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Archaeology

Digital maps illuminate ancient trade routes

Nature volume 543, pages 188–189 (2017)Cite this article

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How did the relationship between human societies and their surrounding terrain shape the formation of long-distance trade networks such as the Silk Road? Digital mapping and computer modelling offer insights. See Article p.193

Although the Silk Road sounds like a single route, it was in fact a complex series of pathways that formed a network through which trade goods, people and ideas moved. Archaeologists have long known the basic geography of major ancient trade routes such as the Silk Road, which formed a heavily travelled network between China and Europe by the third century BC (ref. 1). However, specific details, such as how trade contacts originated and what forces governed the movement of early travellers as social networks first formed, have been challenging to determine. On page 193, Frachetti et al.2 investigate the relationship between Silk Road routes and the movements of nomadic herders in mountainous areas with suitable pasture.

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Figure 1: The Silk Road follows herding paths.

M. Frachetti, 2011

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michael J. Harrower and Ioana A. Dumitru are in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.,

    Michael J. Harrower & Ioana A. Dumitru

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  1. Michael J. Harrower
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  2. Ioana A. Dumitru
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Correspondence to Michael J. Harrower.

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Harrower, M., Dumitru, I. Digital maps illuminate ancient trade routes. Nature 543, 188–189 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/543188a

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