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Arthur Evans by William Richmond, AncientPl Credit: . 2 AncientPl Enduring Fictions of Late Victorian Fantasy

Sir Arthur Evans and the Faience a net Online j o urn a l ‘Goddesses’ from Minoan

By Andrea Sinclair M.A.

t was many years ago when as a excavations of at Troy, teenager I first saw that dynamic Sir in Egypt, Sir Leonard little faience figurine that the world Woolley in Mesopotamia and of course now calls ‘the Snake Goddess’, and the excavation of in Crete by Sir I would assume that the majority of you Arthur Evans. know to which artefact I am referring. This lovely figurine of a woman holding snakes At least one would think that we had moved and dressed in flounced skirt has made a on and certainly subsequent lasting impression on my memory, as it has added a mass of data to the results of may have on your own. So you can imagine these early excavations in the interven- that it came as somewhat of a shock to me ing time. So why, in fact, does popular as an adult studying archaeology, when I culture today still cling to tired clichés discovered that the beautiful and intense that actually stem from the publications face that had had such a compelling impact of some early excavators? Today’s case in on my young imagination was, in fact, a point is the reconstruction and mytholo- modern reconstruction. Today I would like gising of Minoan Crete by the excavator to introduce you to the story behind this of the site of Knossos, Sir Arthur Evans. I Victorian tale of smoke and mirrors. hazard that if you were to Google search the word Knossos at this very instant (or Archaeology in the late nineteenth cen- get in the car and actually make an effort to tury is a narrative replete with colourful rummage around in a library), your search individuals, some of whom were in fact would bring up an astonishing volume dedicated pioneers of the archaeological of images that stem directly from Arthur discipline. It goes without saying that Evans’ reconstructions of Cretan culture archaeology was still very much in its and not from accurate or necessarily recent infancy and it is only natural that errors archaeological research on the Minoans. were made in this developmental period of early excavation. However, archaeological With this premise borne in mind, I propose research has travelled a long way in the to examine the excavation of the site of Arthur Evans by William Richmond, hundred years or so since the legendary Knossos by Evans and the enduring impact Credit: Ashmolean Museum. 3 ancientplanet | vol. 5 [2013]

his ‘vision’ of Minoan society has had on matriarchal. Both of these myths have both public and professional perceptions subsequently been dispelled by Aegean of ancient Crete. In discussing this I shall scholarship, but they do persevere in wider focus upon that extraordinary group of literature, and much responsibility for this artefacts which also happen to be the post- may be laid at the feet of early twentieth er girls for this ancient culture: the faience century scholarship. ‘snake goddess’ figurines from the Temple Repositories of Knossos. Knossos in Crete: the of King Minoan Crete The archaeological site that resoundingly Before moving on to the topic, I shall first placed the Minoan culture on the world provide a brief sketch of the context with stage is the monumental palatial site of which we are dealing. The Minoan civili- Knossos which lies on the northern central sation flourished for approximately 1800 coast of Crete at Kefala near Heraklion. The years on the Aegean island of Crete in the excavations of the site of Knossos began in eastern Mediterranean during the Bronze March 1900 under the supervision of the Age (ca. 3000-1100 BCE). At its peak, in British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans after the Palatial Middle (ca. 1950- his personal purchase of the land in the 1625 BCE), the Cretan culture produced a previous year. vast volume of naturalistic and beautiful representational art and architecture that Evans had had little experience of excavating is of equal status and quality to any of its when he commenced this project, but he neighbours in the . Unlike the had previously, as was fitting to his upper Near East, however, the study of Minoan middle class social background, attended culture is hampered by our inability to Harrow, studied at the University of decipher the Minoan written script, Linear Oxford and travelled extensively throughout A, which means that in order to under- Europe, the Near East and Egypt with a short stand the nature of Cretan society we must turn at unsanctioned digging in Greece. instead draw inferences from the material In addition to these qualifications, he held and artistic record. the position of curator of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford from 1884. He also had This flaw has in some way contributed to connections to several British museums the evolution of assumptions regarding and like all intellectuals of his generation, the nature of Minoan culture which have held strong Darwinian cultural evolutionary been difficult for academia to dislodge. The views, as well as the mandatory colonial most ubiquitous of these is that because and imperialist attitudes appropriate to net Online j o urn a l Online a net their iconography abounds with images of gentlemen of this era. the natural world that the Minoans must have been egalitarian pacifists. Another is These educated Victorian values coloured that because female figures are common the way Evans approached all aspects of his in Minoan iconography this indicates that excavations at Knossos, from the romantic AncientPl their social structure must have been and evocative naming of the Cretan culture, 4 AncientPl a net Online j o urn a l

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This beautiful confection is an early twentieth century painting by the artist Piet de Jong depicting the ‘queen’s megaron’, a smaller hall at Knossos in Crete. It is perhaps worth noting that while women were assigned a prominent role in Minoan society by Sir Arthur Evans, he still applied western social models for gender hierarchy to the architecture he found there. Credit: Evans 1921, The Palace of Minos 1.

