An Imperial Frontier and its Landscape: the Gorgan and Tammisheh Walls in North-East Iran

The overall objective of our project was to date and place within their strategic and landscape context the Gorgan and Tamishe Walls in NE Iran. At 195 km length the Gorgan Wall forms the longest continuous ancient linear barrier between the German Limes and the Chinese linear earthworks. The construction of a major defensive barrier, apparently in conjunction with canals, dams and reservoirs, was a massive feat of hydraulic engineering. By describing and dating these features the project has shed considerable light on the administration and deployment of power within the Sasanian Empire. The aims of the geophysical survey was to reveal insights into the architecture and plan of key installations on the Walls and in their vicinity, notably of associated forts, campaign bases and urban settlements. Particularly successful were the surveys at Fort 4 on the Gorgan Wall, the campaign base of Qal'eh Kharabeh and the urban settlement of Ghelich Ghoynigh. The former two have enabled us to make informed estimates of the size of the garrisons of the compounds in question, and in the Gorgan Plain as a whole