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john davies evans

john davies evans

john davies evans obe -lrb- 22 january 1925 -- 4 july 2011 -rrb- was an english archaeologist and academic , renowned for his research into the prehistory of the mediterranean , and especially the prehistoric cultures of malta .
he was a director of the institute of archaeology in london from 1975 until his retirement in 1989 .
during his directorship the institute -- the largest archaeology department in the uk and one of the largest in the world -- was reorganised from a separate institution within the university of london to one affiliated with university college london , in 1986 .
evans was educated at the liverpool institute from where he won an open scholarship to read english at pembroke college , cambridge , aged 17 .
his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the second world war , during which he served at bletchley park as one of the team involved in breaking each day 's new enigma code settings .
during the 1940s and 1950s evans excavated a number of the significant megalithic sites in malta .
