Directions - Learning a Route

Last weeks training runs got me thinking again on how those ancient people managed to navigate from one end of the country to the other without a map.

I was on holiday - so in very unfamiliar surroundings, the place we were staying had a local walking guide with a nice circular route of 13 miles that I could do and be be back in time for breakfast. First time I did the route following the detailed directions I got lost a few times (well not lost, just in a place that was not the same as the book described. There was no OS map with the book, so I was relying on its directions and description to keep me right. It always amazes me home some details are so spot on and specific, "after 10 feet turn immediately left, through the metal gate, over the sleeper bridge and turn turn right along the hedge to the end of the field to the gate next to the large oak tree" and some are not "follow the path until it dips down and the continue on the path" - which would be fine but there were three paths to choose from ( I got the right one after three attempts).

The interesting bit came 2 days later when I ran the route again. The places I went wrong I remembered very well and didn't make the same mistake twice. Some places I remembered very well. The track I stuck my foot in a hidden puddle, the gate with latch was stuck and the field of sheep that refused to move. Other places I didn't remember at all. Several fields I didn't remember and there were a couple of places I had to stop and think did I go straight on here or head off to the right. But once I had entered the field that didn't remember as soon I a saw the fence line and recognised the gate or gap I knew where I was. I even started to plan in advance - this field leads to the bridge at the bottom and you up the road on the right.

By the third run (each run had a rest day in between) the route was second nature, I knew where I was on the route (wasn't always 100% where I was in relation to the start point) and what was coming up round the corner.

Now I go back in a few years would I still remember the route - come back in a few years and find out?

Also if I had only done it once, waited a few months and then done it would I have remembered it?

So how did the ancients travel? They must have had a huge long list of directions