Defensive Towers Research Articles

JULIUS CAESAR AND THE LARCH: BURNING QUESTIONS AT VITRUVIUS’ DE ARCHITECTVRA 2.9.15–16

Abstract This article argues that Vitruvius’ description of Julius Caesar's ‘discovery’ of the larch (larix, De arch. 2.9.15–16), previously read as a journalistic account of the author's first-hand experience in Caesar's military entourage, should instead be interpreted as a highly crafted morality tale illustrating human progress thwarted. In the passage, the use of larch wood to construct a defensive tower renders the Alpine fortress at Larignum impregnable to assault by fire; only the fear aroused by siege provokes the inhabitants to surrender to Caesar and his troops (2.9.15–16). Nevertheless, the outcome of this discovery is not a complete victory, because the logistics of importing this remarkable timber to Rome are as yet insurmountable (2.9.16). Once the siege of Larignum is recognized as a diptych to Vitruvius’ narrative of the origins of civilization, in which fire and wood likewise play essential roles (2.1.1–7), and compared with similar aitia and source histories across the De architectura, it becomes clear that Larignum and its resources emblematize obstacles to a Vitruvian conception of imperial success, in which the city of Rome catalogues and indexes architectural knowledge amassed throughout the empire.

Earthen Architecture and Craft Practices of Early Iron Age Ramparts: Geoarchaeological Analysis of Villares de la Encarnación, South-Eastern Iberia

Abstract The use of mudbricks in Early Iron Age ramparts is an uneven feature of defensive architecture on the Iberian Peninsula. The use of mudbricks as a building material has been linked to the arrival of Levantine building traditions with the Phoenicians, and its appearance among local societies varies between the eighth and sixth centuries BC according to the public or domestic nature of the structures. In this article, we present the geoarchaeological analyses of the mudbricks used in constructing one of the defensive towers or bastions at Villares de la Encarnación (Caravaca de la Cruz, Spain). This site, endowed with two complex fortification lines and towers, is one of the main settlements for understanding the development of the Early Iron Age among the inland and mountain communities of the region. The analytical program includes wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence, CHN elemental analysis, and thin-section petrography and provides new data about soil procurement and manufacturing choices. These results highlight the technical and social complexity behind mudbrick constructions and the adoption of new earthen practices among Early Iron Age communities in order to build more imposing and elevated towers that might convey an image of the power and strength of these inland settlements.

HYPOTHETICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PLANNING STRUCTURE AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE HIGH DEFENSIVE WALL OF THE MIDTOWN OF LVIV FOR THE 13th-14th CENTURY

Lviv is one of the cities in Ukraine that had a highly developed system of medieval fortifications. This system of fortifications was built in the XIII-XIV centuries, modernized many times and served until the 18th century. However, today in Lviv, only small remains of the medieval fortifications of the city center have been preserved in the form of architectural objects - several fragments of the defensive wall and only one defensive tower, which was rebuilt into a tower in the 16th century. These preserved objects belong to the so-called High defensive wall. These are: a fragment of the lower part of the defensive wall on 16 Svobody Avenue, a fragment of the wall and the Povoroznyk tower (connected to the building of the City Arsenal), a fragment of the wall on the Pidvalna Street (to the Royal Arsenal is attached), a fragment of the wall and the remains of the corner Rymarska tower, the remains of the foundations of the corner Shevska tower, a preserved and superimposed fragment of the wall near the Vienna coffee house (12 Svobody avenue), the remains of the wall in the basements of the building on 9 Mickiewicz Square. The rest of the remains of the High Wall are underground in the state of archaeological objects. These unique objects of military construction are not registered as architectural monuments. Also, they are not listed as monuments of archeology. Every fragment of city defense fortifications preserved today is, as a rule, a valuable document of its era and requires careful protection and preservation. Therefore, the study of the architecture of the medieval defense complex of the Lviv city center, which was created before the appearance of firearms, is important both for the history of the city and for the history and theory of domestic military architecture. This paper presents an analysis of the first stage of the construction of the High Defense Wall around the Lviv midtown and presents a hypothesis regarding its architectural solution. Special attention is paid to the issue of the planning structure of the fortified belt. The hypothesis that initially the defensive contour of the High Wall had a rounded shape has been substantiated. The argumentation about the towerless nature of the defensive belt at the first stage of the development of its fortifications is presented. There were two gates at the first stage of the construction of fortifications, which were called Tatarska and Halytska. The architectural solution of the gates was specific. The gate was formed by two towers (semicircular in plan). The gate-entrance with drawbridge was located between two high towers. At the second stage of development, the defensive High Wall was modernized, raised and a number of defensive towers were built. At the third stage, the planning scheme of the fortified belt changes. The line of the High Wall in the eastern span acquires a rectangular character with outward-projecting towers and corner towers.

