Archaeological Informatics - Pushing the Envelope Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology CAA 2001 International Conference April 25-29, 2001. Gotland University College Visby, Gotland, Sweden Accepted for the proceedings volume of the conference Ancient Mantineia’s Defence Network Reconsidered Through a GIS Approach S. Topouzi1, A. Sarris2, Y. Pikoulas3, S. Mertikas4, X. Frantzis5, A. Giourou6 2 1. Laboratory of Geophysical - Satellite Remote Sensing & Archaeo-environment, Institute of Mediterranean Studies – Foundation of Research & Technology (F.O.R.T.H.), Melissinou & Nik. Foka 130, PO. Box 119, GR-74100 Rethymnon, Crete, Greece, phone: +30831-56627, fax: +30831-25810, e-mail: [email protected], or [email protected] 2. Laboratory of Geophysical - Satellite Remote Sensing & Archaeo-environment, Institute of Mediterranean Studies – Foundation of Research & Technology (F.O.R.T.H.), Melissinou & Nik. Foka 130, PO. Box 119, GR-74100 Rethymnon, Crete, Greece, phone: +30831-56627, fax: +30831-25810, e-mail: [email protected] 3. Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology, University of Thessaly, Argonafton & Filellinon str., GR- 38221 Volos, Greece, phone : +30421-74000 or National Hellenic Research Foundation (N.H.R.F.), Vas. Konstantinou 48, GR-11635 Athens, Greece, phone : +301-7273678, fax: +301-7234145, e-mail: [email protected] 4. Laboratory of Geodesy & Geomatics Engineering, Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, Crete, Greece, phone: +30821-37429, fax: +30821-37476, e-mail: [email protected] 5. Laboratory of Geodesy & Geomatics Engineering, Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, Crete, Greece, phone: +30821-37429, fax: +30821-37476, e-mail: [email protected] 6. Laboratory of Geophysical - Satellite Remote Sensing & Archaeo-environment, Institute of Mediterranean Studies – Foundation of Research & Technology (F.O.R.T.H.), Melissinou & Nik. Foka 130, PO. Box 119, GR-74100 Rethymnon, Crete, Greece, phone: +30831-56627, fax: +30831-25810, e-mail: [email protected]. 3 Abstract Ancient Mantineia, located in the centre of Peloponnese, Greece, consists of an almost 4Km in length elliptical fortification wall containing 10 gates and 126 towers. Since the 19th century, a number of watchtowers have been located at the surrounding slopes of the Mantineian plain and the existence of a defensive network has been suggested. GIS analysis has been used specifically for studying the defensive network of the ancient settlement and its potential coverage. The gates of the fortification walls and the watchtowers were mapped through high precision GPS units. These data were superimposed on a DEM created by the digitization of 20m elevation lines covering a region of 1000 Km2. Geological maps, aerial and SPOT satellite imagery were also incorporated to the GIS analysis. Viewshed analysis was performed in order to determine the extent and degree of intervisibility between the watchtowers situated in the nearby hills and mountains and the gates of the city walls. The data were correlated to the results of previous surface surveys that had located ancient roads and paths. Cumulative viewshed analysis was also employed to suggest the number of the defence constructions that were able to control a specific area. In this way, a thematic map of the potential defensive region has been created, suggesting either possible gaps or candidate archaeological sites that may have been used to complete the defence system of the region. The results of the analysis were superimposed on a SPOT Panchromatic image draped on the 3D DEM. Finally, a fly-over simulation in the area of interest was produced serving as a visual verification of the above analysis. Keywords: Mantineia, defence network, GIS, GPS, viewshed analysis. 1. Introduction – Aim of the study The technological advancement of computers has proved to be of great help in Archaeology. New methods and technologies improve and upgrade the traditional approaches in archaeological research. Upgraded computer systems have been systematically used for 4 image processing, creation of databases, multi-variable analyses of archaeological and environmental data, three-dimensional modeling and virtual reality. During the last years, Geographic Information Systems, designed to collect, store and analyze objects and phenomena with a geographic variable, have been widely used in archaeological applications. Such an application is the study of the Ancient Mantineia’s defence network, in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece (Topouzi, et al 2000). Ancient Mantineia, located in the center of Peloponnese, Greece, consists of an almost 4Km in length elliptical fortification wall containing 