PER LUIGI PERNIER (CON APPENDICE DAL PRIMO TACCUINO CRETESE)

Abstract

This paper re-examines the opinions so far expressed about the person and work of L. Pernier, excavator and editor of the ruins of the palace at Phaistos. His positivistic formation as a field archaeologist is emphasised, together with his objectivity and with the decisions made about the restoration of the ruins of the palace, which were opposite to the line followed by Evans at Knossos.

A selection of passages from his notebooks that are pertinent to the beginning of the excavations at Phaistos is presented so as to give a representative picture of his personality.

Two unpublished manuscripts of Pernier are therefore presented for the first time, both for their scientific and human interest. Special attention is reserved for three appendices with the summaries and paperwork which Pernier had sketched in view of a final publication of the most recent ruins excavated at Phaistos, which was not eventually published.