North Sea and Channel Connectivity during the Late Iron Age and Roman Period (175/150 BC-AD 409)

This book utilises archaeological evidence to establish that during the Late Iron Age and Roman periods there were three maritime exchange systems operating in the waters of the North Sea and Channel: the Atlantic system, encompassing the Western Channel and Europes Atlantic seaboard; the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel system, focusing on the Strait of Dover; and the Eastern North Sea system, which stretched from the mouth of the Rhine to the North Sea coast of Denmark. These three systems were all to some extent coherent, although the Atlantic and Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel systems displayed considerable overlap. Maritime connectivity in each of these systems was highly variable over time in terms of the mechanisms of exchange employed and particularly in terms of the scale and strength of exchange. This variability was principally a result of wider political and economic changes, which often had simultaneous effects upon all three systems, though the precise nature of these effects was often different in each of the systems. The vulnerability of connectivity in the North Sea and Channel contrasts with the picture of Mediterranean connectivity; the Mediterranean saw much greater continuity with high levels of connectivity maintained over the longue durée. Recent major surveys of maritime exchange have emphasised the importance of taking a long-term view and have, to some extent, downplayed short and medium-term changes. In this study the authors findings suggest that short- and medium-term changes could be very significant; nevertheless, it appears probable that there was a structure, based ultimately on geography, which ensured that the three connective systems outlined in this survey endured across the longue durée. Hence, the author argues that relating different scales of change to each another is crucial and should be a principal goal of future work in this field.