Visibility Graph Analysis and Monumentality in the Iron Age City at Kerkenes in Central Turkey

Bibliographic Data

ID11074293
AuthorsJames F Osborne (Brown University, corresponding author), Geoffrey D Summers (Koç University)
Year2014
Volume39
Issue3
Pages292-309
Publication date2014-08-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Field Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0093-4690 • E-ISSN: 2042-4582
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1179/0093469014z.00000000089
OpenAlexW2094543416
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited53

This paper investigates symmetry and visualization at two monumental gateways excavated in the late 7th–6th centuries b.c. Phrygian city on Mount Kerkenes (Turkish: Kerkenes Dağ) in central Turkey. One of these, the Cappadocia Gate, is one of seven city gates piercing the 7 km stone-built defenses; the other is the Monumental Entrance to the Palatial Complex. We use visibility graph analysis (VGA), a branch of space syntax analysis, and viewshed isovists to demonstrate that a similar visual and symbolic conception underlay the design and furnishing of these two gates. Both were conceived to signal different messages to people entering and exiting the gates, and both manipulated the visibility of cultic statuary to achieve this effect. Other contemporaneous monuments, like the Midas Monument in the Phrygian Highlands, shared many of the same principles. VGA reveals fundamental characteristics of the experience of Phrygian monumental architecture and also indicates a degree of city planning

Altar · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Byzantine architecture · Cartography · Destinations · Geography · Linguistics · Pilgrimage · Space (punctuation) · Space syntax · Tourism · Turkish · Viewshed analysis · Visibility · Visibility graph · Visual arts · Architecture · Computer Science · History · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Mathematics · Public Spaces through Art · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis

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