My father, John Ellis Jones, a classical scholar and archaeologist, who has died aged 93, after a fall, dedicated himself to teaching and developing his subject in his beloved Cymru.
He joined Bangor University as a lecturer in the classics department in 1958, and remained there, later appointed senior lecturer, until his retirement in 1995. Throughout, with energy and enthusiasm he promoted his subject, organising countless extra- and intramural events, including productions of Greek and Roman dramas. He was curator of the university’s museum and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
In the late 1950s, he began excavations of two farmhouses near Athens, the Dema and Vari Houses. Subsequent long-term fieldwork focused on 4th century BC Athenian silver-ore processing-works. An innovator, he involved a metallurgist in fieldwork. These studies revolutionised understanding of the rural economy of Greece and the imperial power of Athens, stimulating a vast field of study of domestic space and economic production.
He also undertook projects in Crete, the Peloponnese and Roman-Britain. He wrote prolifically, publishing his last paper in 2022. John was a skilled artist, and enlivened his work with reconstruction drawings, including in The Greeks (1971) and History as Evidence (1983), which introduced archaeology to younger readers.
John was born, the middle of three boys, in Llanrwst, northern Wales, to Margaret (nee Jones) and her husband, Evan Jones, deputy headteacher of Llanrwst grammar school. John was a pupil at the school and was introduced to classics there. As a student at Bangor University, he graduated with highest honours in Latin in 1950, and Greek in 1951, completing his teaching qualification in 1952.
In the following years, he did national service, won a 12-month Greek scholarship, joined the British School at Athens, met his lifelong friend Hugh Sackett, toured Greece’s main archaeological sites and in 1957 was appointed a lecturer in the classics department at Leicester University, before returning to Bangor, but this time as a staff member, a year later.
After retirement, John continued the Bangor branch of the Classical Association, organising more meetings than any other in the UK. He wrote contributions to local history and archaeology, many in Welsh. He was an excellent sportsman, and played rugby for Bangor University until he was 40. Aged 67 he took up fencing. Typically, combining precision and fun, he was soon representing Wales over-45s, and continued competing into his 80s.
In 1952, on the Orient Express, John met Renée Radau-Eckstein, a teacher born in Luxembourg and brought up in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. They married in 1958, and went on to have three children.
Renée died in 2016. John is survived by their children, Catrin and Rhodri and me, and their grandson, Gruff.
