Portal:Cheshire/Selected biography/1
Margaret Ursula Jones (née Owen; 16 May 1916 – 23 March 2001) was an archaeologist.
Born in Birkenhead, Jones first became involved in archaeology while studying at the University of Liverpool, where she volunteered on W. J. Varley's 1930s excavations of Cheshire hillforts, including Maiden Castle and Eddisbury hill fort. In 1956, she began working for the Ministry of Works as a freelance archaeologist in the burgeoning field of rescue archaeology.
Jones is best known for directing the Mucking excavation in Essex (1965–78), a major Anglo-Saxon settlement and associated cemetery, with finds ranging from the Stone Age to the Medieval period. It was Britain's largest ever archaeological excavation, producing an unprecedented volume of material. 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.