Modern Antiquities: Arthur Evans, the Balkans, and the Discovery of a Lost European Civilization

Abstract

This dissertation employs the career of British archaeologist Arthur Evans as the fulcrum to examine the concept of “modern antiquities,” which Evans defined as the study of ancient customs and societies best represented in the Balkans, and which he understood as essential to understanding the ancient past. The dissertation seeks to connect Evans’ more widely known expertise in the Bronze Age Aegean (circa 3000 – 1200 BCE) with his experience in the Slavic Balkans in the late 19th century, to show he participated in the construction of European and Balkan identities, including an imagined past of Europe. Previous studies of Evans have focused, for understandable reasons, on his discovery on Crete of the physical remains of Minoan civilization, which he himself termed “that earliest of European civilizations.” Evans’ first career began in the Balkans in the 1870s and included a five-year residence in Dubrovnik (now in Croatia), while he was journalist writing for The Manchester Guardian. His substantial political involvement in southern Slavic causes continued after his formal expulsion (for spying) by the Austrians in 1882, in particular during the period of World War I and the peace process of 1919. Using Evans’ own published books, unpublished travel journals, unpublished letters and draft memoranda, and lesser known published articles, the dissertation examines how Evans contributed to the construction of a southern Slavic identity in a multi-tiered way. For example, he perpetuated stereotypes about the ‘barbaric Balkans’ while simultaneously idealizing the Balkan peoples for having ancient customs; and yet, he supported their modernization efforts when he designed maps of the region based on Roman roads to illustrate the potential train or road routes to improve communication. This dissertation will contribute to regional studies of southeastern Europe and identity studies (gender and ethnicity) by bringing a lesser known aspect of Evans’ career forward. The goal of the project is to understand Evans’ legacy and how he perpetuated a tradition where current popular academic journalism continues to treat the Balkans as on the edge or even beyond the borders of Europe.