    sir arthur john evans frs freng (8 july 1851 â 11 july 1941) was an english archaeologist most famous for unearthing the palace of knossos on the greek island of crete and for developing the concept of minoan civilization from the structures and artifacts found there and elsewhere throughout the eastern mediterranean. evans was the first to define cretan scripts linear a and linear b, as well as an earlier pictographic writing. along with heinrich schliemann, evans was a pioneer in the study of aegean civilization in the bronze age. the two men knew of each other. evans visited schliemann's sites. schliemann had planned to excavate at knossos, but died before fulfilling that dream. evans bought the site and stepped in to take charge of the project, which was then still in its infancy. he continued schliemann's concept of mycenaean civilization but soon found that he needed to distinguish another civilization, the minoan.. although he was not a professional statesman or soldier, and was probably never a paid agent of the government, he nevertheless negotiated or played a role in negotiating unofficially with foreign powers in the middle east.  he was, on request of the revolutionary organizations of the peoples of the balkans, a significant player in the formation of the nation of yugoslavia. that nation sent representatives to his funer
1851_births 1941_deaths 19th-century_archaeologists 20th-century_archaeologists Alumni_of_Brasenose_College,_Oxford English_archaeologists Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society Knights_Bachelor Matriarchy Minoan_archaeologists People_educated_at_Harrow_School People_from_Berkshire_(before_1974) People_from_Hemel_Hempstead Presidents_of_the_British_Science_Association Recipients_of_the_Copley_Medal Recipients_of_the_Royal_Gold_Medal