The Roman Maltese landscape : analyses of the connectivity routes on the island of Malta as observed through the Roman villas.

Abstract

Various studies have been undertaken on Roman structures found in the Maltese Islands, shedding light on the type of lifestyles present. The most common structure that survives within the archaeological setting is the rustic villa - production areas where olive oil was made. It is highly unlikely that these sites were secluded from other important locations such as temples, ports and major cities. Despite this, very scarce evidence of road structures and connectivity networks survive. Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis can aid in shedding light on these invisible connectivity networks. The study uses the rustic villas and non-agricultural structures in Malta to provide insight regarding the connectivity network present on the island. By using GIS to hold least-cost analysis, a series of road networks were generated. When the results were compared to the scarce evidence of ancient road infrastructure present in Malta, the achieved results are interpreted as being situated parallel to the pre-existing infrastructure. Due to this, it validates the plausibility of such connectivity routes present in Malta.