Minoan, after the Cretan king Minos from At the site Arthur Evans employed an classical mythology, and the naming of immense team of craftspeople, engineers, chambers within the site (queen’s megaron, architects, and artists with a view to throne-room), to the literature he produced preserve and ‘reconstitute’ the remains that describing his interpretation of the finds. they found. He instituted rigorous methods Evans was a man with a modern sensibility of excavation in order to optimise efficiency for media showmanship and regularly and employed a reward system with his publicised the process of his excavations teams. This entailed financial bonuses for the through the medium of the London papers. team which excavated its section of ground Here he generously employed references in the best time, placing emphasis on the

net Online j o urn a l Online a net to classical myth and to Homeric prose, speed rather than on accuracy. With these fabricating a persona for the Minoans based methods and with the aid of considerable substantially on his own Victorian classically financial resources, he was able to employ educated vision and that of his academic a massive crew of diggers and thus to clear peers. most of the site within six seasons (1900-

AncientPl 1905).

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One of Arthur Evans’ early twentieth century reconstructions of Minoan architecture from Knossos. Credit: Wiki Commons. 7 ancientplanet | vol. 5 [2013] archaeology | crete net Online j o urn a l Online a net

The Temple Repositories as they were in 1903. Credit: Evans 1921, The Palace of Minos 1. AncientPl

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Early twentieth century photograph of some of the partially restored artefacts from the Temple Repositories. It is possible to see where parts of the image have been modified. Credit: A. Evans 1921, The Palace of Minos 1.

Once they had cleared the site, Evans They had previously excavated this cham- implemented large scale restorations of ber a year earlier, but renewed interest the fragile ruins, in a ‘legitimate process when they noticed unevenness in the of reconstitution’ that ‘must appeal to the pavement stones. Underneath these they historic sense of the most unimaginative’ found two stone lined cists, both filled with and this occupied him and his team of debris, a layer of burnt soil and covered by skilled architects, led by Christian Doll, for plaster. the next two decades. The restoration of the fragmentary frescos and artefacts was In one of these cists, the ‘East Repository’, assigned to the Swiss artist Émile Gilliéron was a treasure trove of precious objects and his son, Émile fils, and to the Danish consisting of many fragments of faience: painter Halvor Bagge. figurines, vessels with moulded designs, beads and moulded plaques of ‘votive The Temple Repositories robes’, suckling goats, cattle, flowers, leaves, shells, flying fish, fruit and figure of In 1903, four years after commencing eight shields. In addition the cist contained excavations at Knossos, Evans and his team stone libation bowls, a large quantity of unearthed the ‘Temple Repositories’ in a coloured sea shells, clay administrative small chamber west of the central court. sealings, a clay tablet, ivory inlays, bone,

