Knave Hill, Leicestershire
First screened 24 February 2008

Q & A

Lucy McDowell, the producer-director of the Knave Hill programme, answers our questions.

What's your favourite Time Team dig?
My favourite dig that I've been on was Manchester in the 2006 series. Under a car park we dug a cotton mill that played a very important role in the industrial revolution. The archaeology told a story both of people, and events that changed British society.

What's your favourite Time Team find?
That's tough – so many! It's the small playful things I have a particular liking for – such as the Roman dice in Ffrith.

What's the most important Time Team discovery?
I don't feel qualified to make that judgement!

What's your best Time Team moment?
During the Big Roman Dig in 2005, in the last minute of live broadcast one night Phil revealed an exquisite piece of Roman mosaic. You could feel the excitement in the air.

What's your favourite archaeological site in the UK?
Boxgrove palaeolithic site in Sussex. I'm amazed that not only were there people living and making tools in Britain half a million years ago, but that evidence of them can survive that long.

And abroad?
I went to Chichen Itza in Mexico recently and found it incredibly evocative of a fascinating culture – the Maya.

Who's your archaeological hero?
The unsung ones. All those people in local archaeological groups around the country who help us understand and preserve our archaeology.

If you could travel to one moment in time, where to and when?
To London in the 1850s. Such a time of change. I'd invite Karl Marx and Charles Darwin round for tea.

If you could dig one site, what would it be?
There's a Mesolithic campsite in the middle of the North Sea I would like to excavate – take a bit of money though!

If you could make one find, what would it be?
The skeleton of an early human species in Britain dating back 700,000 years – we have tools but no bones of that age.

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