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Cited by 18Archaeological and Geological StudiesAncient Mediterranean Archaeology and HistoryMaritime and Coastal Archaeology

Modelling land and water based movement corridors in the western Mediterranean: a least cost path analysis from chalcolithic and early bronze age ivory records

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Bilotti, Giacomo, Kempf, Michael, Morillo Leon, Jose Miguel·2024·Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
DOI 10.1007/s12520-024-02029-x

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Abstract

The transportation of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age ivory raw materials and artefacts across the Mediterranean has been in the focus of archaeological research for over a century now. However, tracing the flow of ivory has mostly been restricted to traditional theoretical models of raw materials distribution deriving from socio-culturally centred considerations. Environmental conditions, potential transportation networks and dissemination routes have not yet been considered decisive for the spread of ivory raw material from the African shores and the eastern Mediterranean towards the Iberian Peninsula. Implementing computational environmental and archaeological modelling, we present a fully reproducible quantitative approach to estimate potential communication and transportation networks based on environmental covariates. We deploy a Network Analysis model and a predictive model based on Least Cost Path density to propose a potential land- and sea-based movement corridor for the western Mediterranean Basin that could have enabled the cultural spread of resources during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Using the presented model and the open-source data underlying the analyses, distribution patterns of multiple material resources from different chronological subsets or regions can be developed, which will contribute to understanding prehistoric human patterns across the Mediterranean.

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Authors
Bilotti, G., Kempf, M., & Morillo Leon, J. M.
Affiliations
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
Corresponding author
Bilotti, Giacomo
ORCID
Venue
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2024-07-20
Volume
16
Issue
8
ISSN
  • 1866-9557 (ISSN-L)
  • 1866-9565
DOI
10.1007/s12520-024-02029-x
OpenAlex
W4400848298
Cited by
18
References
98
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 2
FWCI
25.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PUBLISSO (German National Library of Medicine) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Multimedialen Archiv und Publikationsserver der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Archaeological and Geological Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Maritime and Coastal Archaeology
Keywords
ivory trade, Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age, movement corridors, least-cost path analysis, network analysis, environmental variables, raw material distribution, cultural diffusion, Iberian Peninsula, Western Mediterranean

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