Town Walls Research Articles

Inner perimeter of the town fortifications and its role in the townspace

The aim of the article is to trace changes in the development of the area of the former town fortifications as an example of space recycling and adapting the town to changing conditions. A case study was carried out of Wrocław, one of the few cities in Poland with an inner and outer perimeters of mediaeval fortifications. We used archaeological sources, architectural research, documents and iconography to reconstruct the changes in the urban plots created by the division of the fortification area. Town walls change function from the military objects through the workshops, residential buildings, gardens, roads, up to their demolition. The role of the inner moat is also described, with attention drawn to ecological aspects of its functioning. Efforts were made to determine the long-term impact of those transformations on the social structure and city development.

Changes and continuity in pottery production and use at Wujiafentou in the core zone of Youziling and Shijiahe cultures in central China

The Wujiafentou site is located at the heart of the Youziling (5900–5500 cal BP) and Shijiahe (4500–4200 cal BP) cultures in the Handong region, a core area to understand the relationship among economic networks, sociopolitical integration, and regional identity in the middle Yangtze River valley (MYRV) of central China during the Late Neolithic times. Its pottery assemblages are important clues to understanding the pottery production and use before and after the extensive walled town construction activities in the Neolithic MYRV. Wujiafentou is less than 5 km from the Shijiahe walled town, the largest city of its time in the MYRV. This paper applies microscopic examination and chemical and mineralogical analyses to a sample of 152 sherds of the Youziling-period and Shijiahe-period utilitarian vessels unearthed from the Wujiafentou site, revealing the changes and continuity in pottery production and use over time. We also probe into the socio-economic ties between Wujiafentou and the Shijiahe walled town mainly through hong tao bei (red clay cups), which were widely distributed and presumably highly symbolic items of the Shijiahe culture related to drinking, feasts, and rituals. We propose that the Wujiafentou inhabitants produced their red clay cups by mimicking those made within the Shijiahe walled town. Our study highlights an alternative interpretation of the formation of a regional identity during the Shijiahe period.

Households of Bohai Gorbatka walled town

The results of excavations on the territory of the Gorbatka walled town became the basis of the research into the economic activity of the early medieval population in the valley of the Ilistaya River (Primorye). The site represents the remains of a large administrative center of the Bohai state (698–926 AD). The purpose of the research is to clarify the role of households in the stable functioning of Gorbatka within the administrative-territorial system of Bohai for a long time. To implement a comprehen-sive study of the excavated dwellings and adjacent spaces, stratigraphic and planigraphic methods, the method of water flota-tion and separation were used, a geological survey was carried out, also botanical remains, bones of terrestrial mammals and fish, and mollusk shells were analyzed. The inhabitants of the households had diversified subsistence economy, in which the leading role belonged to agriculture. Hunting, fishing, collecting wild plants and shellfish, and home crafts (bone carving, wea-ving, woodworking, stone working, production of hand-made pottery) provided main resources needed for survival. Furthermore, the households specialized in non-ferrous metalworking, and possibly small-scale repair of iron products. However, the smelting of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and the production of wheel-made pottery took place in specialized workshops outside households. The lacking food (sea fish and shellfish, prestigious goods from other regions of Bohai) and non-food resources (imported goods) were arriving as a result of local, inter-regional and international exchanges. Planning domestic economic activities at home combined with the implementation of necessary public works during the economic year provided a relatively stable functio-ning of the walled town in the administrative-territorial system of the Bohai state. The town arranged the collection of taxes in households (in manufactured products) towards the central regions of the state and supervised the safety of trade routes.

