Margaret Ursula Jones

rdf:langString Margaret Ursula Jones

rdf:langString Margaret Ursula Jones

rdf:langString Margaret Ursula Jones

rdf:langString Margaret Ursula Jones, shown filling in a form on a clipboard whilst inspecting freshly-excavated potsherds on site at Mucking.

rdf:langString Margaret Ursula Owen

rdf:langString Jones recording pottery at Mucking

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rdf:langString Mike Pitts

rdf:langString Tom Jones

rdf:langString Many people were intimidated by Mucking's excavator, Mrs. Margaret U. Jones, B.A., as she signed herself, but I saw her as a role model, a strong, dedicated, no-nonsense woman of great professional skill, with a very complex and important project. I felt that earning Margaret's trust was a real honor. It was only years later, when I read some of the Mucking publications, that I learned that she had never managed anything of that scope before, and was, by her own admission, figuring things out as she went along. She did a splendid job.

rdf:langString The conditions were tough: accommodation ranged from your own tent to leaking huts; food was the cheapest line from the cash and carry, creatively supplemented with wild gleanings ; and entertainment consisted of a night-time drive round one of the uncannily-automated oil-refining stations along the coast.

rdf:langString Margaret Ursula Jones (née Owen, 16 May 1916 – 23 March 2001) was an English archaeologist, best known for directing major excavations at Mucking, Essex. Born in Birkenhead, Jones first became involved in archaeology while studying at the University of Liverpool, where she volunteered on W. J. Varley's excavations. After graduating she worked as a wartime postal censor and freelance photojournalist, whilst continuing to volunteer on archaeological excavations around Britain. In 1956, Jones began working for the Ministry of Works as a freelance archaeologist in the burgeoning field of rescue archaeology. She worked at a number of sites, but is best known for her excavations at Mucking, a major Anglo-Saxon settlement and associated cemetery, with finds ranging from the Stone Age to the Medieval period. The Mucking excavation, which Jones directed from 1965 to 1978, became Britain's largest ever archaeological excavation. It produced an unprecedented volume of material, although some academic archaeologists have criticised the fact that the results did not appear in print until decades after the excavation had ended. Jones' work at Mucking, as well as her role in founding the campaign group Rescue, was influential in the establishment of modern commercial archaeology in Britain.

rdf:langString Margaret Ursula Owen