Preserving the Periphery: GIS Recording and Analysis of the Roman Kastra of Kalymnos, Greece (15 min)

Presenters

Drosos Kardulias, University of Michigan; P. Nick Kardulias, University of Michigan; Elliot Greiner, University of Michigan; and India Pruette, University of Michigan

Abstract

This report examines three seventh-century Roman kastra on the Greek island of Kalymnos to elucidate the dynamics of the island’s fortification scheme as a component of the empire’s defensive strategy, through a balance of GIS analysis and extensive ground-truthing/informal pedestrian survey.

GIS analysis of three Roman fortifications attempts to elucidate ancient inhabitants’ responses to conflict, including priorities of topographic selection, degrees of autonomy/influence from the broader empire, battlefield dynamics, and tactical aspects of community self-defense. GIS methodology such as viewsheds and cost-path analyses are contextualized within the principles of contemporary warfare, and then tested against conditions on the ground. This study has implications for the maintenance of imperial hegemony through the self-preservation actions of subjects, threat responses in insular communities, the ways in which communities can survive cyclical violence, and the tactical details of a civilian populace’s response to armed incursions.

This presentation on the second season of field work will include invaluable new spatial data, the first such high-precision work undertaken at these sites. The focuses of this season are tracking resources acquisition and defensive positions, both within the settlements themselves, and in the furthest, unsurveyed parts of the island. This information brings us closer to understanding the defensive network of Kalymnos, and from there the Aegean islands.