author
Sir Arthur Evans
1851–1941
Best known for uncovering Knossos in Crete, this pioneering British archaeologist helped bring the Bronze Age world of the Minoans into public view. His discoveries reshaped how readers and scholars imagined the ancient Aegean.
2 Audiobooks
Anthropology and the Classics Six Lectures Delivered Before the University of Oxford
by Sir Arthur Evans, W. Warde (William Warde) Fowler, F. B. (Frank Byron) Jevons, Andrew Lang, Gilbert Murray, Sir John Linton Myres
About the author
Born in England in 1851, Sir Arthur Evans became one of the most influential archaeologists of his time. He studied at Harrow and Brasenose College, Oxford, and later served as Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, where he built a strong reputation as a scholar and museum leader.
He is most famous for his excavations at Knossos on Crete, which began in 1900. There he uncovered the remains of a major Bronze Age center and gave the name "Minoan" to the civilization he believed had flourished there. His work opened up a new chapter in the study of the ancient Mediterranean and helped spark lasting public fascination with the Aegean past.
Evans also wrote widely on archaeology, ancient scripts, coins, and the history of the Balkans. Some of his interpretations have been debated by later scholars, but his role in revealing Knossos and shaping early Aegean archaeology remains central to his legacy.