SIR ARTHUR EVANS ARCHIVE

Sir Arthur John Evans (1851–1941), archaeologist, numismatist and museum director, is perhaps best known as the excavator of Knossos, Crete (1900–1931), and for his seminal research into the Minoan civilization. He also made important contributions across a range of fields including archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, numismatics and the arts, as well as Balkan politics.

Portrait of Sir Arthur Evans among the Ruins of the Palace of Knossos by Sir William B. Richmond, 1907

Sir Arthur Evans was Keeper of the Ashmolean (1884–1908) and during his 25-year keepership he oversaw its transformation to a major museum of archaeology and art.

He bequeathed his archaeological archive, along with his object collections, to the Ashmolean Museum upon his death in 1941. Further personal papers were donated to the Ashmolean by a great-nephew, Arthur L. Evans, in 1985.

The Ashmolean Museum retains copyright over the parts of the archive which were not published by Sir Arthur Evans in his lifetime. 

Digitisation of the Archive has been made possible by grants from the following sources: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; The Headley Trust; The Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation and Dr Nicola Coldstream.