Evans's work in prehistoric archaeology, numismatics and geology was of national and international importance regarding key scientific issues of the Victorian era including:

• the recognition of the antiquity of the human race.
• the rise of interest in the indigenous antiquities of Northern Europe.
• the establishment of prehistoric archaeology and the archaeological profession.
• the emergence of the modern concept of the museum.

More information on:

• Dansk Oldtid: Denmark and the Development of European Prehistory
• Old Stone Age: the Antiquity of the Human Race
• Iron Age Coins: Classifying Prehistoric Coinage in Britain
• see also the chapters by Janet Owen and Susanne Bangert in Sir John Evans 1823-1908, ed. Arthur MacGregor (2008)