sehepunkte 24 (2024), Nr. 7/8

Hans Lohmann: Teichos: Vom endneolithischen Wehrdorf zum spätosmanischen Tambouri

Over the past 15 years, Greek fortification studies have witnessed an increasing interest in regional approaches, with a growing number of publications on fortifications in specific parts of the Greek world. [1] Paradoxically, H. Lohmann's Teichos is both one of the latest examples of this tend and a forerunner of the field. As outlined in chapter 1, Teichos builds on several decades of research, starting with Lohmann's studies in southwest Attica in the 1980s and continuing in the 1990s with the project "Attische Festungen". The result is a detailed documentation and discussion of more than 50 fortifications - an impressive achievement, especially as many were recorded before GPS, GIS, or drone photography were available.

Teichos focuses on large defensive structures (e.g. refuges, forts, or fortified settlements), leaving the discussion of "towers" to the planned companion volume Pyrgos. As H. Lohmann sadly passed away in December 2023, the future of Pyrgos is uncertain.

Teichos begins with two introductory sections. Chapter 1 outlines the monograph's research background, chapter 2 offers a brief introduction to past studies on Attica's topography (with the exception of early travellers' accounts), the region's fortifications, and Greek fortified structures in general. Chapter 2 also provides a summary of the field's most pressing research questions (e.g. issues of function, chronology, and historical context).

The next seven chapters follow a chronological structure. A wealth of plans and photographs are provided in the text, an overall map of all sites discussed as a fold-out. The first chronological section (chapter 3) focuses on fortifications of the Late Neolithic and the Chalcolithic, which may have appeared due to increased pressure on natural resources by a growing population. Chapter 4 turns to the Bronze Age, arguing for a level of continuity between the Late Neolithic and the Early Helladic, a hiatus at the beginning of the Middle Helladic, and the creation of new fortifications at or just after the end of this period. The chapter furthermore suggest that in the period Late Helladic IIA or B these sites were replaced by Athens as a regional centre.

Chapter 5 reassess Attica's supposed Early Iron Age fortifications and suggests that only the fortifications at Karagufoleza and at Eleusis can be dated prior to the Persian Wars. The evidence for Athens' Archaic city walls is also discussed, concluding that they are attested in literary sources, but not archaeologically identifiable.

Chapter 6 is the most substantial section of the monograph. Focusing on the 5th and the 4th centuries BC, individual sites are presented according to a "functional typology", which groups Attica's rural fortifications into the categories of fortified urban sub-centres, fortified settlements and villages, refuges, border fortifications, forts, linear defences, extraterritorial fortifications, naval bases, epiteichismata, and (briefly) watch- and signal-towers. At first glance, this structure seems problematic, but on closer inspection it becomes clear that the sites' categorisation stems from a meticulous, balanced, and dispassionate assessment of the remains on the ground. Overall, this assessment is convincing, as are the proposed chronologies. Building on the discussion of the individual sites, chapter 5 persuasively argues that Attica's rural fortifications do not represent a coherent system [2], but a collection of gradually constructed sites with specific and often local defensive functions.

Chapter 7 turns to Attica's Hellenistic fortifications. It offers several revisions of the currently accepted state of scholarship. For example, the chapter argues that the fortification of Koroni should not be seen as a Ptolemaic military camp, but as an attempt by the Athenians to provide an alternative to the Piraeus.

Chapters 8 and 9 focus on a selection of Attic's medieval and early modern fortifications. They do not attempt a comprehensive analysis, but present selected structures in drystone masonry which had in the past been misdated. The two chapters thus offer an important contribution to clarifying the sites' chronologies and their possible historical contexts.

The monograph's conclusions (chapter 10) present a diachronic history of Attica's fortifications. This is followed by a catalogue of sites, which helpfully includes map-references, coordinates, literary references, detailed bibliographies, and (if applicable) lists of finds noted at the individual locations. The monograph concludes with an extensive bibliography, which is stronger on works published before c. 2015 - perhaps not surprising since this monograph presents the cumulative research of several decades.

Overall, Teichos' different chapters are connected by several recurring themes. The first is the rapid and widespread destruction of archaeological sites in 20th-century Attica. "Attische Festungen" was partly born out of the urgent need to record endangered archaeological sites, which made the project a timely and significant contribution to the field. A second major theme is Lohmann's candid assessment of the practical and administrative challenges faced in his research. As such challenges were not unique to landscape archaeology in Attica, Teichos helps to understand and contextualise the field's state of scholarship. This may be particularly useful for scholars who have never had to undertake field research without technological conveniences such as drone photography. The monograph's third major theme are the challenges of dating fortified structures. For example, chapters 8 and 9 act as a reminder that not every drystone circuit necessarily belongs to antiquity or to a prehistoric period. Overall, the monograph's meticulous chronological reassessment furthermore highlights in which ways ancient fortifications can or cannot be used in conjunction with "event history".

Finally, a major theme that runs through the monograph is a high degree of scepticism of "academic orthodoxies". The monograph's conclusions rather bluntly refer to the concept of "bullshit asymmetry" (i.e. that it is often 10 times harder to disprove a hypothesis than to suggest it). One example of a long-held hypothesis disproven through Lohmann's meticulous work is the interpretation of Attica's fortifications as a coherent defensive network. In the 1990s, Lohmann's reassessment may well have challenged an "academic orthodoxy", but by now it will no doubt be welcomed by many scholars. This is not to say that Teichos comes too late to shape academic discourse; instead it demonstrates the far-sightedness of the monumental project that Lohmann modestly called a "Zwischenbilanz".

Notes:

[1] Prominent examples include Sylvian Fachard: La défense du territoire. Étude de la chôra érétrienne et de ses fortifications, Gollion 2012; Nadia Coutsinas: Défenses crétoises. Fortifications urbaines et défense du territoire en Crète aux époques classique et hellénistique, Paris 2013; Matthew Maher: The Fortifications of Arkadian City States in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods, Oxford 2017.

[2] Such a system was for example proposed by Josiah Ober: Fortress Attica. Defense of the Athenian Land Frontier, 404-322 B.C., Leiden 1985.