Finally finished my 24h shift and able to fire up my PC.
Quick thoughts at the start of my new game:
Disclaimer: I'm very aware that I'm talking about a tech tree that's 95% of what I suggested. This is mostly about minor fine-tuning and stuff that changed from my suggestion.
I really love this new version so far!
Rushing military theory is very powerful now. You get both the council and 2 science from barracks with only three techs, plus both early mounted units. If you start in a low-forest area, this is amazing due to high likeliness to reveal horses/cattle/sheep.
Note that my original suggestion gave 1 science to both barracks and walls to split the science-boost up a bit.
I have a feeling that 1 science each from barracks, walls and forge might be best (while switching water mill and walls on the tech tree, which would boost construction).
Calendar seems like an equally powerful option. I can see some very synergistic calendar rapid expansion starts (with a lot of food boosts, settlers and food caravans).
Going towards trade first seems less appealing (except for rushing Petra). What about moving the caravan and both trade route slots to Trade? It's not like a tech featuring "only" settler and granary would be too weak.
Bronze working seems like a decent path for starts with several forests and hills. It also continues nicely into Iron Working (chop jungles, forge boosts mines).
The path towards sailing seems exaggeratedly long and stony, especially without science sources on the way. Going down the fishing path early on is risky already (may not reveal any fish). I still think 1 science from lighthouse and triremes unlocked at fishing would work well.
It think only a few small tweaks would be needed to make all starting tech paths almost equal
Side note:
We'll have to see if the free council really fits stonehenge - even when requiring only 2 policies, I have a feeling many will still want to have the council earlier.
Stonehenge in current form might be better suited for a tech that doesn't grant councils (allowing you to delay The Wheel).
The council may no longer be as important, but it's still among the most useful things to unlock early.