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Ley lines (/ l eɪ ˈ l aɪ n z /) are straight alignments drawn between various historic structures, prehistoric sites and prominent landmarks. The idea was developed in early 20th-century Europe, with ley line believers arguing that these alignments were recognised by ancient societies that deliberately erected structures along them.
Alfred Watkins, in his classic work on ley lines The Old Straight Track, used the width of a pencil line on a map as the threshold for the tolerance of what might be regarded as an alignment. For example, using a 1 mm pencil line to draw alignments on a 1:50,000 scale Ordnance Survey map, the corresponding width on the ground would be 50 m. [5]
The straight-line distance between the central point on the map to any other point is the same as the straight-line 3D distance through the globe between the two points. c. 150 BC: Stereographic: Azimuthal Conformal Hipparchos* Map is infinite in extent with outer hemisphere inflating severely, so it is often used as two hemispheres.
As with other ley lines, no scientific evidence indicates that the alignment was planned and meaningful, making the claim pseudoscientific, but commonly reported at these sites. Physicist Luca Amendola noted that the deviation of these sites from the loxodrome that allegedly connects them ranges between 14 km and 42 km. [ 5 ]
More recently, a World Ortelius map sold for £4,000 (about $5,000) at an auction in 2012. These maps are celebrated for their artistry and the way they reflect the geographical knowledge of the time.
One criticism of Watkins' ley line theory states that given the high density of historic and prehistoric sites in Britain and other parts of Europe, finding straight lines that "connect" sites is trivial and ascribable to coincidence. A statistical analysis of lines concluded: "the density of archaeological sites in the British landscape is so ...
The study of ley lines originates in the 1920s with Alfred Watkins. The term "Earth mysteries" for this field of interest was coined about 1970 in The Ley Hunter journal, [6] and the associated concepts have been embraced and reinvented by movements such as the New Age Movement and modern paganism during the 1970s to 1980s. [3]
Major examples include the Edo Five Routes, all of which started at Edo (modern-day Tokyo). [8] Minor examples include sub-routes such as the Hokuriku Kaidō and the Nagasaki Kaidō. Kaidō, however, do not include San'yōdō, San'indō, Nankaidō and Saikaidō, which were part of the even more ancient system of Yamato government called ...