Kevin L. Jones

Kevin Lewis Jones (September 1947 – 31 January 2023) was a New Zealand archaeologist who pioneered aerial photography of archaeological and heritage sites and was influential internationally in the protection of heritage sites.

Early life and education Jones was born in September 1947 in Dunedin where he grew up. He studied engineering, philosophy, library studies and anthropology and in 1972 joined an archaeological excavation in Thailand under Chet Gorman.

Career Jones began his career working on databases at the DSIR before joining the archaeology unit of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand) in 1978.

Jones' major work during his time with Heritage New Zealand was surveying in the eastern Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay and the East Coast of the North Island with a particular emphasis on areas of forestry.

During his time in the Department of Conservation Jones worked all over New Zealand but continued his work on the East Coast and in forestry. Jones received a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship in 1993 which enabled him to travel in the United States to study site stabilisation and reconstruction and later produce a report on the topic. He also wrote review articles for the AARGnews.

Internationally Jones contributed as a cultural adviser assessing and designating several world heritage sites: the Blue Mountains in New South Wales in 1999, Purnululu National Park in Western Australia in 2002 Taputapuātea on Ra'iātea Island in French Polynesia in 2016 and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. His 2005 paper on Pacific World Heritage was written to assist Pacific Island nations to develop their own heritage lists taking Pacific cultural themes into account. In 2007 he contributed to a UNESCO study which influenced a change in the organisation to viewing sites as cultural landscapes.

As a consultant from 2008 to 2020 Jones advised on the archaeological significance of sites affected by development projects as well as monitoring during development works, mostly in the Wellington region. In this role he also advised the Department of Conservation on the significance of sites either regionally or thematically e.g. New Zealand Wars sites, early sites and the management of wetlands.

In 2021 the New Zealand Archaeological Association awarded Jones a Roger C Green Lifetime Achievement Award for his long contribution to and influence on archaeological practice and heritage protection.

Jones died on 31 January 2023 in Wellington and is buried in the Frankton Cemetery in Queenstown.

Selected publications

Jones, Kevin L. (1982). Cutters Bay (S22/40) : a whaling station in Port Underwood, Marlborough Sounds. Newsletter (New Zealand Archaeological Association), Dec 1982; v.25 n.4, 252–257. Jones, K. L. (1983). Pa in two western segments of the Waitahi and Whakatane Valleys, Bay of Plenty. In Newsletter (New Zealand Archaeological Association): Vol. Sep 1983; v.26 n.3 (pp. 165–173). Jones, K. L. (1984). Polynesian quarrying and flaking practices at the Samson Bay and Falls Creek argillite quarries, Tasman Bay, New Zealand. World Archaeology, 16, 248–266. Jones, K. L. (1984). Lithic Waste Flakes as a Measure of Cultural Affinity: A New Zealand Case Study. Lithic Technology, 13(3), 71–83. Jones, K. L. (1984). Dune soils and Polynesian gardening near Hokianga North Head, North Island, New Zealand. World Archaeology, 16, 75–88. Jones, K. L. (1986). A guide to Wellington’s Maori history : nga korero mua o te upoko o te ika. Wellington Regional Committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Jones, K. L. (1989). In much greater affluence: productivity and welfare in Maori gardening at Anaura Bay, October 1769. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 98(1), 49–75. Jones, K. L. (1994). Ngā tohuwhenua mai te rangi : a New Zealand archaeology in aerial photographs. Victoria University Press.

Jones, K. L. (1996). Aerial Photography in New Zealand Archaeology. Australasian Historical Archaeology, 14, 25–33. Jones, K.L. (1996). The development of aerial photography in New Zealand Archaeology. AARGnews, 13, 7–13. Jones, K.L. (1997). The development of aerial photography in New Zealand Archaeology (part II). AARGnews, 14, 13–22. Jones, K. L. (1998). The state of large earthwork sites in the United Kingdom. Antiquity, 72(276), 293–307. Jones, K. L. (2002). Aerial archaeology of the southern Hawke’s Bay coast, New Zealand. Antiquity, 76(291), 43–44.

Jones, K. L., & Wooller, B. (2022). Good shoes for Mr Petrie’s cottage: a rare excavated New Zealand example of a cob foundation in the British tradition. Australasian Historical Archaeology, 39, 38–43.