Best travel options: Modelling Roman and early-medieval routes in the Netherlands using a multi-proxy approach.

During the Roman and early-medieval period in the Netherlands, an extensive network of routes connected settlements on the local, regional and supraregional scale. The orientation of these route networks in part was determined by settlement locations, and in part by environmental factors (e.g. soil type, relief). Therefore these route networks provide a key in understanding the dynamic interplay between cultural and environmental factors.

This study focuses on modelling Roman and early-medieval routes using a multi-proxy approach. By combining network friction with archaeological data representing settlements, burial sites and shipping-related finds we wish to investigate the possibilities of using these large-scale datasets for modelling Roman and early-medieval route networks in the Netherlands. Data representing past infrastructure and isolated archaeological finds were used to validate the model output.

Results show that in geomorphologically diverse lowland regions, such as the Netherlands, network friction is extremely useful for modelling historical route networks. We found a clear relationship between environmental conditions, settlement locations and the spatial distribution of infrastructure. Using evidence-based modelling, we were able to correctly predict the location of 89% of the currently identified Roman infrastructure, and 85% of the known early-medieval infrastructure in the Netherlands within a 1000 m buffer. Additionally, despite only roughly covering a surface area of 13% in the Roman and 11% in the early-medieval period of the Netherlands, 82% and 72% of all known isolated finds were located within the same buffer.