Twenty arteries of the ancient and medieval world — what moved, where, and when. Every entry carries its source.
Bronze Age, active roughly 2600 to 1900 BCE (approximate)
Built and perfected under Darius I around 500 BCE (approximate); used through the Hellenistic, Roman, and Parthian periods
amber movement from the Baltic to the Mediterranean from at least the 16th century BCE (approximate); Roman era peak from the 1st to 3rd century CE
origins in the 3rd century BCE under Chandragupta Maurya (approximate); rebuilt and extended by Sher Shah Suri in the 1540s; modern form named by the British in the 1830s
flourished from the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE (per UNESCO; some sources give the 4th century BCE as the start)
from about 130 BCE (Zhang Qian's missions under the Han) to the mid 15th century; peaks under the Tang (7th to 9th century) and under the Mongols (13th to 14th century)
oldest sections from the 5th century BCE; completed as one system by Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty, 604 to 609 CE; in heavy use for centuries after
from about the 8th century to the early 17th century; peak from the 12th to the 15th century
ancient roots (Roman Egyptian trade with India from the 1st century CE); medieval peak from about 1200 to 1450
roughly the 9th through the 11th century (approximate)
formed from the 12th century; dominant from the 13th to the 15th century; formally ended in 1669
treaties with Muslim rulers of Egypt and the Levant from around 1000; the state organized galley convoy system from the early 14th century; peak in the 15th century; broken by the Portuguese Cape route after 1500
wool exports to Flanders from at least the early 12th century; the Staple system formalized from the 1290s; fixed at Calais 1363 to 1558
opened 1497 to 1499 with Vasco da Gama's voyage; Portugal's dominance in the 16th century, contested by the Dutch and English in the 17th
1565 to 1815 (conventional end; the last ship's return voyage reached Manila in 1817)
flourished from roughly the early 16th century to the mid 19th century; peak of the enslaved trade in the 1780s
convoy system organized 1564 to 1566; in full operation into the late 18th century (the galeones discontinued 1740, the flota 1789 to 1790)
caravan trade from the late 17th century; formalized by the Treaty of Kyakhta in 1727; peak in the mid 19th century; faded with the Trans-Siberian Railway and sea trade after the 1860s
from the founding of Quebec in 1608; organized canoe brigades from the mid 17th century; peak in the late 18th and early 19th century; declined from the 1840s as beaver hats went out of fashion and settlement advanced
1821 to 1880