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burnt maize and stag horns. All of which beauty or aesthetic quality, but rather, were placed under a jumble of soil, gold for their fabric. Faience is a form of early foil and some forty ceramic amphorae and glass, although it is often mislabelled in jugs. These vessels were used to provide a literature as a glazed ceramic. But it bears date for the collection (Middle Minoan IIIB no relation to ceramic, albeit for the shiny - Late Minoan IA, ca. 1700-1525 BCE). coating or glaze, which is also a form of vitreous material. This discovery was hailed by Evans ‘for beauty and interest equalled and in some What makes the faience from the Temple respects surpassed anything found dur- Repositories so exceptional is the tech- ing the whole course of the four seasons’ nology used in their construction. These excavations’ (1903: 40). As an assemblage figures are both physically complex, the material from these cists is actually being constructed from moulded and quite unique, however, Evans’ very public jointed pieces which were state of the praise was also an integral part of his art technology for the late Middle Bronze talking up the Minoan phenomenon Age. But in addition to this, they also rep- for the European press and for western resent one of histories earliest examples archaeological journals. The deposit was of polychrome vitreous material, as prior immediately described as cult parapher- to this period no region of the eastern nalia from a temple treasury and believed Mediterranean was producing anything to have been intentionally buried in the more sophisticated than trichrome faience. large cists after the destruction of this same building. Equally, considerable I am aware that when you look at images rhetoric was applied by Evans to connect of these figures you see various shades of the religious symbolism of these objects to grey, brown, black and perhaps in a good visual and cult parallels from the Egyptian, light, green. However, the original colours Phoenician and classical Greek religions. are vastly altered by the passage of time since the second millennium and a recent Faience examination of a faience plaque from the Repositories has established that the The fragmentary faience figurines which original faience colours for objects of this were a part of this collection are superb type consisted of red, purple, dark blue, pale examples of the level of technological yellow-green, creamy white and turquoise. sophistication reached by Minoan crafts- This is another small contribution to the men and duly came to represent Minoan premise that ‘what you see is not what you artistic merit in a multitude of publications get’ with these artefacts. Appearances in

net Online j o urn a l Online a net on ancient art, the largest figure taking archaeology can be very deceptive, and this pride of place in Evans’ own publications is without the inclusion of the possibility of his excavations, The Palace of Minos in of famous historical excavators being 1921. Yet they are exceptional on the basis fairly creative with their own restoration of something of which I would hazard the techniques.

AncientPl general public is ignorant. Not for their

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Above: Faience plaque with suckling goats from the Temple Repositories; Below: faience plaque of cow with calf from the Temple Repositories. Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Crete.

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AncientPl The larger ‘snake goddess’ figurine from the Temple Repositories at the palace of Knossos. Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Crete. 12 archaeology | crete AncientPl The Faience Figurines This brings us back to Arthur Evans and his team of restorers at the point of their discovery of two cists containing faience fragments. Of the many fragments from the a net Online j o urn a l Temple Repositories it was possible for two figures of the probable five or six original faience figurines to be restored. These two girdled and bare breasted figures were immediately assigned ritual significance by Evans and accordingly named by him, ‘the Snake Goddess’ or ‘Mother Goddess’, for the larger figure, and ‘attendant, Votary or priestess’, for the smaller figure. It is worth noting that he was, at least in the beginning, not responsible for the smaller figure bearing the epithet of ‘Snake Goddess’ and also that neither figure is actually the largest of the figurines, as that honour belongs to a fragment which was Frontispiece to The Palace of Minos 1 never restored. showing the larger faience figure, Unshaded areas represent reconstructions. Each of these faience figures was damaged This ‘votary’ figure was missing her entire and in very fragmentary condition. The head, a large portion of the headdress, larger figure only consisted of the head skirt and the left arm. Bagge replaced and torso (the knotted girdle was found the missing head, the left arm and most in the West cist) and was immediately of the headdress, also attaching a small repaired by the artist Halvor Bagge, feline figure upon the crown, when they replacing the missing skirt with one made concluded that it ‘probably’ belonged with from copying another fragment of a skirt the figure. Repairs were also made to the from an unrestored figure. Her right arm, hair and parts of the skirt. In addition, in neck, waist and headdress were also the hands of the little figure they placed fragmentary and repaired. The snake head writhing snakes where originally the extant on her headdress was lost (assuming it right hand had held what may well have was a snake head) and replaced. She was been a piece of twine. also missing the entire left forearm and part of a snake which were consequently Goddesses? reconstructed and replaced. These faience figurines from the Temple The second smaller faience figure which Repository were interpreted by Evans The larger ‘snake goddess’ figurine from the Temple now outshines her larger sister in terms of himself as evidence for the Minoan cult Repositories at the palace of Knossos. Herakleion media popularity was equally fragmentary. of a universal mother goddess, somewhat Archaeological Museum, Crete. 13 archaeology | crete net Online j o urn a l Online a net

AncientPl The smaller ‘votive’ faience figurine from the Temple Repositories at the palace of Knossos. Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Crete. 14 archaeology | crete AncientPl a net Online j o urn a l

Two drawings by Halvor Bagge of the votive figure from the Temple Repositories. Un-shaded areas represent reconstructions. I would draw your attention to the segment of snake in the right hand of the figure. In the absence of a head, how can we positively identify this object as a snake? Credit: A. Evans 1921, The Palace of Minos 1.

