Nataša Rogelja Caf and Ana Jelnikar
Ancient routes are best discussed as traces. Even with material artifacts or physical imprints that bear witness to their existence, it is our interpretation or our imagination that is key in the way we understand their role in co-creating past and present worlds. Much like borders, ancient routes appear as a totality only through images and texts, never as actual geometrical lines or curves across the landscape. Paradoxically, the elusive and non-material nature of these archaeological routes is one of their core characteristics. How do we then approach these ancient, invisible routes? Going down the more technical path, we can resort to satellite images, which have certainly opened up new frontiers in archaeological understandings over the last few decades – a kind of remote sensing of the routes. On the other hand, there is also the possibility of close sensing, whereby we take our bodies for a walk along these traces, inviting another kind of speculation arising rather from our proximity to the physical world than distance. The question, however, remains how these new technologies exert their influence back on the traces, routes, borders, localities, and ourselves. Do they grip our imaginations? Or is there, perhaps, also a place for walking and writing as an experimental research method and tool for better understanding the deep past?