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Baffles and Bastions: The Universal Features of Fortifications

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Journal of Archaeological Research Aims and scope

Abstract

This article discusses several universal features of fortifications and distinguishes those features that are unequivocally military in function. The evidence adduced includes the features of known historic fortifications, relevant prescriptions by ancient military authors, and geometry. The archaeologically visible features that are universally used in military defenses are V-sectioned ditches, “defended” (especially baffled) gates, and bastions. It is also noted that ritual, ceremonial, or any other peaceful activities conducted within an enclosure having these architectural features does not preclude its obvious military function.

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Acknowledgments

We are especially grateful to our four anonymous referees and this journal's editors who all found merit in our work but also had many reasonable questions about and criticisms of it. We have tried to answer or at least address their critical questions, which we recognize many other archaeologists would share. To the extent we have succeeded, the praise is theirs; all remaining failures are our own. We thank our UIC colleagues Brian Bauer, Shannon Freeman, Mark Golitko, Rahul Oka, and Joseph Szymczak for providing references and examples. The U.S. National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the University of Illinois at Chicago have funded our various individual archaeological researches on fortifications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology (MC 027), University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 West Harrison Street, Room 2102, Chicago, IL, 60607-7139, USA

    Lawrence H. Keeley, Marisa Fontana & Russell Quick

Authors
  1. Lawrence H. Keeley
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  2. Marisa Fontana
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  3. Russell Quick
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lawrence H. Keeley.

Additional information

Databases available online at http:/www.uic.edu/depts/anth/faculty/Keeley.html

Database 1: Data and Sources for Selected Defensive Gates.

Database 2: Codified Data on Bastion Spacing.

Appendices

Appendix A. Defensive vs. other function ditches

The volume of any regular ditch is simply its cross-sectional area multiplied by its length. Thus, any ditches of the same cross-sectional area would, more or less, require the same amount of human labor to excavate and/or carry the same volume of water. In the table below, several ditch forms with the same cross-sectional area (A, arbitrarily set at 12) are compared, assuming the same substrate and length.

The ideal defensive ditch should be the hardest to jump or bridge (i.e., widest at the surface, largest B) and most difficult to climb out of (i.e., deepest, largest C) for a standard labor cost of construction (i.e., cross-sectional area A). Thus, defensive ditches should have the greatest depths and surface widths for a given cross-sectional area. In the table below, the most defensively useful ditch forms are those with the highest B + C values.

Irrigation ditches must convey water. The greater their surface exposure (B), the greater their loss of water by evaporation. The greater the circumference (D) of an irrigation ditch's bottom and sides, the greater the area subject to erosion. Thus, the ideal irrigation ditch would expose the least surface and the least circumference for a given cross-sectional area. In the table below, the optimal irrigation ditch cross sections are those with the lowest B + D values.

As evaporation is not a problem for drainage ditches, they need only to minimize their circumference subject to erosion (D) per a cross-sectional area. In the table below, the most efficient cross section for drainage ditches are those with the lowest D values.

Spoil ditches should minimize both their surface width (B) and depth (C) for a given cross-sectional area (A) to minimize hauling and lifting. In the table below, the most easily excavated spoil ditches are those with the lowest B + C values (underlined).

 

Cross section

A b

B a

C

D

B + C

B + D

Triangle: isoscelesa

12

6

4

10

10.0

16.0

Triangle: equilateral

12

5.26

4.56

10.52

9.82

15.78

Semicirculara

12

5.53

2.76

8.67

8.29

14.2

Trapezoid-shallowa

12

5

3

9.32

8.0

14.32

Trapezoid-deepa

12

4

4

10.24

8.0

14.24

Ua

12

3.67

3.67

9.43

7.34

13.1

Rectangle: shallowa

12

4

3

10

7.0

14.0

Rectangle: deep

12

3

4

11

7.0

14.0

Square

12

3.47

3.47

10.38

6.94

13.85

  1. Note. A = area; B = surface; C = depth; D = circumference.
  2. aMaximum width on surface.
  3. bAny unit of measure (feet, meters, cubits, etc.) squared; 12 used for ease of computation.

The ideal cross sections for defensive ditches would be triangular, for irrigation ditches either U or square, for drainage ditches semicircular or shallow trapezoidal, and spoil trenches rectangular or square. The ideal forms of a water-carrying ditch for both irrigation and drainage (i.e., lowest B + C + D values) would be semicircular and U-sectioned. The most naturally stable cross sections of stream channels are semicircular or shallow trapezoidal (B. Gladfelter, personal communication, 2000; Leopold et al., 1964, pp. 200–202; Longwell et al., 1969, pp. 190–191, 197). In short, V-sectioned ditches have the optimal geometry for defense but are poorly suited for any other function.

Appendix B. Codes for database 2

  1. A.

    NAME OF SITE

  2. B.

    DATE:

  • − (negative) B.C. (B.C.E.)

  • + (positive) A.D. (C.E.)

  1. C.

    BASTION INTERVAL (average, in meters). Measurements were from bastion center to bastion center on copier-enlarged plans. Excluded were the short intervals between bastions immediately flanking gates and other extremely irregularly spaced intervals. These latter were usually defended by other means, i.e., natural barriers (i.e., steep slopes, water, swamps) or other human-made but bastionless barriers (i.e., saw-toothed and inset-outset walls), or they were the artifacts of limited excavation and/or later destruction.

  2. D.

    NUMBER OF BASTION INTERVALS MEASURED.

  3. E.

    MAXIMUM BASTION INTERVAL (in meters).

  4. F.

    MINIMUM BASTION INTERVAL (in meters).

  5. G.

    FORTIFICATION CATEGORIES:

    1. a.

      Settlement Defense 1: only or first (i.e., most exterior of several) defense works of a settlement, whether a village, town, or city.

    2. b.

      Settlement Defense 2: second (more interior) defense works of a settlement, only if a third line of defense (category C) exists.

    3. c.

      Citadel/Acropolis/Urban Castle: a settlement's innermost defense works (if others exist); these often defend the most important religious structures and/or the residences of the highest elites.

    4. d.

      Castle/Fortified Palace: isolated (i.e., with little or no settlement outside their enceintes) elite residence.

    5. e.

      Outpost: fortified frontier military and/or trading post at or beyond a society's borders.

    6. f.

      Fort: a military installation within a society's borders and shorelines, usually at a strategic location.

    7. g.

      Other: temporary field fortification, strategic barrier, e.g., limes, “dikes”; their comparable features were not bastions but watchtowers. (Only one of these was included here, e.g., a short section of the Great Wall of China; because it was the sole example in this sample, it was placed in category E).

  6. H.

    LENGTH OF CONSTRUCTED ENCEINTE (in meters). Includes all constructed defenses whether bastioned or not.

  7. I.

    DEFENDED AREA (in hectares). Includes areas defended by natural features.

  8. J.

    PRINCIPAL DEFENSE WEAPONS (ranked by effective range).

  1. 1.

    Handthrown rocks, javelins, and sling stones.

  2. 2.

    All the above plus the self-bow.

  3. 3.

    All the above plus the composite bow (includes medieval longbow).

  4. 4.

    All the above plus the handheld and small stationary crossbows.

  5. 5.

    All the above plus large immobile catapults and ballistae.

  6. 6.

    Smooth-bore cannon and muskets.

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Keeley, L.H., Fontana, M. & Quick, R. Baffles and Bastions: The Universal Features of Fortifications. J Archaeol Res 15, 55–95 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-006-9009-0

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