Minotaur

"In a radical departure from the common view that archaeologists simply uncover what they find and then work out what the artefacts mean, Professor MacGillivray shows that Evans in fact anticipated what he found, having decided before he began his excavations at Knossos what his discoveries would mean. Evan's Minoans were perfect Victorians: a peaceful, literate, aesthetic and just society where wise men held political office and powerful women ruled the people's hearts. Though MacGillivray makes clear that Knossos was not simply a lucky find - and offers his own assessment of our current knowledge about ancient Crete - he also shows Evans as a heroic, larger-than-life figure struggling with themes concerning the origins of civilisation that we still regard as central."--BOOK JACKET.