Digging Up Jericho: Past, Present and Future

Digging Up Jericho: Past, Present and Future

At a Busy Place: The Development of Sluis as a Maritime Port in the Late 14th — Early 15th Centuries

This article considers the development of the Flemish town of Sluis, which served as a port for Bruges in the late fourteenth — early fifteenth centuries. The research of documentary and narrative sources (ordonnances of dukes of Burgundy Philip the Bold and John the Fearless, chronicles of Jean Froissart and Jean Cabaret d’Orville, and others) demonstrates significant changes that took place in Sluis during the period in question. In 1386, the town came under the direct rule of the Dukes of Burgundy, who decided to strengthen Sluis as a counterweight to the powerful and rebellious Bruges. As a result, a castle and fortifications around the town were constructed during the following years. Several new public buildings in its centre also changed the image of the town. At the time, the transshipment of goods from large seagoing ships to small barges that brought cargoes to Bruges mainly took place in Sluis. However, the continued restrictions imposed by Bruges prohibited selling goods destined for Bruges in Sluis. Consequently, the inhabitants of Sluis were to seek workarounds for their well-being. These included illegal trade, piracy, and smuggling. Maintaining order in the fast-growing port visited by numerous foreigners was a difficult task. Despite the ducal prohibitions, taverns emerged close to the castle and town walls where spirits were sold illegally and companies of soldiers as well as outlaws gathered. Some sources also show the involvement of the maritime bailiff of Sluis in dubious affairs (e.g., extorting bribes from fishermen). At the same time, Sluis had convenient conditions for the transshipment of goods, and foreign merchants could enjoy some privileges during their stay in the town, which made it more attractive for them.

나주읍성 동점문 성벽부재에 대한 암석학적 연구 및 산지 추정

This study is based on the mentorship course in CNU Science Education Institute For the Gifted. The Naju Eupseong Dongjeommun Gate, which was built in the Goryeo Dynasty, was restored in 2002, but a heterogeneous stone material that showed a significant difference from the original stone of the fortress wall, was used as the restoration stone. This study aims to clarify the difference between raw stones and restored stones by the investigation of the petrological features of the stone materials for the Naju Eupseong Dongjeommun Gate, and to estimate the provenances of the raw stones through the geologic survey. In addition, replacement stones that can be used for when the Naju Eupseong Dongdaemun Gate is renovated are presented. As a result of measured magnetic susceptibility and visual observation, the stone materials of the Naju Eupseong Dongjeommun Gate consist of granodiorite, and granite gneiss. Compared to the original stone, the restored stone is judged to be a granite, which shows a clear difference in the petrographical features such as the results of visual observation and the magnetic susceptibility. As a result of the geologic survey around Naju Eupseong Walled Town, the area of Geumseongsan Mountain in Naju is presumed to be the source of the original stones. Granite diorite is considered appropriate as a substitute stone if the restoration of Naju Eupseong Dongjeommun Gate is carried out.

In Roofs, Walls and Towers

This article deals with prehistoric stone objects called ‘thunderstones,’ which in the Middle Ages through modern times wereoften placed at the border points of houses and farm buildings (e.g., roofs, chimneys, walls, thresholds), as well as in town walls and other defence walls. It should be assumed that they were used as a magical means to protect areas considered to be controlled by humans (orbis interior) from threats posed by the outside world (orbis exterior). The clearly marked repetition of the same types of places in which these prehistoric stone objects were deposited (in areas places inhabited and used by humans) in many European regions indicates that this was a chronologically and territorially widespread phenomenon.

Attributing and Defining an Unbuilt 1859 Architectural Plan for the Site of Trogir’s Medieval Walls

This paper discusses the attribution of an anonymous and unbuilt 1859 plan for a four-storey apartment building with commercial spaces on the ground floor, located on the site of the old town walls in Trogir. It proposes Josip Slade as the architect of the plan, interpreting Slade’s architectural language and the development of his approach to architectural heritage. An analysis of the project in a historical socio-political and spatial context, moreover, supports the conclusion that this was intended as rental property, and this paper therefore offers insights into the first known example of the tenement housing building typology in the nineteenth-century Trogir

The topography of high medieval Nitra. New data concerning the topography of medieval towns in Slovakia

Nitra was one of the most important castle towns in the Kingdom of Hungary during the High Middle Ages between the 11th and 13th centuries. The results of existing research have not produced a uniform image of the town’s topography. Opinions among scholars differ especially concerning the location and extension of the extramural settlement. Archaeological excavations at the Tržnica and Mlyny locations raise the possibility that the extension of the extramural settlement was larger than the area later enclosed by the town walls. The reason behind such reduction could have been the decline of the town as a result of the devastating consequences of the Tatar invasion of Hungary in 1241.

