Colin Renfrew awarded European Latsis Prize 2003

The European Science Foundation will award this year’s European Latsis Prize to Colin Renfrew, Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, for his exceptional contributions to European Prehistory. The prize ceremony will take place at the Hotel Hilton in Strasbourg, France, this Thursday.

The prize, worth 65,000 € (100,000 Swiss Francs), is awarded to an individual or group who, in the opinion of their peers, has made the greatest contribution to a particular field of research in Europe. The chosen field of the 2003 prize was “archaeology”.

Renfrew is recognised to be a pioneer in his field by using innovative, interdisciplinary techniques to shed light on the human past. Thirty years ago, Renfrew and colleagues were the first to use trace-element analysis and tree-ring calibrated radiocarbon dating to illuminate prehistoric trading patterns and raise new questions on how early European culture spread. His work has laid bare the independent origin of the megalithic monuments of north-western Europe, which proved to be earlier than the pyramids of Egypt, and has showed the independent development of copper metallurgy in the Balkans and Spain. The discovered cultural autonomy of these regions has led to their relationships with the rest of Europe to be rewritten and viewed within a unique, historical context. More recently, Renfrew has combined prehistoric archaeology, historical linguistics and molecular genetics to propose new origins of language.

"It is wonderful that the European Science Foundation has this year and in this way chosen to recognise the growing significance of the discipline of Archaeology,” said Renfrew. “I am deeply honoured to find myself the fortunate individual who has been chosen to represent our subject and to receive the award.”

Max Kaase, Vice President of ESF and Chair of the 2003 Latsis Prize committee said, “This year’s Latsis prize is awarded to an outstanding scholar from archaeology. This field is not only finding more and more attention among the public at large and in the media, but is also characterized by a growing merger of approaches from traditional archaeology and modern scientific methods, thereby making archaeology a truly dynamic and fascinating topic of study for better understanding our common cultural heritage.”

ESF contact: Mr. Jens Degett 

Category: Media Centre, Press Releases 2003