John Davies Evans (22 January 1925 – 4 July 2011) was an English

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and academic known for his research into the prehistory of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, and especially the prehistoric cultures of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. He was a Director of the Institute of Archaeology in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 1975 until his retirement in 1989. During his directorship the Institute—the largest archaeology department in the UK and one of the largest in the world—was reorganised from a separate institution within the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

to one affiliated with

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, in 1986. Evans was educated at the

Liverpool Institute The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys grammar school in the English port city of Liverpool. The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on ...

from where he won an open scholarship to read English at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, aged 17. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, during which he served at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

as one of the team involved in breaking each day's new

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...

code settings. During the 1940s and 1950s Evans excavated a number of the significant Megalithic sites in Malta.Rose (1997)

Notes

References

External links

*
Obituary of Professor John Evans, The Daily Telegraph, 2 September, 2011
English archaeologists 1925 births 2011 deaths Academics of the UCL Institute of Archaeology Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Bletchley Park people Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London {{UK-archaeologist-stub