Across the Surface of the Sea: Maritime Interaction in the Cycladic Early Bronze Age

Abstract

The creation of maritime network models has been a major focus of archaeological investigations of the Early Bronze Age in the Cyclades (Greece). While archaeologists acknowledge the importance of environmental variables for ancient seafaring, they have tended to treat the sea surface as an undifferentiated space onto which network models are imposed. The present study of Early Cycladic maritime connectivity incorporates the Aegean Sea as a varied and varying surface affected by seasonal and temporal changes. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, I create a cost-surface model of the ancient seascape that incorporates environmental, archaeological, and technological variables. The application of a cost-surface model enables the consideration of Early Cycladic settlements not merely as points in space but as embedded within a contiguous surface of land and sea. This study highlights the complex and variable conditions facing Bronze Age seafarers. The results of the study challenge the conceptualization of the Cyclades as a unified island group; while the central Cyclades exhibit high connectivity at the local scale, islands on the edges of the cluster may have relied on less-frequent travel at the regional scale, which nevertheless persisted throughout the Early Cycladic period. Variations in wind patterns due to seasonality and directionality indicate that most journeys would require an overnight stay at the destination, suggesting the importance of maintaining intercommunity ties.

Digital Navigator on the Seas of the Selden Map of China: Sequential Least-Cost Path Analysis Using Dynamic Wind Data

“…Since then, several papers on the subject have come out (e.g. Alberti, 2018;Gal et al, 2021;Gustas & Supernant, 2019;Jarriel, 2018;Kealy et al, 2018;Safadi & Sturt, 2019).…”

“…the sailing time needed to reach every other cell in the research area if an optimal route is chosen. Jarriel (2018) has used a similar approach with monthly mean winds but for paddled vessels without sails. Alberti (2018) has automatized the process further for sail-powered vessels by creating an ArcGIS toolbox.…”

Between East and West: Amorgian Pottery in Early Bronze Age Heraion (Samos)

“…). This ‘cost‐surface model’ has also shown that during the EB II the area between Naxos and Paros and the area around the Erimonisia, including also western Amorgos, emerge as the centre of high connectivity in the Cyclades (Jarriel , 69, fig. ).…”

“…While he is dealing with this in the context of colonisation, the clear routes that link Samos to the Central Cyclades, via Leros/Patmos, Levitha, Kinaros to Amorgos, show the importance of the latter island in maritime movement. Nevertheless, new approaches that rely on a combination of geographical distance, frequency of connections based on travel time, and the practicalities of ancient seafaring in the reconstruction of EC maritime connectivity have shown that sites such as Markiani on Amorgos actually has rather limited potential for connectivity with the rest of the Cyclades, unless the connection is made through the north of the island (Jarriel , 62, fig. ).…”

Modelling the Cost of the Wind: A Preliminary Reassessment of Networks of Mobility in the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean

“…The present paper considers the implications of seasonality and wind patterns for relative ease of maritime mobility between Crete and the east Mediterranean during the LBA. Building on earlier work (Alberti 2018;Arcenas 2021;Jarriel 2018;Jarriel 2021;Safadi 2019), it estimates sailing time and relative cost of travel, and reconsiders a previous distance-limiting null-model that only used Euclidean distance as an estimator for connectivity in the Mediterranean (Gheorghiade, Price & Rivers 2023;Gheorghiade 2020). These preliminary results are compared with ceramic imports from the site of Kommos, a key LBA harbour on the southern coast of Crete.…”