From the cave to the restaurant

Professor of Archaeological Science Martin Kenneth Jones has been awarded the ‘Food Book of the Year’ prize for his book “Feast: Why Humans Share Food”. The book explains how humans have come to eat together in groups while other animals do not.

His work has been inspired from his interest in how food was shared among humans during the Upper Palaeolithic era. In order to understand how the process of sharing food among people has evolved Prof Jones also looked into the ways chimpanzees found, killed, prepared and divided their food supplies.

Prof Jones presents sites and artefacts that have been discovered, and shows us how archaeologists are able to make their conclusions. He traces the rise of phenomena such as biscuits, "going out to eat," and the Thanksgiving-themed TV dinner.

He began his career as an archaeologist with an interest in the impact of humans on plant communities, specifically, domestication. His research on carbonized seeds from a range of sites in Great Britain has established him as an expert in his field.

Prof Jones is currently the George Pitt-Rivers Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Cambridge.

His award was conferred on him by the Guild of Food Writers at a ceremony held in London at the Tamesa Restaurant and was presented by Prue Leith OBE. Among the winners there were many distinguished writers and broadcasters in the food industry such as journalists from the Independent, Stella magazine and the BBC.

For more information about Prof Jones please access the link top right of this page.