Trade Flows and Development Corridors Between the Rhône Valley and the North Sea in Ancient Times

During ancient times, major trade flows spread from the Mediterranean Sea to Northern Europe through the Rhone valley (France). These trade flows participated in the economic growth and development of the territories. Today, there are still many unknowns about their distribution and their impact. The objectives of my work are: 1/ To provide a better understanding of these flows by creating distribution maps of the traded goods. 2/ To assess the impact these flows had on the development of the neighboring territories. I’m currently working on the selection of archaeological structures and goods I could use to generate development maps. My research in Stanford will be carried out together with Prof. Walter Scheidel, historian of the ancient economy. The main objective of my stay is to conduct a joint thinking on the concept of economic development and its application in Archaeology and History. This collaboration will result in working out an original index of development adapted to ancient studies.