From sea to land: Reflections on freight traffic during the Iron Age of the north-eastern Iberian peninsula (6th to 1st centuries BC).
Joan Canela Gràcia, Núria Otero Herraiz
Abstract It is known that maritime and fluvial shipping were the most efficient means of transport for distributing freights during the Antiquity. However; the distribution of goods to certain inner cities or significant Iberian settlements raises many questions. In this regard the use of carts and pack animals was common, but the roads the Iberian people travelled are mostly unkwnown. The objective of this paper is studying overland travels during the Second Iron Age in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. In this regard, the application of the least cost paths calculation methods should provide the opportunity to define the basis of a hypothetical Iberian road network during this period in the area. The results will be compared with the historic roads, in order to detect the presence or the lack of coincidences among them. This subject will be approached through two study cases, concerning two different political, ethnic and geographic territories. In one hand we have the Iberian Cessetània, located in the coastal area, which grosso modo coincides with the province of Tarragona. On the other we have the western Ilergetia, a territory wich is nowadays split among the provinces of Lleida and Huesca. This area has been from ancient times a well known communication hub towards the inner lands of the Iberian Peninsula and the Atlantic coast, due to the significance of its fluvial networks. In conclusion with this work we pretend use the GIS least cost paths calculations in order to approach the Iberian terrestrial transport networks and their persistence over time and landscape.