From Canterbury to the Duero—An Early Example of Becket’s Martyrdom Iconography in the Kingdom of Castile

The church of San Miguel of Almazán (Soria, Spain) houses a twelfth-century antependium ornamented with scenes of Thomas Becket’s martyrdom. Discovered during restoration works in 1936, its origin and its original location are unknown. The aim of this article is twofold—to frame its manufacture chronologically in light of recent research on late-Romanesque sculpture in Castile, and to use this information to discover who commissioned this work: The bishops of Sigüenza, whose diocese included Almazán? The canons of the monastery of Allende Duero built at the foot of Almazán’s town wall? Or, as has always been claimed, the Castilian Monarchs Alfonso VIII and Eleanor of England, who were the chief promoters of the Becket cult in their dominions? Whatever the answer, this relief is one of the earliest examples of Canterbury saint iconography in the Crown of Castile.

Terremoti, calamità naturali, strategie di ricostruzione

Tema del saggio è la strategia di ricostruzione dopo il sisma in Italia Centrale dell’estate-autunno 2016. Dopo una ricognizione dei principali terremoti in Italia nel secolo scorso, da Messina, 1908, all’Emilia Romagna, 2012, il testo esamina il caso-studio del nucleo storico di Amatrice, borgo murato con insediamento di crinale di origine federiciano-angioina. A fronte della tabula rasa lasciata dal sisma, la ricostruzione ex-novo dell’intero borgo storico si scontra col problema, teorico e operativo, del conflitto tra “dov’era, com’era” e rischio di “falso storico”, che il saggio affronta sia in termini teorici che attraverso la verifica operativa del progetto di architettura.

Weapon injuries in the crusader mass graves from a 13th century attack on the port city of Sidon (Lebanon)

Archaeological excavations close to St Louis’ castle in Sidon, Lebanon have revealed two mass grave deposits containing partially articulated and disarticulated human skeletal remains. A minimum of 25 male individuals have been recovered, with no females or young children. Radiocarbon dating of the human remains, a crusader coin, and the design of Frankish belt buckles strongly indicate they belong to a single event in the mid-13th century CE. The skeletal remains demonstrate a high prevalence of unhealed sharp force, penetrating force and blunt force trauma consistent with medieval weaponry. Higher numbers of wounds on the back of individuals than the front suggests some were attacked from behind, possibly as they fled. The concentration of blade wounds to the back of the neck of others would be compatible with execution by decapitation following their capture. Taphonomic changes indicate the skeletal remains were left exposed for some weeks prior to being collected together and re-deposited in the defensive ditch by a fortified gateway within the town wall. Charring on some bones provides evidence of burning of the bodies. The findings imply the systematic clearance of partially decomposed corpses following an attack on the city, where adult and teenage males died as a result of weapon related trauma. The skeletons date from the second half of the Crusader period, when Christian-held Sidon came under direct assault from both the Mamluk Sultanate (1253 CE) and the Ilkhanate Mongols (1260 CE). It is likely that those in the mass graves died during one of these assaults.

A Door in Use in Tallinn Appeared to Be Over 600 Years Old

In a medieval tower in the Tallinn Old Town wall there is a woodeninternal door that was suspected of being rather old. The age of thedoor was determined using dendrochronology. It was possible tomeasure tree rings from the lower ends of the oak planks of the door.Matching the ring-width series with oak references from northernEurope revealed that the door was over 600 years old, and still inplace in medieval Bremen Tower in Tallinn, Estonia. The ring-widthseries of the door was most similar to oak chronology from theDaugava River. However, this does not mean that the door timbersoriginate from that region. At present, we do not possess Estonianoak chronologies extending back to that time. Thus, the provenanceof the oak for this door remains undecided. The dendrochronologicaldate of the door, AD 1394–1411, can be confirmed and can be narrowedby documentary evidence to AD 1400–1410.

