A Roman Puzzle. Trying to find the Via Belgica with GIS.

In this paper we address the issue of using least cost path (LCP) modelling for a practical case study: the prediction of a 7 km stretch of Roman road (the Via Belgica) in the Dutch province of Limburg. Despite extensive archaeological research, the nature of the evidence is such that it does not allow us to project the route with sufficient confidence. LCP modelling can then be helpful to develop possible scenarios, departing from the available evidence and general assumptions about Roman road building. Using these scenarios, we managed to come up with a few plausible routes that we hope to test in the near future. Developing the scenarios made us think harder about the nature of Roman road building strategies and the interpretation of the available evidence. However, we also had to conclude that the available tools and theories are not very well suited for the kind of models that we would like to produce.