Andrew Jones

About me

I have been Professor of Archaeology at the University of Stockholm from 2021. I previously worked at the University of Southampton, UK from 2001-2021, at Southampton I was lecturer from 2001-2009, Reader in Archaeology from 2009-2016, and Professor of Archaeology from 2016-2021. Before this I was a fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research from 1999-2001, and lecturer in archaeology University College Dublin, Ireland from 1998-1999. My doctoral research was at the University of Glasgow and my PhD (which I completed in 1997) was entitled ‘A biography of ceramics: food and culture in Late Neolithic Orkney’.  

I am a member of a number of scholarly societies including Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Society of Antiquaries (London), the Prehistoric Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI). I regularly review research for Research Councils in Sweden, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Australia. I am currently on the editorial boards of the Japanese Archaeological Association and Current Swedish Archaeology. 

Research 

My research has focused on a number of fields: the philosophy of archaeology, material culture studies and the archaeology of art (with a particular emphasis on rock art and portable art). I have mainly focused on these issues in the context of the later prehistoric archaeology of Europe, particularly the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Philosophically, I have investigated the distinctive character of archaeology as a discipline which encompasses both the humanities and sciences, and have argued that the best archaeology arises from collaborations that bridge both faces of the discipline. 

My interest in material culture has marked a shift from thinking about the symbolic aspects of artefacts to instead emphasizing the material character of the artefacts that archaeologists excavate. More recently, I have considered the ontological character of artefacts from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age, and particularly rock art. I have recently also extended this interest to digital archaeology, where I have considered the ontological character of digital images. 

My research in the archaeology of art has also argued for a shift away from the symbolic analysis of images and has investigated at a global scale how the materials of art making informed past engagements with images. This investigation has involved excavation projects in the most significant rock art landscape in Britain: the Kilmartin Glen, Argyll, Scotland and a major reappraisal of the decorated portable artefacts of Neolithic Britain and Ireland.   
 

Current projects

Currently I am involved in two projects. One is a collaboration between members of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta, Canada and artists from the University of Lethbridge, Canada, Winchester School of Art, UK and Central St. Martins, UK. This project aims to use digital technologies to virtually reconnect Blackfoot items in UK museums with Blackfoot people to assist in processes of knowledge renewal. The other project is based around the important rock art landscape of Vale do Côa, Portugal working with colleagues from the University of Coimbra, Portugal and the Vale do Côa Archaeological Park to produce a digital record of recently discovered later prehistoric rock art sites in this important Palaeolithic location.