Ashmolean Museum; Sir Arthur Evans: The Archive: Photographs

Excavating tombs at Mavro Spelio, near Knossos, 1926.

The port of Herakleion, 1900.

This section includes thousands of original photographs and their negatives. It is the largest photographic archive anywhere in the world regarding Evans's Knossos excavations (1900-1935). Apart from Knossos, this section of the Sir Arthur Evans archive includes photographs of sites other than Knossos; of objects; and of people (including Evans's workers at Knossos).

Knossos-related: about 2,800 original photo prints in 39 albums and 1,579 pages. These include topographical (of Knossos and other Cretan sites), object, and pottery photos. There are also more than 5,000 duplicate photo prints placed in around 20 pamphlet cases. About 30% of this material has already been catalogued in full. The photographs have not been digitized. There are also about 1,500 original glass and film negatives of Noel Heaton and other photographers. The Ashmolean also holds 1,320 slides of Knossos from the 1980s (given by Mr Stephen Townsend).
Note: A small Ashmolean collection of Knossos and Crete-related original lantern slides (mostly by Sir J.L. Myres) is now stored at the Institute of Archaeology and the Faculty of Classics.
Non-Knossos: about 500-600 photo prints in two albums, three folders, and a scrap book. There are also photo prints in the Sir John Myres archive.

C/1 Knossos and Crete

C/1/1: Albums

C/1/2: Albums

C/1/3: Albums

NOTE: The chronological arrangement is largely that of Evans and Mackenzie and we have retained for purposes of coherency. The pottery photographs have been removed from the original albums and arranged in pottery albums by Dr Nicoletta Momigliano.

C/1/4: Cretan sites, 6 albums with 502 photographs and 190 pages in total

Album 17: Amnisos to Milatos (including also Kavousi; Karphi; Archanes; Mallia; Ayia Triada; Gournia; Heraklion; Giamalakis coll.; Koumasa; Porti; Kamares)
C/1/5: Glass negatives – about 1150 negatives - conservation required

Department of Antiquities, about 400 glass and film negatives.

Ashmolean Picture Library: about 750 glass and film negatives (E.Tops and people).

C/1/6: Heaton glass negatives of Knossos and Crete – about 355 negatives - conservation required

Department of Antiquities, about 320 glass negatives and 35 film negatives.

C/1/7: Copies and duplicates (>5,000):

Pamphlet case 'Tombs. General': Zapher Papoura objects (drawings, pulls, and duplicate photos); Zapher Papoura (plans, sections, and pulls); Zapher Papoura (plans, sections, and drawings); Zapher Papoura (Evans original drawings and manuscripts); Zapher Papoura (pulls); Isopata (original drawings); Mycenae shaft graves manuscript; Milatos tombs (drawings and proofs); Kavousi (Evans's sketches and notes); Kavousi Skouriasmenos, Vronda, Plai tou Kastrou. In total: about 180 individual drawings, sketches, plans, sections, photos and pulls and 105 pages of manuscript. 285 items in total.

Pamphlet case 'Palace of Knossos and Environment': 43 duplicate archaeological photo prints; 71 duplicate photo prints of ivory figurines (mostly forgeries and the Knossos bull-leaper); 63 pulls and duplicate photo prints of Minoan frescoes; 23 duplicate photo prints of stone moulds; 18 duplicate photo prints of faience inlays; 8 miscellanea (duplicate photo prints, including bull rhyton). 226 items in total.

Pamphlet case 'Palace of Knossos, West Wing
C/2 Non-Knossos

C/2/1: Albums
C/3 Sir John Myres

Blue folder: 35 photographs

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Excavating tombs at Mavro Spelio, near Knossos, 1926.

The port of Herakleion, 1900.

Photographs (including glass and film negatives; original photo prints; and duplicates)