For transporting small loads, men would pull a cart behind them using a yoke. A yoke is a wooden crossbar that was placed across the neck and shoulders of a man or an animal such as an ox, a mule, or a horse. To transport medium sized loads, around 250 pounds (113.398 kilograms), a donkey could be strapped to the front of a wagon. To transport the large loads, around 450 pounds (204.117 kilograms), a mule could be strapped to the front of a wagon. Even though horses were very fast, they are also expensive to keep, thus leaving them for the very rich to use. If it was an extremely large shipment of goods, then it might be necessary to transport the goods on a ship. The cargo in the ship was propped up using sandstone blocks. The ships used for transportation were typically 60 to 100 feet long, and 17 to 30 feet wide. The hulls of these ships were covered with pitch. Pitch is a substance that the Papas made from plant resin that is very good at waterproofing. These ships had no navigation systems, so the navigator would use landmarks such as bridges, towns, and even lighthouses with fires burning in the tops, meant to signal these ships. For ships to travel inland, they had to navigate through the canals and waterways that went through the cities of modern day Stoke and …show more content…
Next, gravel and pebbles were rammed onto that layer to make a hard surface. After the gravel and pebbles, the Papas would place stone slabs for the top layer, so it was usable by all. The center of the road was always a little bit higher than the edges of the road, so that the water could easily flow off, and into the channels on the sides of the road. Since some of the towns were in the mountains, or extreme hills, the roads that traveled to them had to be cut straight through the rough terrain. If they hadn't gently sloped them through the hillsides, then the steep and bumpy roads would not be travelable.
To make it so that the roads were easily navigable, the Papas would stand large stones up with carvings on the sides of them next to the road. These carvings would tell the travelers how far the distance is from the stone to the nearest town or city. This is very similar to today's mile marker signs. At the crossroads, the Papas would place a small stone at the core of the road in the center. This stone had a plus or a cross painted on it. This represented the four cardinal