Evans, John (1823-1908)

English archaeologist and numismatist (studier of coins). Following the prehistoric discoveries of French geologist Jacques Boucher de Crèvecoeur de Perthes, whose Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) hand-axes challenged the accepted dating of human history, he assembled further evidence for the age of the human species by collecting and classifying flint implements .

Evans was born in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, became partner in a papermill, and was president of the Numismatic Society 1874-1908 and of the Society of Antiquaries 1885-92.

His publications include The Coins of the Ancient Britons 1863 (supplement 1890), The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland 1872, and The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland 1881.