Roman roads in the Upper Galilee and Lower Golan regions: Relationships to natural migratory routes

The geoarchaeological problem herein was to identify the Roman roads in the Upper Galilee and Lower Golan regions of Israel. The primary objective was to identify an anthropogenic relationship of land use as a function of the physical geography of the region. The secondary objective was to identify the most favorable routes of passage to the ancient city of Bethsaida. This thesis pursued a multi-disciplinary approach to meeting the objectives. Field investigation was conducted to acquire data on the elevation, slope, aspect, lithology, and hydrology of the terrain regarding cost factor values of travel by foot. An archaeological investigation was conducted in conjunction with the field investigation to acquire data regarding the spatial distribution of Roman road remnants and artifacts on the landscape. Finally, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) investigation was conducted to implement spatial analysis by devising a Site Suitability Analysis Process which ranked and weighted the physical geography data layers of slope, aspect, hydrology, lithology, and probable estuarine coastline. The process included generating a map of Surface Friction from the ranked and weighted values, and generating a model of Areas of Favorable Passage. This analysis facilitated identification of areas favorable for passage over varied terrain by taking into consideration the cost factor values of travel over a friction surface