Inland Connectivity in Late Antique Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain)

Summary

The Balearic Islands lie in a strategic position within the Western part of the Mediterranean and played an important role in the trade routes crossing the Mare Nostrum. Therefore, connectivity of the island by sea has always been considered. However, inland connectivity has not been addressed in detail probably due to the lack of information on communication routes. The paper explores the inland connectivity of sites in the late antique landscape based in a combination of spatial analysis and field survey. Possible communication routes have been simulated using GIS by Least Cost Path Analysis. The archaeological and survey data of late antique sites in the Eastern part of the island have been examined in order to understand the location of the sites and its connectivity within the landscape. The results show that—even in a landscape where the knowledge of its communication routes is limited—a detailed study of the landscape and of the distribution of the sites, complemented with spatial technologies can help to advance an interpretative framework for inland connectivity in late antique Mallorca, an aspect relatively poorly explored so far.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Connectivities in Prehistoric and Classical West/Central Mediterranean

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16455