The ways people move: mobility and seascapes in the Balearic Islands during the late Bronze Age (c. 1400–850/800 bc)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the study of the communication networks that linked the different Balearic communities during the late Bronze Age. To achieve this goal, weather conditions, sea routes, infrastructures of mobility, naval technology and navigational techniques associated with these movements are reconstructed and analysed. It is argued that communication networks structured the perception of space and time as well as generating a continuous social space, including both land and sea. Finally, this paper examines how these aspects influenced the configuration of Balearic societies in the late Bronze Age.