Sir Arthur John Evans was a pioneering British archaeologist who revolutionized the study of Aegean civilization during the Bronze Age. Born in 1851, Evans is most famous for his monumental excavations at the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete. After learning of earlier, aborted excavations by the Cretan Greek archaeologist Minos Kalokairinos, Evans used private funds to purchase the land surrounding the site and began his own systematic excavations in 1900.\n\nThrough his discoveries at Knossos and across the eastern Mediterranean, Evans established that the ruins belonged to a distinct, highly advanced culture, which he named the Minoan civilization, distinguishing it from the mainland Mycenaean Greek culture. In addition to his architectural and cultural discoveries, Evans was a pioneer in ancient linguistics. He was the first to identify and define the Cretan scripts known as Linear A and Linear B, as well as an earlier system of pictographic writing, laying the groundwork for future decipherment efforts.