ABSTRACT
Think back: what originally inspired your interest in the past? Pictures are likely to have been a key factor, depictions of people living in remote times. When I was about 8 years old, my parents gave me some historical picture books, including the Ladybird Book of Julius Caesar and Roman Britain. It contained colour scenes of Iron Age and Roman life (Peach 1959). This and other illustrated books, along with the influence of some inspirational teachers, fired my imagination and led to a career studying past human cultures.
