THE ENSEMBLE OF FORTIFICATIONS FROM COSTEȘTI– BLIDARU: A VISIBILITY STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14795/jaha.12.1.2025.1226Keywords:
Dacian fortresses, isolated towers, defensive system, visibility, Costești–BlidaruAbstract
The aim of the following study was to analyse the components of the fortification ensemble from Costești–Blidaru (the fortress with enclosures I and II, and the 17 isolated towers), by performing viewshed type visibility simulations, based on the LAKI II Digital Terrain Model. In an effort to establish the functionality of each component, the following aspects were taken into consideration: (1) the surrounding landscape's level of visibility, (2) the visibility of the other fortified positions, of terraces, roads and cisterns from the vicinity. The results show that visibility from the fortress is good in general, but imperfect. A large section of today’s access paths leading to the fortress, as well as the presumably ancient roads from the vicinity, should theoretically be visible, but not the same can be said of the other potential access paths, the unconventional ones, and normally practicable to a lesser extent. The majority of ancient terraces from within the region should likewise be visible from the fortress, but likely not all. With these shortcomings in mind, the majority of isolated towers may have supported the fortress to a greater or lesser extent however, by providing visibility input from their respective positions. The towers, which were located in various key-positions, may have played a role in surveillence, by watching over those terraces that can be impossible to see from the fortress, or by monitoring the unconventional access paths. The towers may have played signalling roles too, given the theoretical possibility of there having been direct visual links between the fortress and at least the majority of towers, but also in-between them. In some cases, the fortified positions may have also played an important role in controlling and defending the conventional access paths, as they were located in their close proximity. The towers may also have been symbols of power and prestige, just like the fortress, but on a smaller scale. On the other hand, functionally speaking, these fortified positions appear very much like potentially interdependent outposts, built in support of the fortress, and they seem to have formed together its defensive system. It is a complex system, apparently well conceived, adapted to the local terrain conditions, and it seems to reflect the importance Costești–Blidaru fortress would have had, in close relation to Costești–Cetățuia and, especially, to Grădiștea de Munte (Sarmizegetusa Regia).
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