under the influence of discoveries of error was realised, and the final black and ‘fertility’ figures from other European white image of the repository artefacts and Near Eastern sites, but also from the shows no bones in the foreground. prevailing view of contemporary scholars such as James George Frazer and Jane Ellen The universal application of the epithet Harrison who were at this time gleefully snake goddess for these figures is prob- constructing an intellectual mythology lematic as it assumes from the presence of for matriarchal society in prehistory (for a snake on the forearm and headdress of an extended discussion of this topic see one figure (from six) that snakes were of Ancient Planet Vol. 3). particular significance to the Minoans over and above the evidence for other animal However, Evans’ vision of the ritual symbolism in this single assemblage from association of snakes with these artefacts Knossos (flying fish, fish bones, ‘cat’ figu- unwisely inspired him to incorporate rine, weasel skull, cattle and goat plaques, snakes where there were none originally stag horns, and seals with sheep, goats, indicated, and to arrange a collection of moufflon and cattle). I do not include the bones from the cist in the shape of a snake serpentine linings on the bodice in this for a photograph (they were actually a discussion, as we have no evidence that weasel skull and fish bones). This particular they are not, in fact, components of the The smaller ‘votive’ faience figurine from the Temple mistake was hurriedly adjusted when the costume, like padded linings. Repositories at the palace of Knossos. Herakleion Archaeological Museum, Crete. 15 ancientplanet | vol. 5 [2013]

In addition, apart from the tenuous link site, but not to the solution that forgeries with snakes, we have no empirical evidence might be occurring. The ‘Boy God’ figure that these figures are goddesses, or indeed was illustrated by Emile Gilliéron fils in a aspects of a single goddess, rather than pose with an unprovenanced goddess and perhaps cult personnel or votive figures. It published by Evans in the third edition of must be emphasised that male and female The Palace of Minos accompanied by much votive figures are an archaeologically zealous discussion of the stylistic parallels established element of Minoan cult. for each. Although it can be assumed that on the basis of the superior technology present Conservatively, there are at least fourteen in these artefacts they were most certainly Minoan snake goddess figurines of objects of considerable value. questionable origin known to be in the possession of museums and private These two beautiful yet heavily restored collections today. (This is not taking into glazed figurines have come to represent account those objects which may have Minoan aesthetics and religion throughout been sold discretely). Of these figurines, our contemporary culture. In the early the most renowned are the ivory and gold twentieth century they were reproduced in ‘Boston Goddess’, purchased by the Boston a multitude of publications and from this Museum in the United States and the contributed to the next stage in the modern marble ‘Fitzwilliam Goddess’ held by the reception of : the proliferation Fitzwilliam Museum in England. There is also of ‘goddess’ figurines on the international an acknowledged forgery in the Cambridge antiquities market. For, as a result of the Museum of which wide publicity and scholarly acclaim for was bought in 1928 predominantly with this newly discovered Minoan civilisation, the intention of verifying the authenticity a number of fake snake goddess figurines of the Fitzwilliam figurine. and related artefacts became available to collectors, fortuitously being offered for These figures conform to ideals established sale to museums, so that they too could by the legitimate figurines, for regardless participate in the fashion for Aegean of medium they are represented in the antiquities. accepted fashion for Minoan ‘goddesses’: they are bare breasted and dressed in Fake Goddesses tightly waisted full length skirts with varying headdresses. The Boston Goddess As well as goddesses, a series of figurines grasps snakes in her hands, twined up of ‘bull leapers’ also surfaced in ivory her forearms like the larger figure from

net Online j o urn a l Online a net which drew heavily on imagery from the Knossos. The other figures hold their hands restored Taureador fresco from Knossos. At in gestures reminiscent of votive bronzes least one of these figures was purchased from Crete. Many figures, however, do by Evans himself on the assumption that not completely adhere to acknowledged it was genuine. Apparently he was quite Minoan visual conventions, no doubt

AncientPl receptive to the idea that members of his reflecting ignorance of some features of team were capable of stealing from his Minoan design by the forgers.

