House of Suns

[Nyeti]

Yes.
One idea that Reynolds uses that we should incorporate into OA more is the replacement of one culture by another, after a collapse, The older, vanished culture leaves behind damaged and inactive relics that are mostly ignored by the newer inhabitants; but sometimes they are worth studying.

This reminds of the "Averill" story that Nyeti is writing

Yeah, I love the idea of deep historical time and I've got a fascination for ancient cultures, especially those from before the Bronze Age Collapse. Think of places like Avebury, where a Neolithic monument was settled by mediaeval farmers, or Aleppo, which has been a city longer than anyone can remember.
The backstory of Averill actually only covers about 1400 years - not an extremely long time for OA nor indeed for me as a Brit!

I clearly should read House of Suns. MacGregor, you're not the first person I've heard recommend it.