PECULIARITIES OF THE FORTIFICATION SYSTEM OF THE INCASTELLATED COMPLEX OF THE HOLY CROSS MONASTERY OF THE SKETE MANIAVSKY

For several centuries, the Maniavsky Skete played the role of a significant sacred, cultural, and defensive centre of the region. The first two factors have been studied quite thoroughly, but the third one has been neglected by scholars. Therefore, the study of the defence system of the sacred abode is quite relevant. Its study can help to reconstruct the appearance of the complex, the location and planning of the main structural elements, especially since the monastery is listed in the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine as an architectural monument of national importance under the number 239/0, as well as its individual buildings: the gate tower (No. 239/1), the treasury (No. 239/2), the defensive tower and walls (No. 239/3), and the refectory (No. 2394). The article is aimed at clarifying the structural units, historical architectural and functional type, typology by the method of fortification, location features (in the landscape environment, in the hydrographic environment, in the urban environment), as well as outlining the architectural and fortification features of the defensive monastery complex. Based on the results of the study of iconographic, cartographic sources and field surveys, the article examines the planning structure of defensive structures and fortifications and the fortification system of the encastled complex of the Holy Cross Monastery of Skete Maniavskyi, founded in the forest of the Carpathian foothills on the lands of the village of Maniava in the Galician district of the Galician land of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the late Middle Ages as a monastery of Orthodox hermit monks.

MAPPING MT. USHBA – HOW TO CREATE A HIGH-QUALITY MAP PRODUCT FROM OPEN DATA WITH FREE SOFTWARE

Abstract. Mt. Ushba is a famous mountain in the Great Caucasus characterized by its iconical double peak. In addition, the surrounding Georgian region of Svaneti is known for its medieval defense towers, what makes the area a rising tourism destination. Climbers, hikers and visitors alike need maps for planning their tours, so there is a demand for a reliable map. The paper aims to present the production of an Alpine Club map to demonstrate how high-quality map production is possible by combining open data and, wherever possible, open-source software. An important result is a widely transferable workflow for mapmakers. It offers lowcost solutions in the production of a digital elevation model, which combines multi-stereo satellite images from Planet Labs and GNSS measurements, and an organized, dynamic mapping with OpenStreetMap. Moreover, free satellite images have been used to derive land cover information. While the final map will be sold as a commercial product, most geo-data are freely available. The OpenStreetMap data is improved and completed through fieldwork, and toponyms are collected in a combination of existing maps, signposts and information by locals. Our contribution may strengthen the spread of this sustainable database to many other digital services, resp. maps, which are using OpenStreetMap. Due to the complexity of the overall project, this paper describes the current status, some aspects are still under development.

