An integrated spatial and network analysis of settlement patterns and road network dynamics in Central Crete (Late Minoan II – Hellenistic period)

This paper aims to study the link between the road network and the settlement network in Central Crete and its evolution from the Late Minoan II to the end of the Hellenistic period. A “natural” movement network is first modeled based on a GIS procedure that uses only topographic and geomorphologic inputs. Network analysis then provides quantitative data on the modeled movement network structure. Settlement patterns, finally, are studied given the possibilities of exchange, control and communication that the movement network offers. The combined study of the settlements’ dynamics and of the movement network also gives the possibility to date the transformation of some natural corridors into actual roads that increased the connectivity of concerned areas in the following chronological periods. Settlement dynamics are therefore linked to socioeconomic changes that take advantage of the movement network, transforming it into a road network