Modern Age Fortification Research Papers (original) (raw)

El Castillo se ubica en la ensenada de La Herradura, en el Término Municipal de Almuñécar (Granada). Fue construido como parte de las mejoras en la defensa de la costa del antiguo Reino de Granada realizadas durante el reinado de Carlos III. Su denominación original era Batería para cuatro cañones de La Herradura, realizándose como desarrollo del Reglamento de 1764, siguiendo un proyecto tipo de José Crame, habiéndose finalizado en el año 1771.
Se analiza el sistema defensivo de la ensenada desde la aparición de los primeros restos arqueológicos así como las distintas etapas y vicisitudes por las que ha pasado el castillo. Se hace un estudio crítico de las intervenciones realizadas en las otras siete baterías contemporáneas conservadas en las provincias de Málaga, Granada y Almería. Finalmente, se exponen los criterios y características del proyecto de restauración.

- by Xeni Simou
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- Ottoman Fortifications, Ottoman Morea, Modern Age Fortification
- by Per-Ole Pohl
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- Fortifications, Fortresses, Festungen, Modern Age Fortification

The coast of the Kingdom of Granada was a border of importance in Nasrid times and it was also a zone to be protected after the Castilian conquest, mostly against piracy. To control the sea, the successive rulers would build a system of fortresses and watchtowers. The objective of this paper is to apply spatial analysis to the defense system of the southern coasts of Granada and Almeria from the fifteenth to seventeenth century, focusing in its evolution. To achieve this objective, we will use historical documentation and archaeological record as main data for the spatial analysis carried out by a GIS software, mainly visibility and distribution. With this approach we expect to add new insights to this topic and stablish a base for further research and comparison with other neighboring areas of the Kingdom of Granada.

- by Jorge Rouco Collazo
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- Archaeology, Spatial Analysis, Medieval Studies, Medieval Archaeology

Documented for the first time in 1290, during King Ladislaus IV the
Cuman (1272–1290), the city of Caransebeș was one of the important commercial centers in the northern part of the Middle Danube during the Middle Ages. Until the Ottoman conquest in the seventeenth century, it is known as a city belonging to the Wallachian nobles. In 1688 it was freed by general Veterani, during the reign of Emperor Leopold I (1658–1705).
The archaeological research performed inside the fortified city begun in the fall of 2016. It consisted of a rescue excavation in the area of the north-eastern precinct. Our fieldwork was facilitated in the first phase by the existence of several plans dated from the seventeenth century. The archaeological research in Caransebeș was performed on a private property, located on Potocului street. In the Middle Ages, this garden was part of the territory of the fortified city. The research had to be performed according to the partly sloping layout of the land. On the plan of the medieval city, the property is located in the central-western area.
A partly dismantled wall, with a base thickness of 2.20 m, was identified in S.1/2017 and in the Surface 1/2017. Beyond this area, a street with the width of 4.80 m, made of river stones, was identified. To the west of it there is an inclined pavement made of river stones of varying sizes, over a length of 1.70 m, which form to the end a ditch along with another inclined pavement whose length is 2.00 m. In the Surface 2/2017, immediately below the arable land, to the east, a cluster of chaotically disposed river stones was identified. Below them there was a pavement made of river stone. In same cassette and in the Surface 3/2017
have been discovered few overlapped dwellings with large quantity of iron.

- by Silviu Oţa
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- Medieval urban history, Medieval Archaeology, Medieval fortification, Medieval town

The ancient walls of Sorrento represent only a small portion of a much larger fortification that has marked the history of the city since its foundation. The first defensive fence of the tuff terrace was closely linked to the Roman penetration in the Sarno valley. Over the centuries, the fortification has undergone significant changes, starting with the construction of towers to defend the city gates in the Middle Ages until the intervention on the south side in 1558 sponsored by the Spanish viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo after the Saracen invasion and accomplished by the engineer Pedro Trevigno. The project determined the rebuilding of the southern curtain and the addition of four bastions – one cuneiform and three flat – closely adapted to the orographic characteristics of the perimeter. This portion of the fortification is the only surviving part to the significant urban transformations that affected the city since the nineteenth century.

During the Portuguese War of Restoration (1640–1668), a series of fortifications were built along the Spanish-Portuguese border. The archaeological study of these sites combines different disciplines (landscape archaeology, archaeology of architecture, geospatial technologies, and documentary studies), with the aim of recovering the record of an ancient fortified landscape. This project revealed the construction of a number of small fortifications around the fortress of San Luís Gonzaga (Valença, Portugal), most of which disappeared after the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668. In the area of Campos (Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal), we were able to document what was probably a Modern Age fortification by analysing historic aerial photography, despite the recent construction of an industrial estate. It was also located inside a larger, square structure, which we identified as a possible Roman camp. In this paper, we discuss both fortifications, the methodological process that was developed in order to identify and study them, their possible interpretation, and how they interact with each other.

- by João Fonte and +3
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- Historical Archaeology, Remote Sensing, Landscape Archaeology, Roman Army