Timeline for How could a lost time traveller quickly and quietly determine they've arrived in 500 BC France?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
27 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 12, 2021 at 21:51 | comment | added | Sir Cornflakes | A similar view of white cliffs in the horizon over the see is available from Hiddensee (Eastern Germany) ti Møn (Danemark) | |
| Mar 11, 2021 at 15:01 | comment | added | Criticizing Israel not allowed | "a landmark that you can recognise" - how about the Eiffel Tower? :P | |
| Mar 10, 2021 at 11:28 | comment | added | anaximander | @L.Dutch-ReinstateMonica Even today, when utterly lost and remaining in place is not viable, standard advice is to head downhill, find running water, and follow it downstream. With no navigational aids, "downhill" and "downstream" can still be determined reliably and will keep you from going in circles. Rivers have been favourable places for settlement for as long as humans have been building settlements, and the coast is good too, so this strategy will find you a river mouth on the coast, which is the best place to find a settlement - and the best place to be even if there isn't one. | |
| Mar 10, 2021 at 7:28 | comment | added | Eric Duminil | @PcMan Beautiful and interesting map. Thanks | |
| Mar 10, 2021 at 7:04 | comment | added | PcMan | @EricDuminil yes the Danube. Even just 30km east of the Rhine, a bit south of Stuttgard, the watershed splits and any river you follow will lead you northeast, then east then southeast to the Black Sea. Being in a place vaguely identified as "northern half of europe", following streams will take you to a number of different rivers, the largest catchment area by far being the Danube. look at this map of the watershed and rivers: decolonialatlas.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/… | |
| Mar 10, 2021 at 6:38 | comment | added | Eric Duminil | @PcMan which river are you talking about? The rhine is between France and Germany. Did you mean the Danube? | |
| Mar 9, 2021 at 16:37 | comment | added | Dewi Morgan | "Go downstream to find civilization if you're lost" is pretty standard advice, so seeing the cliffs of Dover makes sense to me. But yeah, that seems a little fast for stars to move to me. | |
| Mar 9, 2021 at 15:57 | comment | added | Schmuddi | @Ash: I just realized something: perhaps you accidentally missed the word "millennium" from the Wikipedia article? Because contrary to what you say ("the Southern Cross was visible as far north as Britain up until 400BC"), the Wikipedia article claims that it was "entirely visible as far north as Britain in the fourth millennium BC". | |
| Mar 9, 2021 at 15:50 | comment | added | Schmuddi | @Ash: I don't think the Wikipedia article is wrong – on the contrary, the software appears to confirm the Wikipedia dates: The Southern Cross was apparently still fully visible e.g. in London by 2800 BCE, and you could just barely observe it in full at the southernmost point of mainland Europe in Cadíz by 350 CE. But then, Northern France is much more close to Britain than to Cadíz, so it may not be surprising after all that the constellation wasn't visible anymore by 500 BCE. | |
| Mar 9, 2021 at 15:11 | comment | added | Ash | @schmuddi - my source was wikipedia as linked. And (sarcasm) that's never been wrong before... you may of disproven wikipedia. | |
| Mar 9, 2021 at 15:02 | comment | added | Schmuddi | @Ash: Okay, I've toyed around with Stellarium. One thing that I realized is that I don't know very much about the visibility of constellation so the process was more or less trial-and-error. But apparently the latest year Crux was fully visible in the location of Paris on Dec 21 was 2100 BCE after which the first star disappears below the horizon. By 1350 BCE, the next star isn't visible anymore, and the whole constellation is invisible by 800 BCE. I'm happy to be corrected, but it seems that the Southern Cross may not be available to our time traveller. | |
| Mar 9, 2021 at 14:49 | comment | added | jcaron | @L.Dutch-ReinstateMonica even if they don't reach the sea, following a river will help in finding settlements (which are often on rivers), which may provide clues. Also along the way you may find notable features. And last but not least, a river is a good source of water and possibly food. | |
| Mar 9, 2021 at 13:43 | comment | added | Ash | @Schmuddi I don't know and am not familiar enough with historical sky mapping software to give a quick answer, but when you see it it'll stand out, and he's probably going to be stuck there for the rest of his life... | |
| Mar 9, 2021 at 13:28 | comment | added | Schmuddi | Will the Southern Cross be visible throughout the year? Or will the traveler have to be in the right spot at the right time of day/year to observe it? | |
| Mar 8, 2021 at 15:58 | history | edited | Ash | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| S Mar 8, 2021 at 10:32 | history | suggested | Glorfindel | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 8, 2021 at 10:01 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Mar 8, 2021 at 10:32 | |||||
| Mar 8, 2021 at 9:18 | history | edited | Ash | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 8, 2021 at 8:04 | history | edited | Ash | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 8, 2021 at 8:02 | comment | added | Ash | @PcMan yes - that's why it's follows that you determine timeframe after you've determined your latitude. France first. Sky second. | |
| Mar 8, 2021 at 7:57 | comment | added | PcMan | As for seeing the Southern Cross. That EITHER tells you you are between 4500bc and 400bc, at latitude 50n, OR you are between... creation and now, at latitude 25n. Not particularly informative, until you determine your latitude to begin with. This change in position of the stars is due to precession of the equinox. | |
| Mar 8, 2021 at 7:54 | comment | added | PcMan | And if he started between France and Germany, Following the river would lead him 2850km to the Black Sea. | |
| Mar 8, 2021 at 7:50 | comment | added | L.Dutch♦ | Not questioning that. But you picked a convenient location. If he landed somewhere near Metz or Strasbourg, still North of France, following the water he would end up somewhere on the Dutch coast. I think he has other things to worry than "let's get to the seaside and see where I am" | |
| Mar 8, 2021 at 7:43 | history | edited | Ash | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 8, 2021 at 7:39 | comment | added | Ash | @L.Dutch-ReinstateMonica You need to explore somewhere - otherwise you're waiting for information to come to you (which it never does outside of the movies) and slowly dying of thirst / hunger / boredom. | |
| Mar 8, 2021 at 7:36 | comment | added | L.Dutch♦ | Why would anybody assume that they might reach the sea in few days and start the journey when not knowing where they are located? | |
| Mar 8, 2021 at 7:26 | history | answered | Ash | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
