Sentence:  Those modern <WSD>scholars</WSD> who urge that we must keep in mind the fundamental continuity of Aegean development from earliest times - granted occasional irruptions of peoples and ideas from outside - are correct ; but all too many observers have been misled by this fact into minimizing the degree of change which took place in the early first millennium . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines