Sites and Sight Lines: An Investigation of Intervisibility Among Hilltop Sites in Azerbaijan

Summary

Most archaeology takes as its primary unit of focus the archaeological site. Yet sites did not exist in isolation: interactions between sites, and between people and the surrounding landscape, were also an important component of ancient societies. These interactions were social, political, military, and/or ritual, and investigating the use of landscape provides archaeologists with a means to understand larger-scale processes such as growth and expansion of urban centers.

One way of looking at interactions between sites involves an examination of intervisibility. In open regions such as the Near East, sites were often located on natural or man-made hills with a commanding view of the landscape and of other sites. This high visibility could be used for defense against approaching enemies, to facilitate communication, and to create social unity. This project examines a group of eight Early Iron Age hilltop sites in the Naxçivan region of Azerbaijan. Using GIS analysis, I demonstrate the role that visibility played in the location of these sites and in their interaction with the surrounding landscape. This information, in turn, can be combined with survey and excavation data to provide a better understanding of urban development in this region.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage