Roads, routes, and evolving landscapes: A study of overland movement in southern Euboia, from the Late Neolithic to Early Roman period

In recent decades, Mediterranean archaeology has shifted from models emphasising isolation and fragmentation to paradigms centred on interconnectivity. This thesis addresses two major criticisms of this shift: the metaphorical use of “networks” and the maritime bias of Mediterranean studies. It focuses instead on physically attested overland routes and terrestrial movement within local and regional contexts. Centred on the micro-region of southern Euboia, Greece, and spanning the Late Neolithic to the Early Roman period, the research explores how movement shaped, and was shaped by, human organisation, perception, and experience of space. Three case studies—daily logistical, ritual, and specialised economic movement—address these aims, while the concluding chapter synthesises their results. Chapters 2 establishes the theoretical, methodological, and contextual foundations. A landscape-archaeological approach is adopted to examine interactions between road systems, natural and cultural landscapes, and ideational space. It discusses existing scholarship on Greek roads, historiography, dating methods, and terminology, identifying a disproportionate emphasis on rutted roads. The chapter also details the GIS methods employed, including Least Cost Path, Site Catchment, Viewshed, Topographical Position Index analyses, and remote sensing. Chapter 3 provides a diachronic overview of ancient Greek road systems and transport modes, serving as a reference for the case studies. It demonstrates that road trajectories were closely aligned with local topography, balancing directness and gradients, and typically followed natural contours. The introduction of pack and traction animals from the mid- to late 3rd millennium BC, and wheeled vehicles and sledges from the early 2nd millennium BC onward, significantly increased overland mobility and transport capacity. Chapter 4 examines the natural and cultural landscapes of southern Euboia. Holocene climatic developments broadly follow Eastern Mediterranean trends. Two major environmental transformations occurred in the Karystia: deforestation and dynamic coastal changes. Settlement patterns alternated between dispersed and nucleated forms, with shifts between coastal and inland locations. From the Late Archaic period onwards, specialised sites emerged, while the Late Classical–Early Hellenistic period saw population growth, rural expansion, and agricultural intensification. Later Hellenistic and Early Roman nucleation coincided with elite-controlled agriculture and the exploitation of cipollino marble. Chapter 5 analyses long-term daily logistical movement using specially designed GIS methodologies. Diachronic plausibility route networks and movement potential surfaces reveal changing patterns of accessibility, site distribution, and land use. From the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, settlements balanced accessibility, defensibility, and agricultural proximity. From the Early Iron Age onward, primary terrestrial routes remained relatively stable, while settlement expansion, cult-site placement, and rural organisation reflect increasing cooperation and local integration. In the later Hellenistic and Early Roman periods, agricultural centralisation reduced the importance of regional movement beyond the Karystian core. Chapter 6 reconstructs a Classical procession road to the sanctuary on Karababa Hill, showing how ritual movement structured religious and ideational landscapes. The route’s trajectory, vistas, and symbolic landmarks shaped phenomenological experiences of sacred space, reinforced territoriality, and embedded social memory through repeated processions. Chapter 7 examines a Roman-period road system designed for transporting cipollino marble columns from the Kylindroi Valley. Integrated survey, remote sensing, and GIS analyses identify engineered quarry roads, transport strategies combining sledges and wagons, and strong links to the ancient harbour at Karystos. This infrastructure reflects an unprecedented Roman investment in the regional landscape. The concluding chapter demonstrates that changing patterns of movement shaped the organisation, use, and perception of southern Euboian landscapes. Movement transformed abstract space into meaningful place, with connectivity influencing socio-cultural cohesion, territoriality, and regional identity. A strong sense of place emerged in the Late Archaic–Early Hellenistic periods, while Early Roman integration into wider networks coincided with a paradoxical decline in regional movement and less sense of Karystian place.