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. 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.