Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World reveals the significance and interconnectedness of early civilizations’ pathways. This international collection of readings providing a description and comparative analysis of several sophisticated systems of transport and communication across pre-modern cultures.

• Offers a comparative analysis of several sophisticated systems of overland transport and communication networks across pre-modern cultures
• Addresses the burgeoning interest in connectivity and globalization in ancient history, archaeology, anthropology, and recent work in network analysis
• Explores the societal, cultural, and religious implications of various transportation networks around the globe
• Includes contributions from an international team of scholars with expertise on pre-modern India, China, Japan, the Americas, North Africa, Europe, and the Near East
• Structured to encourage comparative thinking across case studies