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Disputed: There was some question about the authenticity of this so- called Statuette of a Snake Goddess, so the Boston Museum of Fine Arts lists it as dating either to about 1600-1500 BC or the early 20th century. Credit: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 17 archaeology | crete net Online j o urn a l Online a net

AncientPl Modern forgery: Chryselephantine figure of ‘a goddess or priestess’ ivory and gold leaf, Walters Art Museum (provenance unknown). Credit: Wiki Commons. 18 archaeology | crete AncientPl a net Online j o urn a l

Authentic: Bronze votive figurine of a ‘female worshipper’, or young woman making a gesture of piety from Crete, Late Minoan I, ca. 1625-1450 BCE. Cleveland Museum of Art. Credit: Wiki Commons.

The difficulties that hinder the Minoan scholars such as that of Sir Arthur authentication of these spurious figures Evans. Prior to the use of scientific analysis, are their lack of secure archaeological objects without provenance could only provenience and the inconclusiveness of be authenticated and dated through a modern scientific analysis techniques. This consensus of academic opinion based on art last can be due in part to early museum history criticism and on object typologies. curation techniques, such as restoration In the early twentieth century Arthur Evans and cleaning and also to excessive handling. was considered the expert par excellence But it is also exacerbated by the calculated on Aegean antiquities, due naturally to his reuse of ancient materials by forgers in the extensive work excavating Knossos. In the construction of their forgeries. As a result case of both the Boston and Fitzwilliam it has been possible for some of these figures it was Evans himself who publicly figurines to be repudiated as modern endorsed them as genuine, even going so forgeries, but in the case of others, both far as to draw comparisons between them academia and the museums are placed in and the legitimate figures from Knossos. limbo, as scientific analysis is inconclusive. But this is where it gets trickier, as the Modern forgery: Chryselephantine figure of ‘a goddess In the past the evidence for their same people that were involved in the or priestess’ ivory and gold leaf, Walters Art Museum authenticity rested with the opinion of excavation and restoration of the antiquities (provenance unknown). Credit: Wiki Commons. 19 archaeology | crete net Online j o urn a l Online a net

Male bronze votive figure, one of many that are

AncientPl believed to have been left as offerings at Minoan cult sites. Neopalatial Period, ca. 1700-1450 BCE. Credit: . 20 archaeology | crete AncientPl from Knossos were also involved in the sales of both the Boston and Fitzwilliam restoration, sale, or history of many Minoan goddesses and they, or an associate, were figurines circulating on the antiquities likely the subject of Sir ’s market at that time. If one excludes Evans anecdote in his memoirs referring to a himself, the responsibility must lie with forgery workshop in the 1920’s on Crete. a net Online j o urn a l the people Evans employed and trained, particularly the Gilliérons, who conveniently Knossos ran their own business selling high quality reproductions to collectors. But they were But exactly where does fact end and not alone, as Halvor Bagge also made a fabrication begin? After the First World War tidy penny in the off season reproducing Arthur Evans and his team, concerned over Minoan artefacts for ardent collectors. This erosion to the site, set out to protect the does not just place the authenticity of the exposed archaeological remains at Knossos spurious figures in doubt, but also places through extensive restorations. To achieve doubt upon the integrity of the restorations this end they used what another colleague at Knossos and upon Arthur Evans himself. of mine humorously coined as ‘Evans’ cement mixer of doom’. These restorations, With his position of authority on this genre employing the aforementioned abundance and his relationship with many renowned of concrete, are also extensive fabrications museums due to his own connection again based on Evans’ vision of an idealised with the Ashmolean, Evans was in the Minoan society. They too are no longer enviable position of being able to create considered in academic circles as accurate the persona of ancient Minoan society reconstructions of Minoan architecture. on the basis of a minimum of legitimate, However, one hundred years later they are archaeologically sound Minoan material. themselves archaeology and constitute This was ably supported by the enthusiastic historical monuments in their own right. production of forgeries and souvenirs being carried out in the off seasons by his One can then add to this debacle the fact employees and the readiness of museums that the gorgeous but very creative early at that time to purchase figurines without twentieth century reconstructions by the verifiable histories in order to enhance their Gilliérons, Bagge and Piet de Jong are to this collections of Aegean antiquities. day liable to be employed in media articles that discuss legitimate Minoan archaeology, The fictionalisation of the Minoan past is through no fault of the original research, a product of the literary outpourings of but rather through the ready access to Arthur Evans, the fanciful reconstructions of beautiful stock images in media such as his restorers and the material output of the Wikimedia Commons. And I think it is worth Gilliérons, with the able cooperation of early emphasising that even at this moment when twentieth century scholars and museums. you think of the ‘Prince of Lilies’ fresco you The evidence against the Gilliérons is may actually be thinking of an Evans and Male bronze votive figure, one of many that are particularly damning, as they are known to co. reconstruction, or, in fact, a lovely but believed to have been left as offerings at Minoan have been involved with several clandestine inaccurate painting by Piet de Jong, rather cult sites. Neopalatial Period, ca. 1700-1450 BCE. transactions. They were involved with the than the very piecemeal original fresco Credit: British Museum. 21 archaeology | crete net Online j o urn a l Online a net

