how do i create an interactive late bronze age trade network map using tableau vs excel vba macro?

so i finally pulled together a quick prototype of the late bronze age trade routes (c 1600‑1200 bc) and decided to throw it into both tableau and an excel vba macro just to see which one actually looks decent rn

• data source: oxford atlases + raw cuneiform shipment logs (i digitized ~300 entries)
• tableau: drag‑and‑drop, built a geo‑coded line map, added a parameter slider for "trade volume" (uses a simple calc field)
• excel vba: wrote a short macro (sub drawMap()) that loops through rows, plots points on a scatter chart, then connects with shape lines pretty clunky but i can embed it in a single workbook

what i noticed:

• tableau handles zoom/pan smooth af, plus you can publish to web for free
• excel macro is portable, no extra license, but the UI feels ancient and the lines jitter when you resize

i’m looking for feedback: which tool would actually survive a real research presentation? any tips on cleaning up the cuneiform dataset or adding a temporal animation without learning python? tbh i’m open to any hacky suggestions lol