Landscape Monuments and Political Competition in Late Bronze Age Anatolia: An Investigation of Costly Signaling Theory

Abstract

Stone monuments as instruments for the display of political and ideological power are a well-established cross-cultural tradition in early state societies and empires. In this paper, we take another look at the question, why build monuments? or, more precisely, why build monuments in the landscape, away from urban centers that form the main foci for sociopolitical display, competition, and negotiation in these societies? We do so with reference to the landscape monuments of Late Bronze Age Anatolia and the power-political dynamics of the Hittite Empire to which they bear witness. Contrary to previous interpretations, we argue that these monuments are not commemorative of Hittite hegemony, but are a medium through which ongoing territorial contests are moderated. Using costly signaling theory as a theoretical framework, we formulate a simple, but explicit, model of landscape monument construction, which generates a series of temporal and spatial expectations to aid in the interpretation of landscape monuments in Anatolia and elsewhere.