Application of Architectural Energetics Models to the Iron Age Tumuli of Bin Tepe in Lydia, Western Turkey

Summary

This poster presents a study that applies an architectural energetics model to around 140 monumental earthen burial mounds located in an area known as Bin Tepe (the "Thousand Mounds") in western Turkey, which served as the burial ground for Iron Age Lydian rulers and elites. Using measurements obtained from ground survey and aerial reconnaissance, volumetric figures for each of the tumuli are calculated to determine the amounts of building materials necessary to construct each tumulus. These parameters are entered into an architectural energetics model, based on similar models from other parts of the world, which assigns to each step of the construction process a time and labor cost according to available technologies and resources. The outputs of this model are given as quantitative minimum and maximum ranges for how much building material, labor power, and time would be required per mound, per mound cluster, and for all known tumuli in Bin Tepe. Such a study is a useful and necessary step to moving beyond treating tumuli as indistinguishable points on a map, towards considering them as varied and individual investments of material, labor, and time that reflect social differences in the society that constructed them.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage