Sir Arthur Evans Research Paper
Michael “Chuck” Jacobs
9/19/2012
ENG 261-ND1
Mrs. Kaylor
Sir Arthur Evans and the Palace of King Minos In the early 1900s, an archaeologist and scholar by the name of Sir Arthur Evans discovered the Palace of King Minos. After Crete claimed its independence, Evans purchased five acres of hilly land, which he and his assistants began to excavate. This project kept his attention for about thirty years. In this period of time, he and his team made many discoveries that are related to the epic poems of Greece, and Evans discoveries contributed to history and literature. Some of the many discoveries that Evans had made included: seal stones, frescoes of bull-leaping and dolphins, architecture, pottery, pipes, and three-thousand clay tablets …show more content…
The epics indicate the existence of Knossos, which is known in Greek mythology as the capital of King Minos. The palace of King Minos relates to the epics by the architecture. It seemed to look as if it was made as a labyrinth, which according to the epics was where the Minotaur resided. Evans also did something that was very controversial among archaeologists. He didn’t just excavate some of the ruins, he reconstructed some of them. Some of the reconstructions were not completely accurate. The original columns he replaced were originally made of pine instead of concrete, and he painted them red as well as blue. And the frescoes on the walls were replicated while the actual frescoes were put into a museum.
His discoveries were greatly contributed to modern time. They were a huge influence on the field of linguistics and the archaeological findings at Knossos provided new insight into technology of urban planning. In my opinion, his findings help us understand more about the ancient Greeks. The design of the Palace of Knossos is highly complex, with multi-stories, a lot of rooms, etc. It makes you wonder, since the epics hinted of Knossos, what else is out there that are from the poems. It’s been debated how the Palace was destroyed. Evidence seems to point to it being destroyed with fire in 1400 B.C. The reason why the Palace was not restored to its original form is because the political center of Aegean to
9/19/2012
ENG 261-ND1
Mrs. Kaylor
Sir Arthur Evans and the Palace of King Minos In the early 1900s, an archaeologist and scholar by the name of Sir Arthur Evans discovered the Palace of King Minos. After Crete claimed its independence, Evans purchased five acres of hilly land, which he and his assistants began to excavate. This project kept his attention for about thirty years. In this period of time, he and his team made many discoveries that are related to the epic poems of Greece, and Evans discoveries contributed to history and literature. Some of the many discoveries that Evans had made included: seal stones, frescoes of bull-leaping and dolphins, architecture, pottery, pipes, and three-thousand clay tablets …show more content…
The epics indicate the existence of Knossos, which is known in Greek mythology as the capital of King Minos. The palace of King Minos relates to the epics by the architecture. It seemed to look as if it was made as a labyrinth, which according to the epics was where the Minotaur resided. Evans also did something that was very controversial among archaeologists. He didn’t just excavate some of the ruins, he reconstructed some of them. Some of the reconstructions were not completely accurate. The original columns he replaced were originally made of pine instead of concrete, and he painted them red as well as blue. And the frescoes on the walls were replicated while the actual frescoes were put into a museum.
His discoveries were greatly contributed to modern time. They were a huge influence on the field of linguistics and the archaeological findings at Knossos provided new insight into technology of urban planning. In my opinion, his findings help us understand more about the ancient Greeks. The design of the Palace of Knossos is highly complex, with multi-stories, a lot of rooms, etc. It makes you wonder, since the epics hinted of Knossos, what else is out there that are from the poems. It’s been debated how the Palace was destroyed. Evidence seems to point to it being destroyed with fire in 1400 B.C. The reason why the Palace was not restored to its original form is because the political center of Aegean to