Evans's restorations, while intended to preserve the Minoans' unique architecture, also reflected his imaginative theories about the luxurious lifestyle of Crete's prehistoric ruling class.

ECONOMIST: Bullshot

Evans wanted fervently to believe that the Minoans' wealth in the late Bronze Age was based on a powerful seafaring empire that extended to mainland Greece.

ECONOMIST: Bullshot

Thus the Minoans became part of Evans's late-Victorian world view.

ECONOMIST: Bullshot

Though he could not read their hieroglyphic script, Evans was convinced by the remains of their art and architecture that the Minoans were every bit as brilliant and sophisticated as the classical Greeks.

ECONOMIST: Bullshot

Later, Evans also tried to destroy the career of Alan Wace, a young Cambridge scholar who argued that warlike Mycenaeans from mainland Greece had eclipsed the Minoans late in the Bronze Age, a view that today has become widely accepted.

ECONOMIST: Bullshot