In Search of Lost Fort in Puducherry

The fort and the fortified walled town that had never been seen before on the Indian East coast was in Puducherry during the early phase of French rule. Francois Martin had planned the town Pondichery and strengthened its defences. He constructed a great star-shaped fort called Fort St. Louis named after Louis XIV, after the plan of Vauban for the Tournai fort, was viewed as far stronger and all the way more secure and hoped that no one can destroy it. On August 25, 1706, the fort was inaugurated and then in 1745, the whole town was encircled with a fortified wall and moat. Between 1761 and 1770 the whole French town, fort and the fortified walls were razed down by the British army. Now the remains of the unconquered fort and town walls are not found anywhere in modern Puducherry. Jean Deloche made a major study to trace the early French Puducherry using records and maps. In January 2018, a team of History students from Tagore Government Arts and Science College under the direction of the author unearthed a part of the architecture of the lost fort in the heart of modern Puducherry town. This paper brings out a comprehensive summary of the archaeological fieldwork in search of French fort and fortified wall which encircled early Puducherry.

고려 중·후기 경주(慶州) 직할읍(直轄邑)의 도시 중심성

The direct controlled Eupchi under the control of Donggyeong-yusu was govened by conventional Eupsa(邑司) as well as other facilities that have not exsisted in ordinary administrative units. In the light of multiple facilities disposition and utilization of space within and without the direct controlled Eupchi, its urban centrality could be considred as overpolupation and concentration. In the direct controlled Eup, there was a various of bureaucrats coexisted for operation of administrative facilities. The people who inhabited always in Eup consisted of Eupsa, workers in governmental office, buddist monks of Samgang-jik, and kisaeng of the office(官妓). A majority of people affiliated to goverment has resided near the direct controlled Eup of Gyeongju until the late of Goryeo Dynasty. In addition, the direct controlled Eup of Gyeongju around were always bustling by visitiors for traveling and interaction. The Estern area in the direct controlled Eupchi of Gyeongju had a large land parcel area because governmental offices were located mostely in there. It seemse tp be the result of lot amalgamation. In the southern area, buidings were denselt and disorderedly constructed. It shows that lot subdivision was more carried on. The densive lot districbution patterin the southern area near the direct controlled Eupchi is based on governmental facilities and various infrastructure from the start of urban planning of Gyeionju. Bang, Myeon, Ri system was a measure to control overconcentration of population, building site and residence in the center area of the direct controlled Eup. In the last of Goreyo Dynasty sectionalization of Bang was under way within the direct controlled Eup. The direct controlled Eupchi of Gyeongju was diveded in 6 Bang on the basis of town wall gates of the four sides. Thereofore, the six bang(坊) consisted of Seongnaeband(城內坊), including the central official facilities, Jwaudoribang, and Hwangobang, at the east side of the gate, Seongnam and Hwangnambang at the southern side and Sajeongbang.

Fragments of an anarchic society: Kura-Araxes territorialization in the third millennium BC town at Tel Bet Yerah

ABSTRACT Neither a polity, nor a culture, nor an ethnicity in any strict sense, Kura-Araxes has been described as a ‘society against the state’, with an aversion to structures of economic and social centralization. What happens when such a society is thrown into an apparently dependent relationship with a settled urban population? This question is explored through the lens of Tel Bet Yerah/Khirbet el-Kerak, in the Jordan river valley, where a small diasporic Kura-Araxes community settled in abandoned spaces within a 25-hectare walled town, maintaining its corporate identity over a span of two or three generations.

