The Palace of Minos: Volume 5, Index Volume

Inspired by Schliemann’s discoveries at Mycenae and Troy, Sir Arthur John Evans (1851-1941), keeper of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum from 1884 to 1908, trustee of the British Museum and fellow of the Royal Society, used his inherited wealth to purchase land in Crete at Knossos. From 1900 he commenced excavations there in co-operation with the British School at Athens. Work continued for eight full seasons, uncovering a Bronze Age palace and bringing to light further architectural and artefactual remains of Minoan civilisation, including numerous texts in Linear A and Linear B. Evans’ speculative reconstruction of the site in reinforced concrete remains controversial, and some of his interpretations are disputed, but his work was pioneering and published in several volumes between 1921 and 1935. The index to this monumental achievement, published in 1936, was the result of a painstaking collaboration with his half-sister, Dame Joan Evans (1893-1977).