The thought of ley traces was first proposed within the Nineteen Twenties by the beginner archaeologist Alfred Watkins. In his guide, ‘The Previous Straight Observe’, Watkins urged that many historical websites in Britain – equivalent to standing stones, barrows, and previous church buildings – could possibly be joined by drawing straight traces throughout the panorama. He believed these alignments weren’t unintentional however mirrored a deliberate system of connecting key factors throughout house, which could as soon as have served as navigational or commerce routes.
A particular a part of Watkins’ idea was his perception in dodmen, or historical surveyors, who supposedly laid out these traces throughout the countryside with surveying rods. He imagined that these early engineers deliberately aligned websites to create a coherent community of straight tracks. One essential facet of Watkins’ idea is usually misunderstood: he didn’t imagine individuals bodily walked in completely straight traces. As a substitute, he argued that the straight “ley” was a conceptual line of sight between distinguished landmarks. Whereas vacationers nonetheless needed to navigate round pure obstacles like hills and rivers, they’d use the seen monuments as a collection of beacons to information them towards their final vacation spot.
I’ve little doubt that all through historical past individuals have used distinguished historical landmarks as navigational aids. Even right now, with GPS and cell maps, we nonetheless navigate primarily by sight. Outstanding topographic options equivalent to rivers, valleys, and mountains have all the time been used to assist navigate the panorama, and historical monuments like hillforts and megaliths have undoubtedly served as waymarks for vacationers.
Nevertheless, whereas I believe it’s very doubtless individuals have used landmarks as sensible aids for locating their manner, the thought of a prehistoric surveying class (dodmen) systematically imposing straight alignments appears inconceivable.
In current many years ley traces have taken on a unique life altogether. Moderately than being considered primarily as previous commerce routes or alignments, they’ve grow to be a part of a religious and mystical interpretation of the panorama. Many individuals right now see ley traces as channels of earth power, linking sacred websites into an internet of unseen energy. This perception that ley traces are pure channels of power ignores one basic reality. You’ll find straight traces connecting historical monuments in all places and wherever you look.
For instance this level, I created an interactive map that permits you to plot straight traces between historical websites. The way in which it really works is straightforward: you may click on wherever on the map, draw a line throughout the panorama, and nearly inevitably that line will intersect with a citadel or standing stone(s). This isn’t as a result of the websites have been all intentionally aligned in prehistory, or have been constructed on a channel of pure Earth power, however somewhat as a result of Britain is so densely dotted with historical and historic options that a point of alignment is sure to happen purely by probability.
Once you click on on the Ley Line Locator map, the code appears for the 2 nearest websites – both castles, historical stones, or each – that line up most intently in a straight line along with your chosen level. It does this by calculating the angles shaped between your click on and pairs of close by websites, trying to find the mix that produces the angle closest to 180 levels (a wonderfully straight alignment). As soon as the very best match is discovered, the map routinely attracts a line via your location and the 2 websites, and highlights them so you may see the alignment. Because of this regardless of the place you click on, even with just a few hundred places, the map will nearly all the time be capable to produce a “ley line”.
