A Tribute to Colin Renfrew (1937 - 2024)

It is with great sadness that we report the death of the world-renowned archaeologist and distinguished Thames & Hudson author Professor Colin Renfrew on 24 November 2024 at his home in Cambridge, UK. A former Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University, he was – as his current successor as Disney Professor, Cyprian Broodbank, writes – ‘one of the titans of modern archaeology’ who brought ‘sheer energy and optimism to everything he did. . . As one of the brave new archaeologists of the 1960s, he pioneered new, theoretically informed ways of thinking about the explanation of social and political change in the past. . .while advocating scientific techniques of dating and provenance as an integral part of archaeological endeavour.’

In the 1970s, his application of the calibration of radiocarbon dates to European prehistory revolutionized the field, while in subsequent decades his linking of language evolution and archaeology, and then championing of the new developments in archaeogenetics, challenged conventional thinking. Moreover, as a prominent public figure and member of the House of Lords, he spoke out frequently and eloquently against the illicit trade in antiquities.

Thames & Hudson is proud of its longstanding association with Professor Renfrew. For many years he was General Editor – in conjunction with Professor Jeremy Sabloff as Consultant Editor for the Americas – of the New Aspects of Antiquity series, which included important volumes on major excavations at the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, the Maya cities of Tikal, Copan and Palenque, and the pre-Columbian sites of Chavin and Huanuco Pampa in Peru, as well as at Akrotiri on the island of Thera (linked by some with lost Atlantis) and the Greek and Roman city of Paestum in Italy. Archaeology students the world over have for decades been fortunate to have as their vade mecum the bestselling textbook Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice by Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn; indeed the Ninth Edition was published this year. Bearing all the hallmarks of Colin Renfrew’s incisive thinking, scientific knowledge and lucid prose, this has rightly become and remains the standard work in the discipline. We as a publisher mourn his death and the loss of a close and loyal friend, whose contribution to our list has been immeasurable and enduring.

Lord Renfrew is survived by his wife, the eminent palaeobotanist Jane Renfrew, and his three children, Helena, Alban and Magnus.