Effects of Representation on Solving Complex Spatial-Temporal Problems

We present a study of how humans represent space when solving Tower Defense puzzles, a complex spatial reasoning task requiring the subject to protect locations by arranging a set of defense towers at strategic positions. We have discovered that the representation humans use is significantly more complex than what is needed to describe the spatial situation. Strategy and spatial representations are tightly intertwined with spatial representations forgoing objective, atomically-defined spatial features for context-sensitive, goal-oriented spatial affordances. Spatial relationships exist not only between objects but between an object’s properties, second-order properties, joint spatial properties and temporal properties.

ЦЕРКОВНО-ОБОРОННІ КОМПЛЕКСИ ЧЕРНІГІВЩИНИ XVII СТОЛІТТЯ

The article considers such a historical and fortification phenomenon as church defense complexes. Their existence dates back to the late MiddleAges and Early Modern Times. This type of fortified structures was spread on the territory of such modern countries as the Republic of Poland, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Belarus, and Romania. Ukraine is no exception. The question of the existence of church defense complexes or defense churches was considered by Ukrainian historiography during the 20th century exclusively on the territory of the Western Ukrainian and part of the Right Bank of Ukraine. However, the question arises whether such complexes existed on the Left Bank of Ukraine including Chernihiv region? The problem with the allocating of this type of fortifications in Chernihiv region is problematic due to the fact that they were wooden. Today there are almost no traces of them left on the earth's surface. These complexes can be studied only by a small number of written sources, as well as archaeological remains. Therefore, by the beginning of the 21st century they did not come in a view of researchers. A brief review of the above issues in this article allowed us to make some conclusions. The article gives an example of 7 complexes that could be classified as defensive. These are primarily churches in such settlements as Stolne, Loknyste, Veresoch, Kladkivka, Pechi, Olenivka and Saltykova Divytsia. In general, these were architectural ensembles consisting of a wooden fence or a stockade, the church sometimes with the bell tower. The bell tower also simultaneously served as an observation and signal point, defensive tower. Such defensive churches were not stationary fortresses. They served as temporary fortifications in case of sudden Tatar attacks. Тhe military and political situation in the Left Bank of Ukraine stabilized at the beginning of the 18th century. Due to that fact church defensive functions gradually disappear with its fortification elements.

Masons’ marks in Aleppo, a study of a defensive tower in old Aleppo: Using 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry for identification and classification

Masons’ marks in Aleppo, a study of a defensive tower in old Aleppo: Using 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry for identification and classification

Pre-Renaissance Manor Houses in the Basque Country, Spain: Analysis of the Loyola Tower Palace

At the end of the fifteenth century, there was a shift from a defensive tower house residential model to a type of palatial-style residential model. The Loyola Tower Palace, located in the Basque Country, Spain, is an example of this evolution. This paper aims to analyze the architectural elements and construction system of a pre-renaissance manor house. The work was divided into three sections: fieldwork, documentary research and the historical-constructive analysis. Six periods were detected: the remains of the original fortified house, the tower palace, the mid-sixteenth century reform, the works undertaken by Jesuits, the interventions of the nineteenth century, and the more recent refurbishment. Finally, the building was also compared with other Basque manor houses.

TYPOLOGICAL STUDY AND CATALOGUING OF LATE MEDIEVAL MANOR HOUSES OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (SPAIN)

Abstract. Manor Houses were the homes and centres of operation of Basque noble families during the Late Medieval Period. From early defensive Tower Houses to the Palaces of the early 16th century, Manor Houses evolved during the Late Middle Ages, adapting to different historical periods. Despite their heritage value, these buildings are in danger of being lost. Investigations of past centuries encouraged the emergence of false beliefs around Manor Houses – excessively old constructive periods, assignment of defensive origins to most buildings, etc.–. This has resulted in serious errors in heritage catalogues and, subsequently, a high number of unfortunate architectural interventions. This paper aims to analyse and characterize the typological evolution of Basque Manor Houses, in order that the results be used as guideline for future protection strategies. The work was divided into three sections: field work, documentary research and historical-constructive analysis. Collected data was uploaded into QGIS software, which was then used to carry out a comparative analysis. An inventory of 2050 Manor Houses has been developed, which includes a “Red List” of 472 buildings in danger of being lost. Five typologies of Manor Houses have been identified: one with a defensive function – the Tower House – and four types of non-defensive constructions – Tower Palace, Rural Palatial House, Large Palace and Village Manor House –. Most of the existent Basque Manor Houses were built after the mid-15th century and were non-defensive from their original construction.

