The labyrinth has often been employed as a symbol for the omphalos, the sacred centre or city: Roman mosaic labyrinths surrounded by fortified walls, protecting the centre of the labyrinth and the cities of the Roman Empire; symbolising the pathway leading to the top of Baboquivari, a sacred mountain in Arizona; as a painted threshold design in India, known as kolam, the fort. Throughout Europe the ancient labyrinths are known as Troy Town, City of Troy or Walls of Troy, the legendary city of the ancient Pagan world, or as Jerusalem in a later Christian context. In medieval Europe the labyrinth was used as a symbol of Christian faith, the one true path to eternal salvation. In many cultures the labyrinth has been used as a ceremonial pathway and as a dancing ground.

The twisting, tortuous paths are often seen as guarding the central goal from direct penetration, for here the souls of the dead ancestors were sometimes thought to reside, barred from escaping and causing trouble in everyday life, but contactable once the labyrinths coils had been traversed. Likewise young women would stand here as suitors would chase through the windings to seek out a potential bride. As many stories are told as mythologies exist, but whether in spiritual or secular use, the labyrinth seems to symbolise the path to be followed, however long and complex, to reach the goal, the object of the quest, at the centre...

In the Americas, the labyrinth is found etched into the sands of the Nazca Plain in Peru, in use among the Caduveo people of Brazil and scratched on boulders and rockfaces in Northern Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona. Among the Hopi it is known as Tápu'at (Mother and Child), and is depicted in two forms. A circular variety symbolizing the Sun Father, the giver of life; the lines and pathways represent the road of life to be followed and the four points where the lines end represent the cardinal points. The square form has a subtle reconnection of the lines to produce one labyrinth within another, the Mother Earth symbol depicting the unborn child within the womb of its mother and cradled in her arms after birth. The labyrinth is also seen as a plan of the concentric boundaries of their traditional lands which have secret shrines hidden at key points around their circuits.

The Tohono O'otam and Pima tribes of Southern Arizona weave baskets from dried leaves, stems and roots of desert plants, and the labyrinth appears on these as a design known as the House of Iitoi or Siuku Ki; its significance is explained in the myth of Iitoi, the ancestral founder of the tribes whose spirit resides at the top of a mountain. From time to time Iitoi's spirit, in the form of a small man, would sneak into the villages and cause trouble. Making good his escape, Iitoi so confused the people with all the deceiving turns on the track returning to his home. Thus on the path to the centre of the labyrinth one can see Iitoi and trace the mysterious and bewildering journey leading back to the peak of Baboquivari, a sacred centre of the tribal lands.

In Europe the labyrinth symbol is widespread and varied in its forms. Prehistoric labyrinths are found carved on rockfaces at Pontevedra, Spain and at Val Camonica in northern Italy. Attributed to the late Bronze Age, an example from Nanque, northern Italy has a pair of eyes pecked at its centre to produce a face staring out from the labyrinths centre. A number of labyrinth carvings, on boulders and occasionally in tombs or other sacred buildings, have been found throughout Europe, but accurate dating is difficult. The Rocky Valley labyrinths in Cornwall, England, are often described as Bronze Age, but probably date to the 18th century AD.! The earliest examples for which an accurate date can be ascribed are to be found around the shores of the Mediterranean. A labyrinth-inscribed clay tablet from Pylos, Greece is over 3200 years old; a similar date applies to labyrinths on pottery fragments from Syria. The depiction of the labyrinth on a wine jar from Tragliatella dates to the 7th century BC; it shows armed soldiers on horseback running from a labyrinth with the word Truia (Troy) inscribed in the outermost circuit. The famous labyrinth decorated coins from Knossos, Crete, date from the last three centuries before Christ. Their designs are thought to allude to the legendary Labyrinth at Knossos in which the Minotaur was imprisoned. The Labyrinth itself, a Minoan palace/temple complex, was destroyed several times during its long history, but was finally abandoned c.1380 BC. Interestingly, no examples of the labyrinth symbol have survived from the site.

The labyrinth symbol was widely used and adapted by the Romans; its geometric form was a popular subject for depiction in mosaic pavements as over sixty known examples attest. They are found throughout the Roman empire from Britain to Yugoslavia and in north Africa. The designs used are quite different from the classical labyrinth, but in fact a simple development from it. Most, however, were too small to have been walked, and would have provided contemplative exercise only, although it is recorded that the labyrinth pattern was used - marked on the ground and known as the lusus Trojae - and performed on horseback as a test of skill. The legend of Theseus and the Minotaur was evidently well known to the Romans; scratched on a pillar of a house at Pompeii, Italy, a town destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, is a graffito of the labyrinth symbol with an inscription reading LABYRINTHUS HIC HABITAT MINOTAURUS - The labyrinth, here lives the Minotaur; probably a reference to the disposition of the then occupier of the house!

Among the more interesting examples are three which have fully grown trees at their centres, akin to the world tree Yggdrasil. The turf maze in Saffron Walden, England has now lost its Ash tree, but otherwise survives in good condition; a 18th century document records that young men would meet here and challenge each other to run the maze in record time to reach the young women who would stand at the centre. Dances and processions are recorded from the Rad (wheel) turf maze in Hannover, Germany; a mature Lime tree stands at its centre, making it one of the most impressive surviving turf mazes. Slupsk in Poland formerly possessed an enormous turf maze, 150 feet (45 metres) in diameter, the site of a complex costumed festival administered by the local shoemakers' trade guild. Dancers would tread the 'lapwing step' around its coils, an interesting parallel with the Geranos or 'crane dance' performed by Theseus and Ariadne on Delos after their escape from the Labyrinth of Knossos.