Celtic Landsurveying in the Sundgau Area

Abstract

: This study explores Celtic landsurveying practices in the Sundgau area, situated in France west of the river Rhine. The region served as an important gateway for the Celts to access central France and the Mediterranean Sea. The Celts inhabited the area from the early Hallstatt Period and cultivated the fertile grounds of the Sundgau valley. The study focuses on the ancient landsurveying technique using the Pentagon-Dodecahedra, a geometrical body with drilled holes and knobs. The dodecahedron was used to stake out long straight lines with precise directions. The surveyors relied on star and direction-finding tubes to align their instruments and determine the line of sight. The study reconstructs the geometrical grid resulting from ancient landsurveying in the Sundgau area, with base-lines extending from Gempen to Rosenau. It also identifies perpendicular axes and parallel lines that intersect at various points where ancient centers for worshipers, including chapels, churches, graveyards, and sacred sites, are located. The findings demonstrate the systematic and precise nature of Celtic landsurveying practices in the Sundgau area, with approximately 500 objects associated with the surveyed lines.