A data-driven framework for inferring past movement decisions from archaeological routes

The spatial organisation of movement is a fundamental structuring principle of past societies, reflecting their technological capabilities and socio-economic priorities. Yet the processes that governed movement decisions in the past remain poorly understood. Here, a data-driven step-selection analysis framework is introduced that statistically infers the decision-making processes that governed the formation of past routes. Applied to Roman roads in Sardinia, the approach reveals a robust and generalisable engineering strategy characterised by a systematic avoidance of steep slope gradients. Substantial road-specific variation, however, indicates local adaptations to topographic constraints and logistical motivations. These results show that Roman road formation in Sardinia was governed by culturally specific decision-making processes rather than universal physiological costs. This approach provides a new framework for reconstructing the processes underlying past movement.