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Cretan Quests: British Explorers, Excavators and Historians
Cretan Quests British Explorers Excavators and Historians Pilgrims, merchants, and travelers from Britain, many with a keen appreciation of another large island as diverse as their own its ancient myths and biblical associations being well known to then saw Crete as an object of interest in the eastern Mediterranean from medieval times. They were followed by antiquaries, geographers, mapm... more »akers, the Royal Navy, and in the late nineteenth century by the first archaeologists. By his persistence in seeking out and buying the site an Knossos and then digging there, Arthur Evans established himself as the leading exponent of the newly recognized Minoan civilization. After years of excavation, reconstruction and publication with the help of his assistant, Duncan Mackenzie, and his architects, Evans gave the Palace and his land around it to the British School at Athens, which later transferred it to the Greek State. Excavation and research have continued to flourish there. A hundred years after his work began, the School recalls in this collection of essays the many aspects of British scholarship which have formed part of an international effort to throw light on the past of the whole island from the earliest Neolithic settlements to the Cretan Renaissance. Contributors: Ann Brown, John Bennet, Keith Branigan, Gerald Cadogan, Hector Catling, Nicholas Coldstream, Jan Driessen, Eleni Hatzaki, Judith Herrin, David Holton, Rachel Hood, Sinclair Hood, Alan Johnston, Colin Macdonald, Robert Merrillees, Nicoletta Momigliano, Sara Paton, Alan Peatfield, Hugh Sackett, Peter Tomkins, Malcolm Wagstaff, and Peter Warren.« less