RESEARCH OF THE DWELLINGS ON CHERNIHIV «TRETYAK» IN 2018

The archaeological research in 2018 on Yeletska St., in Chernihiv made possible to understand in detailes the dynamic of development of Chernihiv region as well as to trace back the step-by-step evolution of dwelling building in conjunction with the general city development.
 The objects of research are vary: the dwellings, economical buildings and domestic pits, fences, defense towers, up to the burial places. Dwellings, particularly, are in focus. They are represented empirically by the two common types, that is, dugouts and above-ground houses with cellars. They are widespread diachronically — since 10th till the mid-13th centuries.
 The most interesting dugouts are the ones with adobe stoves of 10th century. These dwellings used to be the urban part of Chernihiv. In buildings ditches personal artifacts accompanied by the whill-made ceramics were found. The group of above-ground buildings with cellars has been built using common technique of building for their time, however, with additional constructional features.
 The most interesting buildings on the excavation were the buildings of the 10th century, as they belong to the beginning of the urban planning of the Tretyak of Chernihiv.
 During the excavation of structures the fragments of circular utensils and household items were found that reveal the material culture of the population who lived in the area.
 With its strategic location and protected by natural obstacles both from the east and from the west, the Tretyaka territory has been attracting people for many centuries.
 To summarize, the continuation of research of Chernihiv’s «Tretyak» location provided the science with rather fruitful material depicting that mass settlement of this territory (as an urban one) has begun at the late 9th — the early 10th centuries, lasting up to Mongol invasion of Kyiv Rus.

NEGRO TOWER: DOCUMENTATION, CONSERVATION, AND RESTORATION

Abstract. The Negro Tower or Arráez Tower, in El Algar (Cartagena, Spain), dates from 1585. This tower was part of an extensive network of watch and defense towers built along the coastline of Murcia between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is an inland rural tower, in visual contact with the coastal towers. Its objective was to receive and transfer warnings from onshore towers to protect the population, especially farmers. The tower is protected as a monument but is currently in a dilapidated state of conservation. Therefore, this building has been chosen as the object of an integral study, which can serve as a reliable basis for its correct conservation and restoration. Through historical analysis, light has been shed upon the evolution of the Tower from the social, cultural, and architectural points of view. The graphic documentation has been made using digital photogrammetry and a 3D laser scanner, compatible with classical topography. Based on all this information, an integral project of consolidation and volumetric recomposition of the tower has been proposed. As a result of this research, we intend to contribute to the conservation and recovery of the heritage value of the Tower, as well as the integration of the historic monument in its natural environment.

Creating a Circular Tower Defense Game: Development and Game Experience Measurement of Orbital Defense X

In this paper, we propose a new style of tower defense game by using the circular placement of the tower. In this game, dubbed Orbital Defense X, the player must protect the earth with a circle of defensive tower circled around it. The game is developed using game development lifecycle from initiation phase through alpha version. To test the quality of the developed game, we measure the game experience using game experience questionnaire. The questionnaire is divided into three: core, social presence, and post-game questionnaire. The results show that male participant gains a significantly higher score than female participants. Overall, the game experience is received better by the male participant in the core and social presence components, with an average score of 2,27 vs 1,92 and 2,15 vs 1,86. However, in post-game experience, the female participant scores higher with 2,15 vs 1,95. The participant that previously played another tower defense game gave score more in the core, social presence, and post-game experience than the participant that haven’t played it before. Their score is 1,93 vs 2,37 in core, 1,67 vs 2,39 in social presence, and 2,07 vs 1,91 in post-game experience. The result also suggests for more attention in the challenge regarding the enemies (variety and difficulty) rather than more complex tower management system. The social ranking also suggested by the participant to improve the overall experience of this game.

