Least Cost Path Analysis of Maritime Routes in the Ancient Aegean

Summary

The Least Cost Path analysis in ArcGIS has been a critical tool in archaeological reconstructions of movement and connectivity, but until recently these analyses have been limited to land travel. From the Neolithic onwards, sea travel was an equally important mode of transportation in the Aegean and wider Mediterranean. In this study, I utilized the Least Cost Path tool in ArcGIS to model sea travel in the Aegean.

Bathymetric data and speed and direction of local wind and currents were inputs in a Least Cost Path analysis which examined sea routes of man-powered vessels in the Aegean Sea. Using May averages to approximate optimum sailing weather and known Bronze Age port cities, a surface raster was created from scaled bathymetric data and a cost surface raster was based on current speed and direction and wind speed and direction. The application of a Least Cost Path analysis for sea routes successfully modeled maritime routes around the Aegean for a man-powered vessel. The model can be improved with future research and the creation of a specific sea travel cost algorithm, and incorporating sailing parameters.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21818