This is Xinyi here again, and it is also a long due blog… A (relatively) new edited volume entitled: Far from the Hearth – Essays in Honour of Martin K. Jones was published at the end of 2018 by McDonald Institute Conversations, Cambridge. I am an editor of the volume, together with Emma Lightfoot and Dorian Fuller.
The essays in this volume celebrate and honour Martin Jones’ retirement as the first George Pitt-Rivers Professor of Archaeological Science, University of Cambridge. Over the last four decades, Martin’s career has exemplified the potential of archaeology, archaeological science, and their cognate disciplines to address central questions about the human past.
For two-and-a-half years, the volume has been known as ‘Fantastic Beasts’ to keep it a secret from Martin and to make sure he remains blissfully unaware. The book is launched on November 17, 2018, at the gathering to mark Martin Jones’ retirement and the publication of this volume, hosted at the McDonald Institute and Darwin College, Cambridge. It was a fun gathering.
The gathering to celebrate Martin’s retirement held at Darwin College, Cambridge
The idea of the book is not only to celebrate Martin’s intellectual aspirations but also to provide a useful book for researchers in this field. Among the contributors are many familiar names, such as Christine Hastorf, Leo Aoi Hosoya, Cynthia Larbey, Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, Graeme Barker, Dorian Fuller, Terry Brown, Matthew Collins, Zhijun Zhao–just to name a few among many distinguished colleagues—who maintain close relations with the LAEF group.
A few months after the gathering, we learned the unfortunate news about the sudden passing of Professor Leo Aoi Hosoya, one of the contributors to the book, a distinguished colleague, and a good friend.