Sardinian Basalt—an Ancient Georesource Still En Vogue

Commercial basalt that is quarried in Sardinia is a natural resource which is the result of extensive volcanic activity during the Pliocene and Pleistocene ages, following the opening of the Campidano plain and Tyrrhenian Sea rift, when large volumes of basalt and andesite rock naturally moulded extensive areas of the Island. An example is provided by the “Giare” tablelands and several other large plateaus located in central Sardinia. Basalt has formed in many other areas of the Island, where a vast array of monuments dating back to the II–I millennium B.C. document the high workability, durability, and withstanding to weathering of basalt. The complex of circular defensive towers, known as “Su Nuraxi di Barumini” was included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1997. Basalt is currently produced locally, and it is used for architectural and ornamental purposes. It is quarried from stone deposits or mined from huge boulders which are mechanically moved and sawn and then transported and manufactured in plants which are located in various sites throughout the Island. The paper begins with a historical introduction and then focusses on the current state-of-the-art of Sardinian basalt quarrying, processing, and usage. An analysis of the basalt market has been carried out.

Seismic structural upgrade of historical buildings through wooden deckings strengthening: the case of study of Palazzo Ducale in Parete, Italy

Aim of this article is to study the structural improvement of a historical wooden deckings using additional wood structural members and wood restoration techniques. Renovation of historic constructions, often performed for intended new use of buildings, cannot and must not disregard the conservation not only of the elements function, but also of materials and construction techniques. They all represent, indeed, an inestimable cultural heritage. In this context, it is paramount to seek structural improvements in deformation and strength capacity of wooden structures through the use of modern techniques compatible in typology with the original materials and construction techniques. This paper presents the case study of the wooden deckings restoration in the "Palazzo Ducale di Parete", Italy. The palace, located in the historical centre of the city of Parete in the province of Caserta, is composed of a central core (defensive tower), built probably between XI and XII century, and adjaciance blocks added in the following centuries. Apart from the central tower that rises above the rest of the palace, the building is comprised of three levels above the ground and a mezzanine. The wooden deckings were probably built before the 1700 with chestnut wood and made of a primary beam system of 25 cm diameter circular section beams, and a secondary floor distribution system with semicircular transversal elements named "panconcelle" loosely connected to beams. Structural improvement intervention consisted in the realization of a double timber crossed plank in chestnut wood, connected to principal frame through metal cylindrical shank pins, suitably sized. Where possible, the "panconcelle" were not removed from their seat to preserve the original intrados view of the floors.Following checks pre and post intervention

Reconstruction of the tower in defensive walls in Świebodzice

Fortification of Świebodzice, as presented in the eighteenthcentury drawings of Friedrich Bernhard Wernher, comprised one ring of walls, three gates in the form of towers with a passage on the ground floor, a rectangular gatehouse matching the height of the adjacent wall, and at least 8 rectangular towers. The entire fortification was surrounded by a moat. These architectural forms are in accordance with the oldest view over the city presented in the seventeenth-century oil painting [1]. The walls were crowned with rectangular battlements. Elements known from iconography were confirmed during research and inventory works initiated in 2007. The project, which was an aim of revitalizing the part of defensive walls along Piłsudskiego street in Świebodzice, was not only to make this relic accessible to the public (there is an observation deck in the defensive tower), but also to repair deformations formed as a result of the first restoration and because of the didactic exposition of wooden elements in the wall crowning (these elements were popular in medieval fortifications).