10 gates and 126 towers. Since the 19th century, a number of watchtowers have been located at the surrounding slopes of the Mantineian plain (Loring 1895; Fougères 1898; Lattermann H., 1913; Frazer 1965) and the existence of a defensive network has been suggested (Pikoulas 1990-1; 1995). The term “network” suggests a carefully planned defensive system, consisted of watchtowers with intervisibility between one another. Such intervisibility must also exist between the watchtowers and the city’s fortification walls. Previous studies have not been able to identify the effectiveness and extent of this defensive network. Performing a viewshed analysis based on the digital elevation model of the area was considered as the appropriate method to provide some complementary information regarding the type and structure of this network. A number of other analyses, such as slope and aspect, were performed in addition to the viewshed analysis. In the future, the corresponding results could be used in order to create a predictive model, capable to suggest new, unknown until now, archaeological sites. 5 2. The study area – The defensive structures The ancient city of Mantineia was located within three valleys of central Arcadia, Peloponnese, and was surrounded by mountains. The elevation varies from 624m to 640m. Habitation in the area begun during the Early Helladic period. During the early historical years, Mantineia is divided in 5 demes (Strabo, VIII 3.2), the names of whom are not known. The classical city bears two chronological phases, one before 385 B.C., when it was destroyed by Agissipolis, king of Sparta, and one after 370 B.C., when it was reconstructed. The remnants of the city’s fortification walls belong to the second phase. They consist of a stone foundation, built according to the irregular polygonal masonry system, over which a brick wall, now destroyed, was raised. The walls’ shape is elliptical, having a perimeter of 3942m. The N-S axis measures 1349m and the E-W axis measures 1087m. According to G. Fougères (Fougères 1898), the walls had 126 almost equally spaced towers and 10 gates (fig.1). From each gate a road started, connecting Mantineia with its neighboring cities. Five watchtowers (fig.1) and a small fortress lie at the surrounding slopes. The watchtowers are similar to one another, built from local limestone according to the irregular polygonal masonry system. Their dimensions are almost 5×5m and it has been suggested that they should have been about 8m in height (Pikoulas 1990 – 1). The small fortress of the town Nestani is built of the same material and masonry system. All of them control important road passes. 6 Figure 1 : One of the gates of Mantineia’s walls (left) and the watchtower of St. Tryphon (right) 3. Methodology of the GIS construction The methodology used to create the specific GIS project consisted of the following steps : Digitization, GPS positioning, Digital Elevation Model Construction, Remote Sensing, Georeference and Database Construction. 3.1 Digitization The 20m elevation contours, datum points, roads, rivers, wells, modern settlements and the railroad network were digitized from 84 topographic maps of the Greek Army Geographic Service (scale 1:5000). The Root Mean Square (RMS) error was kept under 0.005, providing a very good accuracy in the digital transformation of the maps. The total area covered by the topographic maps was nearly 1000 km2. In addition two geological maps (scale 1: 50000) were digitized and a database containing the geological formations was constructed. A geological formation (attribute), represented by a different color and pattern, was assigned to every closed polygon. 3.2 GPS positioning All the defensive constructions were accurately positioned using two sub-cm accuracy Global Positioning System units. During the five days of fieldwork, static relative geodetic 7 positioning was used for mapping the architectural monuments of the region. The technique involved the placement of a continuous tracking receiver at a fixed and known position and the use of a second rover receiver for measuring at the sites of interest. The coordinates of the base receiver were determined with high accuracy by measuring to GPS satellites for a period of one hour at a nearby army datum point. The data from the roving receiver were corrected by comparing computed pseudoranges of the base station with the measured pseudoranges from the rover receiver. The coordinates of the four corners of each watchtower were determined (fig.2). One point was chosen for each gate of the city’s walls in order to position them on the walls’ digitized plan (fig.3). A total of 38 points were established, including the army datum points. Processing of the