ANCIENT LAND ROUTES ON THE PAXIMADHI PENINSULA, KARYSTOS, EUBOEA

Abstract

Recent regional surface surveys have placed more focus on rural investigations, but the means of transport and communication within those rural surroundings has not al‐ ways received adequate attention. The Southern Euboea Exploration Project has under‐ taken a new phase of research in the Karystos area with the goal of developing a meth‐ odology that allows for a more detailed record of the pre‐modern land routes. On the Paximadhi peninsula it was possible to identify numerous fragments of suspected an‐ cient routes dating to the Classical and Hellenistic periods. In the majority of cases these fragments were closely associated with adjacent datable ancient sites. By taking into consideration the evidence recorded during the survey it was sometimes possible to propose the extension of these ancient segments and to theorize the directions, lengths, and purposes of ancient networks.