HERITAGE SURVEY AND SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF THE WATCHTOWERS THAT DEFENDED THE LAST ISLAMIC KINGDOM IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA (THIRTEEN TO FIFETEENTH CENTURY)

Abstract. The Islamic Nasrid kingdom of Granada occupied the mountainous areas of the southeastern area of the Iberian Peninsula. There, a natural border was established between the Nasrid kingdom and the Christian kingdom of Castile from 1232 to 1492. To control this frontier and establish visual communication between it and the Nasrid center at the Alhambra citadel, an extensive network of watchtowers and defensive towers was constructed. Studies have been done of individual towers, but no comparative study has been undertaken of all of them. Graphic, homogenous, and exhaustively planimetric documentation would bring together existing information on the majority of them and enable comparative analysis. For this reason, this work conducts systematic architectural surveys of all these military structures, using photogrammetry. In addition to studying the construction typology and techniques, the structural capacity of these towers has been analyzed. It examines how they have been affected by human and natural destructive forces, especially earthquakes, which are common in eastern Andalusia. Although all the historical military architecture is protected by the Spanish and Andalusian Heritage laws, many of these medieval towers and their cultural landscapes are in severe risk. The towers are being studied as individual specimens (emphasizing their differences) and as a unit in a typological group (looking for similarities and unifying characteristics). New technologies for Information and Communication are being used in order to disseminate the results among specialists and to make them available to the general public. Guidelines for restoration projects are also being formulated from the cases analyzed.

A GIS OF SARDINIA'S COASTAL DEFENSE SYSTEM (XVI – XVIII CENTURY)

Abstract. The use of GIS as a tool for archival, analysis and representation of geographic information has become significantly popular in many scientific fields that are directly concerned with the "territory" as their object of study. The field of application of GIS, however, has expanded also in other areas, such as those related to humanities and architecture, in which the territory is studied in an "indirect" mode because it constitutes a kind of substrate on which to develop a specific spatial analysis for particular purposes. Among these areas are to be included certainly archeology and restoration, fields in which the GIS has become a useful tool for historical studies. In this work we present a GIS developed for the study of the historical and territorial coastal defense system of Sardinia (16th – 18th century), in order to respond to the need to store, analyze and efficiently manage the information regarding cultural heritage and landscape heritage such as that consisting of the coastal defensive towers of Sardinia. This defensive system, in fact, was composed by over 100 towers positioned around the entire coastal perimeter of Sardinia, of which more than 90 still exist today. Their position was planned on the basis of the following criteria: - Warning the neighboring towers about the sighting of enemy ships - Protecting coasts located near the towns - Monitoring the water sources near the coast - Allowing for the full visibility of the coasts of any morphology With this study we also verified, through the use of high resolution and high accuracy DTM (LiDAR) and the topographic databases, whether the positioning criteria specified in the design of the system were respected and effective.

La huerta de Alicante y sus torres de defensa: propuesta de una ruta turística

La Huerta de Alicante y sus torres de defensa son un conjunto patrimonial que se podrían aprovechar para incorporar al mercado turístico de la ciudad de Alicante. Las torres de defensa son construcciones de los siglos XV-XVII que fueron utilizadas para que la población se refugiara ante los continuos ataques de piratas procedentes del Norte de África. En la actualidad, algunas de ellas han desaparecido o están en ruinas a pesar de estar declaradas Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC). El objetivo de esta investigación es promocionar la Huerta de Alicante y sus torres de defensa con la propuesta de una ruta turística.

Medieval Towers, or a Pre-History of the Louvre

Examining the initial construction of the Louvre as part of Philip Augustus’ program of fortifications in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century, this article examines texts depicting towers defending waterways and their possible influence on the architectural imaginary. The ninth-century monk Abbo’s Latin poem about Norse raids on Paris in 885-886 conveyed the importance of elevation and solid stone construction for defensive towers, and the need to protect the Seine from the northern threats. Twelfth-century romances such as the Roman d’Enéas and Partonopeus de Blois describe impressive towers ten times taller than the Louvre’s citadel, but whose proportions were strikingly similar.