingen. He was more than just an archaeologist. From 1884 to 1908, he was the Curator of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford,and he published numerous books recounting his adventures and discoveries.
His most famous work dealt with the palace of Knossos at Crete. Minos Kalokairinos unearthed two of the palace’s storerooms in 1894, but the Turkish government interrupted his work. Evans had been deciphering script on seal stones on Crete in 1894. When the island was declared an independent state in 1900, he began his excavations of the palace ruins.
The huge ruin spanned five acres and had a maze-like quality to it that reminded Evans of the Greek myth dealing with King Minos and the labyrinth. Thus, he dubbed the civilization once inhabiting this great place Minoan. By 1903, most of the palace was excavated, uncovering an advanced city filled with artwork and tomes of writing.
Over 3000 clay tablets were discovered during the excavations. Evans worked hard to transcribe them. He later discovered the language had two distinct scripts, which came to be known as Linear A or Minoan script, and Linear B.
Evans continued his work at Knossos until the 1930s when the Great War intervened. He published a four-volume work entitled The Palace of Minos at Knossos surveying his work and discoveries at the island of Crete.
Other works such as "Scripta Minoa” (volume 1, 1901: volume 2, 1952), which tells of his transcribing of clay tablets found at Knossos, the four volume Palace of Minos (1921-1935), and “Jarn Mound” (1933).
Sir Arthur Evans was knighted in 1911. He died at the age of 90 in 1941.
"Evans, Sir Arthur John," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=028CA000 19 Sept. 2000.
Sir Arthur Evans: The Excavations at Knossos, Dilos Holiday World
1995-1998.
Written by: Students in an Introduction to Anthropology Class, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota