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A review by jmkemp
The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe by Graham Robb
4.0
While I can't speak to the archaeology, or even the documented history, The Ancient Paths is a really interesting take on Celtic Europe. The whole thing might just be a huge coincidence, but the premise is that there are a bunch of solar paths across Europe that many of the main ancient roadways, and tribal capitals seem to sit on. I found this an interesting conjecture, and it is accompanied by quite a bit of explanation of ancient survey techniques, some of the beliefs and training of the druids and also the history from when the Romans intersected with the Celts.
I read it as a bit of additional background for world building. So from that perspective it doesn't matter if it's real or imagined. It was pretty consistent and there's certainly enough dots on the map that line up with the solstice, midsummer and midwinter sunrise lines. That those sites are there is well attested by the archaeology. Whether there are other sites off the lines that would disprove it, I don't know. The evidence also shows that the handful of pre-Roman towns seem to be aligned along the sun lines. So the ancient paths do seem to follow the sun.
Either way I found it intriguing. A bit if me wants to go read more about the druids, including some recent archaeology papers, and also get a map out and plot some of the bits myself.
I read it as a bit of additional background for world building. So from that perspective it doesn't matter if it's real or imagined. It was pretty consistent and there's certainly enough dots on the map that line up with the solstice, midsummer and midwinter sunrise lines. That those sites are there is well attested by the archaeology. Whether there are other sites off the lines that would disprove it, I don't know. The evidence also shows that the handful of pre-Roman towns seem to be aligned along the sun lines. So the ancient paths do seem to follow the sun.
Either way I found it intriguing. A bit if me wants to go read more about the druids, including some recent archaeology papers, and also get a map out and plot some of the bits myself.