Prehistoric Brits ‘used primitive sat nav’

Stonehenge, used in early navigation?

Prehistoric Britons may have found their way around England and Wales by using a complex network of hilltop signs, with an historian suggesting that this was their alternative to sat navs.

Stone Age Brits may not have had the sat nav systems available to today’s London car hire users, but they had their own way of ensuring that they did not get lost on their travels.

New research by historian Tom Brook suggests that in times past, travellers could make their way from one settlement to another thanks to hilltop monument networks.

These are said to have covered much of England and Wales, with grids of triangles pointing the way to the next landmark, with Stonehenge among the destinations.

Mr Brooks said: “It was a breathtaking and complex undertaking by a people of profound industry and vision.”

He added that creating these networks would have taken a complex knowledge of geometry, with some areas that are 100 miles apart being accurate to within 100 metres.

Present day Britons may instead prefer to use a sat nav to find their destination, although a study by the RAC has found that motorists may be distracted by these devices, as well as by CD players and mobile phones.

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