Which English archaeologist began the excavations of the Palace of Knossos in 1900?

The excavations of the Palace of Knossos which began in 1900 were done by the English archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans (1851–1941). He and his team would continue their efforts for over 35 years.

Born in July 1851 in Nash Mills, Hertfordshire, England, Sir Arthur Evans (Arthur John Evans) working as an astute archaeologist excavated the ruins of the ancient city of Knossos in Crete. This is how he uncovered evidence of a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization, which he named Minoan. His work was one of archaeology’s major achievements and greatly advanced the study of European and eastern Mediterranean prehistory. Evans would live for 90 years and die in July 1941 in Youlbury, near Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.

Sir Arthur Evans was called a distinguished scholar and he became the curator of the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, from 1884 to 1908. He also became an extraordinary professor of prehistoric archaeology at Oxford in 1909. His interest in ancient coins and the writing on stone seals from Crete lured him to the island for the first time in 1894. The following year he published "Cretan Pictographs and Prae-Phoenician Script". Over the course of his entire life, Evans would receive many honors for his very discerning archaeological discoveries. He was knighted in 1911.