Editing Knossos (section)

==Excavation history==
{{main|Knossos (modern history)}}

The site of Knossos was identified by [[Minos Kalokairinos]], who excavated parts of the West Wing in the winter of 1878-1879. The British archaeologist Sir [[Arthur Evans]] (1851–1941) and his team began long-term evacuations from 1900 to 1913, and from 1922 to 1930.<ref>{{cite book|title=Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age | first=John C. | last=McEnroe | location=Austin | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=2010 | page=50}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Watrous |first=L. Vance |year=2021 |title=Minoan Crete: An Introduction|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=21–26|isbn=9781108440493}}</ref>

Its size far exceeded his original expectations, as did the discovery of two ancient scripts, which he termed [[Linear A]] and [[Linear B]], to distinguish their writing from the [[pictograph]]s also present. From the layering of the palace, Evans developed an archaeological concept of the civilization that used it, which he called Minoan, following the pre-existing custom of labelling all objects from the location Minoan.

Since their discovery, the ruins have been the centre of excavation, tourism, and occupation as a headquarters by governments warring over the control of the eastern Mediterranean in two world wars.

[[John Davies Evans]] (no relation to Arthur Evans) undertook further excavations in pits and trenches over the palace, focusing on the Neolithic.<ref name="McEnroe 2010 12–17"/>

{{multiple image 
| align = center 
| width = 275 
| image1 = KnossosNorthEntranceCropped.jpg
| image2 = Armon_Knossos_P1060093.JPG
| footer = The North Entrance, shown before and after Evans's controversial reconstruction work.
}}