The archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans was famous for his excavations of the palace of Knossos. Although his preservation of the archaeological site is controversial, he is credited with establishing the ancient Cretans as a recognised Bronze Age society.
Academic Background
Arthur Evans was born in 1851 in Nash Mills, Hertfordshire, the son of Sir John Evans, a noted antiquarian. Arthur followed in his father’s footsteps, studying history at Oxford and Gottingen Universities. Between 1884 and 1908, he was the keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He developed an interest in British Archaeology but then turned his attention to the archaeology of Crete.
An Unknown Ancient Cretan Society
Evans became curious about the pictographic script he encountered on certain coins and seals from Crete. He recognised that the writing was of no known pre-classical Mediterranean civilisation. Nor was it Egyptian or Turkish. He realised it related to a previously unknown society.
An ancient town named Kafala or Knossos was famous in Crete for finds of similar seals, as well as coins and pottery ploughed up in fields. After the independence of Crete from the Turks, Evans brought the site in 1899 and began to excavate in 1900. By the end of 1903, he had discovered the foundations of what became known as the palace of Knossos.
Evans continued to work at Knossos until 1935. Along with the palace, he discovered around 3000 writing tablets. Some were an early form of Mycenaean Greek which he termed Linear B, but many had the same script as the seals he had studied in the Ashmolean. In addition, Evans discovered Linear A, the written form of the language of a previously unknown Cretan civilisation. In 1904, Evans named the new culture he had found “Minoan” after the legendary King Minos of Crete.
Dating and Recording of Archaeological Finds
Evans approached his excavations systematically. His recording techniques were painstaking, and he carefully recorded the exact details of finds, layers and deposits in his section drawings. He recognised the importance of this accurate recording as particularly important to the dating of finds.
Evans established a chronology for his Minoan civilisation by cross-dating. He noticed that in particular layers of the palace, there were examples of imported Egyptian pottery whose chronology was already known. This pottery could be used to date other finds in the same layer.
The Conservation of Knossos
Evans did not just excavate Knossos — he attempted to preserve and reconstruct it. This conservation has been open to criticism — not least because of the materials used and the liberties taken with colours and design. Modern reinforced concrete was often used in walls and foundations instead of stone and wood. Doorframes and beams were often incorrectly painted in a pink colour. Evans is also accused of over-restoring the fragmented palace frescos, employing too much imagination and too little fact to reconstruct the pictures.
The Importance of the Excavation of Knossos
While the value of his reconstruction work may be dubious in some ways, Arthur Evan’s archaeological work was skilful enough to resurrect Minoan civilisation — and he can be credited with discovering a completely new ancient civilisation.
Minoan civilisation was lost until he began his pioneering archaeological work. By the time of Evan’s death in 1941, his patience and attention to detail had allowed him to establish the Minoans as a major Mediterranean civilisation from approximately 1900-1300 BC.
Resources
Greene, Kevin (1995) Archaeology: An Introduction. BT Bats ford Ltd: London
Magnusson, Magnus (ed) (1993) Chambers Biographical Dictionary
