Archaeology and the silk road model

In modern scholarship, the 'Silk Road' is used as a broad framework for networked exchanges across ancient Eurasia, periodized roughly between the Han dynasty's lucrative silk trade and the decline of the Mongol Empire (ca. 200 BCE to 1400 CE). This paper identifies the 'Silk Road' as an important analytical model for archaeological research on transregional and global-scale phenomena. I argue that Silk Road scholarship has often engaged four key theoretical approaches. While they are not exclusive to Silk Road archaeology, this field has developed some exemplary, successful applications of these approaches to the study of global phenomena. This model is therefore poised to inform other research on global archaeological topics. As an example of research outside of core Silk Road studies that can benefit from these theoretical approaches, I examine medieval materials found in Eastern Europe from the perspective of the Silk Road model.