The spread of early Christianity in its formative phases : primary and secondary centers of the Christian dissemination
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| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The lack of direct archaeological evidence strictly limits the study of early Christian spreading in its formative phases (30–150 CE). So far, the research has mainly focused on detailed analyses of fragmentary written sources or – alternatively – on general deductive reconstructions of the historical processes. The paper tries to overbridge this gap in evidence with a formalized quantitative approach using methods of geospatial modeling and network analysis. The model uses suitable proxies, such as the Jewish networks of that time or the distribution of terra sigillata pottery. Based on these databases, different models of the diffusivity of ancient cities on the Mediterranean network are examined and assessed against the preserved written evidence of earliest Christianity. |
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