A System of Defence? The Functions of Early Bronze Age Fortifications of the Southern Levant

The Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant was a period of immense change and developing complexity. One of the greatest transformations of this period was the erection, maintenance and modification of fortifications systems characterised by circum-settlement walls and additional elements such as towers, gates and bastions. While fortifications are almost always referred to in academic works on the period, a more focused investigation of them is needed. Also the recent focus on ascribing a non-military socio-symbolic function has resulted in confusion and varying views as to the actual function(s) of such fortification systems in the Early Bronze Age, which remains largely undefined and a matter ongoing debate. Why were they built? This paper serves to address this by investigating the primary function(s) of Early Bronze Age fortifications. This has been undertaken foremost via a contextual examination of a selected sample of Early Bronze Age fortification systems found at various...Show moreThe Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant was a period of immense change and developing complexity. One of the greatest transformations of this period was the erection, maintenance and modification of fortifications systems characterised by circum-settlement walls and additional elements such as towers, gates and bastions. While fortifications are almost always referred to in academic works on the period, a more focused investigation of them is needed. Also the recent focus on ascribing a non-military socio-symbolic function has resulted in confusion and varying views as to the actual function(s) of such fortification systems in the Early Bronze Age, which remains largely undefined and a matter ongoing debate. Why were they built? This paper serves to address this by investigating the primary function(s) of Early Bronze Age fortifications. This has been undertaken foremost via a contextual examination of a selected sample of Early Bronze Age fortification systems found at various sites across the Southern Levant – to ascertain whether they are indicative of (or at least consistent with), superfluous to or indeed compromising to a pattern of military architecture. This has been supplemented by other lines of evidence such as the presence of weapons, destructions, human remains and textual and artistic material. While alone these are often ambiguous correlates, their sum in combination with the specific analysis of the elements of the actual fortification systems at the selected sites supports the conclusion the primary function for Early Bronze Age fortifications in the Southern Levant was a military one. Other socio-economic functions of these fortifications have also been identified though these were secondary and did not compromise the defensive integrity of the whole system.Show less

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A System of Defence? The Functions of Early Bronze Age Fortifications of the Southern Levant