This is an early twentieth century painting by Piet de Jong which Evans coined the ‘Prince of Lilies’ and it is not the original fresco. The fresco itself may be fragments of AncientPl more than one figure, the subject and gender/genders of which are still open to debate within Aegean archaeology. 22 Credit: Wiki Commons. archaeology | crete AncientPl which may, in fact, be remnants of more publications which employ images of than one figure. the original artefacts, and finally perhaps through the passage of time. In the international sphere, Evans endorsed a quantity of Minoan material which while *** a net Online j o urn a l supporting his personal convictions of the Further Reading Minoan past, bore only passing reference to archaeological fact. Yet this vision has Butcher, K. and Gill, D.W.J. ‘The Director, the Dealer, the Goddess, and Her Champions: The Acquisition served to lay an enduring foundation for of the Fitzwilliam Goddess’. American Journal of modern conceptions of Minoan culture. Archaeology 97 (3). (1993). 383-401. It cannot be contested that Arthur Evans Eller, C. ‘Two Knights and a Goddess: Sir Arthur was successful in engaging the publics’ Evans, Sir James George Frazer, and the Invention attention and imagination and thus of ’. Journal of Mediterranean facilitating the flow of international support Archaeology 25 (1). (2012) 75-98. for Aegean archaeology. But this same Hitchcock, L.A. and Koudounaris, P. ‘Virtual public profile in turn stimulated demand discourse: Arthur Evans and the reconstructions for artefacts from collectors and museums of the Minoan palace at Knossos’. In Y. Hamilakis (ed.), Labyrinth Revisited: Rethinking ‘Minoan’ and thus fuelled the market in illegal or Archaeology. Oxford: Oxbow. (2002). 40-58. fabricated antiquities. In addition, this volume of inaccurate reconstructions and Lapatin, K.D.S. ‘Journeys of an Icon: The Provenance of the ‘Boston Goddess’. Journal of Mediterranean forgeries has perpetuated fantasies about Archaeology 13 (2), (2000). 127-154. the nature of Minoan culture which are in truth embedded in Victorian and early Lapatin, K.D.S. ‘Snake Goddess, Fake Goddess’. Archaeology (2001). 33-36. twentieth century romantic ideals and not in archaeological fact. Lapatin, K.D.S. Mysteries of the Snake Goddess, Art, Desire, and the Forging of History, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. (2002). Arthur Evans’ reconstructions of Knossos and his subjective assumptions for artefacts, such Macgillivray, J.A. , Sir Arthur Evans and the as ‘Snake Goddess’ and ‘Mother Goddess’ Archaeology of the Minoan Myth, New York: Hill and Wang. (2000). for the faience figurines has engendered an particularly enduring image of Minoan Malloy, B.P.C. ‘Martial Minoans? War as a Social culture and belief in contemporary society. Process, Practice and Event in Bronze Age Crete’. The Annual of the 107 I do not deny the vast quantities of valuable (2012). 87-142. data and artefacts that Arthur Evans and his excavations have bequeathed to Aegean Panagiotaki, M. ‘The Temple Repositories of Knossos: New Information from the Unpublished archaeology, but I do, however, resent Notes of Sir Arthur Evans’. Annual of the British that his academic conclusions, which were School at Athens 88 (1993). 49-91. predominantly a product of his generation, Sinclair, A. ‘Erroneous Terms in Archaeology and This is an early twentieth century painting by Piet de still insidiously pervade modern thought. Popular Literature: the ‘Mother Goddess’, or Why I Can be Tiresome at Social Engagements’. Ancient Jong which Evans coined the ‘Prince of Lilies’ and it is not This artificial construction of Minoan culture Planet (3), (2012). 16-27. the original fresco. The fresco itself may be fragments of is a burden on archaeology which may only more than one figure, the subject and gender/genders of be dispelled from the public consciousness *** which are still open to debate within Aegean archaeology. through further research, equally through Credit: Wiki Commons. 23