The emergence of walled towns in prehistoric middle Yangtze River valley: Excavations at the Zoumaling site

Nineteen Neolithic earthen walled-towns have been discovered in the middle Yangtze River valley, seventeen of which were dated to the Lower or Upper Qujialing period (5500–4500 cal BP). Nowhere else in East Asia did so many man-built walled-towns exist at the time. The rise of walled-towns arguably coincided with emerging social complexity in the region, which leads some researchers to conclude a correlation between the two. However, inadequate discussion has been made on the topic (and especially how differentiation emerged and developed with town emergence in the region). To such an end, many first-hand data with enough details are needed.The present paper introduces recent excavations and discoveries at Zoumaling, one of the oldest earthen walled-towns in the middle Yangtze River valley of south China. Our data sheds light on the town's structure and layout, residential patterning, construction and occupation history, local subsistence economy, burial practice, and non-food production activities. A mode of local production and consumption seems clear for the sedentary, agriculture-based Qujialing communities at the walled-town site. The labor investment in walled-town construction was beyond the capability of self-sufficient households and could have been achieved mostly if not all by corporate groups. Within the walled-town, a few households achieved higher status or greater wealth (or both) and they might have obtained leadership or wealth in walled-town construction and maintenance. Further studies of household assemblages at the Zoumaling walled-town, as well as comparisons with contemporaneous walled-towns elsewhere, are needed to elaborate how interhousehold differences related to town emergence and contributed to the formation of social differentiation.

Dams, moats, and cities: climate and societies in late-Holocene China

Whilst the late-Holocene climate was becoming drier with an increasing number of climatic anomalies, with notably more frequent fluctuations in summer rainfall on an annual or decadal scale, many walled sites or cities emerged and became regional centres that witnessed population agglomeration and technological flowering. To feed their growing populations and their increasing demands on land, water, food, and other resources, these �cities� were drawn closer physically to riverine environments and wetlands. By diversifying and intensifying their subsistence strategies, and constructing infrastructure on a colossal scale, these late-Holocene walled towns or cities also fundamentally transformed their local landscapes. Examining key sites from the Huai river and the Yangtze Delta, this paper will compare the dynamic interactions between society, landscape, and the environment under different socio-economic conditions across different regions of late-Holocene China and investigate how these factors influenced and led to the emergence of complex societies or early states.

ACTIONS FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF HERITAGE. THE CASE OF THE TOWN WALLS OF MORELLA (CASTELLÓN, SPAIN)

Abstract. Morella is an archetypical medieval town that is home to many heritage buildings, protected by fortified walls and crowned by an imposing castle. Located in a mountainous area, this town is one of only four examples in the Valencian Region (Spain) that retain the entire defence perimeter. This defence heritage has been decisive not only in shaping the urban layout of the town, but also in the local lifestyle and traditions of the place: living inside the walls means being protected from the weather, but also inhabiting a limited environment and having social and cultural connotations. The process of enhancing the value of heritage buildings involves studying, analysing and understanding the elements they are made up of with the aim of proposing new uses based on their significance, their characteristics, the environment and social needs. To address this objective, the present work has carried out an architectural analysis of each of the towers and gates of the town walls, which has made it possible to study their characteristics and detect the potential for the interpretation of the heritage buildings in each section. The result is the ‘Walls Walking Tour’, a proposal for a public visit that divides the walled perimeter of Morella into five thematic areas that each offers different types of routes, activities and relationships with the environment. In short, this initiative contributes to the enhancement and cultural diffusion of Morella's defence heritage, and brings buildings and their history closer both to the local population and to visitors.

Landscape Areas within Fortified Medieval-Renaissance

The research was focused on determining the types of landscape areas within the fortifications of medieval-Renaissance towns based on the use and the criteria for their valorisation and enhancement. Twenty-six Mediterranean and west European towns were analysed. Nine types of landscape areas and seven valorisation criteria have been determined. Three current approaches to the use of landscape areas within the town walls have been recognised.