The past provides a rich and varied terrain for Janina Ramirez to explore. Nina – as she is known – says her approach is to embrace many aspects of the lives and traditions of her subjects. She is familiar to television viewers with her most recent series for the BBC, Raiders of the Lost Past, which encompasses subjects from the Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete to the settlement at Çatalhöyük in Turkey. Another series being planned will examine some more of the great achievements of archaeology and the people behind them. Nina’s broad interests are again being demonstrated with her two new books, one on goddesses and the other on some remarkable medieval women, which introduce us to a variety of female figures from an array of different cultures.
How do you select the areas of history you’d like to study? Has your work on these various eras enhanced your perspective on history?
My specialism is Early Medieval, but I believe that you cannot understand the period you’re focusing on if you don’t have the context of what comes before and after. As a result, I’ve always ranged pretty widely, taking in broader chronological and geographical evidence. I’m also cross-disciplinary, so I don’t work exclusively within one field, but draw in evidence from the sciences and humanities, alongside art, literature, music, archaeology, theology, and history.
As I’ve started to work on more unfamiliar topics, like world religion and ancient civilisations, I’ve found points of connectivity back to my first love of medieval history, but also fascinating points of divergence. Going into deep history has been the most revelatory experience, as I’ve discovered that many essential aspects of being human bind us together across tens of thousands of years.
