Section: Fortifications
Variable: Moat (All coded records)
The absence or presence of moat as a military technology used in warfare. Differs from a ditch in that it has water  
Moat
#  Polity  Coded Value Tags Year(s) Edit Desc
1 OOpsian unknown Suspected Expert 300 BCE 99 CE
Site at Yoshinogari (3rd century CE) had surrounding ditch and ramparts, watchtower and inner moat. [1] Kofun succeeded the Yayoi era: "In the Kofun era, settlements were no longer enclosed by moats, but elites began to reside in mansions, enclosed by moats and spatially distinct from ordinary settlements." [2]

[1]: (Barnes 2007, 98-99) Gina L Barnes. 2007. State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Saski 2017, 68) Ken’ichi Saski. The Kofun era and early state formation. Karl F Friday. ed. 2017. Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History. Routledge. Abingdon.


2 OOpsian present Inferred Expert 100 CE 250 CE
Site at Yoshinogari (3rd century CE) had surrounding ditch and ramparts, watchtower and inner moat. [1] Kofun succeeded the Yayoi era: "In the Kofun era, settlements were no longer enclosed by moats, but elites began to reside in mansions, enclosed by moats and spatially distinct from ordinary settlements." [2]

[1]: (Barnes 2007, 98-99) Gina L Barnes. 2007. State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Saski 2017, 68) Ken’ichi Saski. The Kofun era and early state formation. Karl F Friday. ed. 2017. Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History. Routledge. Abingdon.


3 Sakha - Late present Confident Expert 1632 CE 1642 CE
Tokarev and Gurvich mention fortifications surrounded by water and snow: "When speaking of structures, we should also mention the fact that in the old days the Yakuts knew how to make fortifications or ostrozhki, as they were called in the Russian texts of the 17th century. For example, in 1636-1637, during the campaign against the Kangalastsy, the Russian Cossacks found that “they had built strong forts with two walls covered with gravel, and surrounded by snow and water;” it was only after a two-day assault that the Cossacks managed to take one of these forts. In 1642 the Russians also took a Yakut fortress after great difficulty: “. . . the fort was made with two walls, the space between the walls was filled with earth, and there were log towers.” At a later stage these fortifications disappeared, and no one has described them since in detail. But even in the 19th century it was possible to find special tower-like barns here and there, which belonged to the Toyons." [1]

[1]: Tokarev, S. A., and Gurvich I. S. 1964. “Yakuts.” Peoples Of Siberia, 265


4 Sakha - Late absent Confident Expert 1643 CE 1900 CE
Tokarev and Gurvich mention fortifications surrounded by water and snow: "When speaking of structures, we should also mention the fact that in the old days the Yakuts knew how to make fortifications or ostrozhki, as they were called in the Russian texts of the 17th century. For example, in 1636-1637, during the campaign against the Kangalastsy, the Russian Cossacks found that “they had built strong forts with two walls covered with gravel, and surrounded by snow and water;” it was only after a two-day assault that the Cossacks managed to take one of these forts. In 1642 the Russians also took a Yakut fortress after great difficulty: “. . . the fort was made with two walls, the space between the walls was filled with earth, and there were log towers.” At a later stage these fortifications disappeared, and no one has described them since in detail. But even in the 19th century it was possible to find special tower-like barns here and there, which belonged to the Toyons." [1]

[1]: Tokarev, S. A., and Gurvich I. S. 1964. “Yakuts.” Peoples Of Siberia, 265


5 Egypt - New Kingdom Thutmosid Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
6 Egypt - Classic Old Kingdom present Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
7 Egypt - Classic Old Kingdom absent Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
8 Egypt - Late Old Kingdom present Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
9 Egypt - Late Old Kingdom absent Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
10 Egypt - Period of the Regions present Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
11 Egypt - Period of the Regions absent Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
12 Egypt - Saite Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
13 Axum I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
14 Chuuk - Early Truk unknown Suspected Expert -
-
15 Chuuk - Late Truk unknown Suspected Expert -
-
16 French Kingdom - Early Bourbon unknown Suspected Expert -
-
17 French Kingdom - Late Bourbon unknown Suspected Expert -
-
18 Hallstatt D absent Inferred Expert -
-
19 French Kingdom - Late Valois unknown Suspected Expert -
-
20 British Empire II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
21 Akan - Pre-Ashanti unknown Suspected Expert -
-
22 Archaic Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
23 Classical Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
24 The Emirate of Crete present Confident Expert -
-
25 Geometric Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
26 Hellenistic Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
27 Neolithic Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
28 New Palace Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
29 Old Palace Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
30 Prepalatial Crete absent Confident Expert -
-
31 Iban - Brooke Raj and Colonial unknown Suspected Expert -
-
32 Kushan Empire present Inferred Expert -
inferred from description of fortifications suggesting moat features
33 Eastern Han Empire present Confident Expert -
Luoyang had tamped earth walls and a moat [1]

[1]: (Bielenstein 1986, 262)


34 Western Jin present Inferred Expert -
present for previous polities
35 Hmong - Early Chinese unknown Suspected Expert -
we need expert input in order to code this variable
36 Hmong - Late Qing unknown Suspected Expert -
we need expert input in order to code this variable
37 Jin Dynasty present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Peers 2013, 220)


38 Northern Wei present Inferred Expert -
Present for previous polities.
39 Rasulid Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
Moat around Jerusalem some time after 1187 CE. Code inferred from Ayyubid Sultanate [1] which occupied Yemen between 1175-1128 CE.

[1]: D Nicolle. 1986. Saladin and the Saracens. Osprey Publishing Ltd. Oxford.


40 Tocharians unknown Suspected Expert -
-
41 Badarian absent Confident Expert -
-
42 Egypt - Dynasty I present Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
43 Egypt - Dynasty I absent Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
44 Egypt - Dynasty II present Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
45 Egypt - Dynasty II absent Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
46 Egypt - Inter-Occupation Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
47 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
48 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate III unknown Confident Expert -
-
49 Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
50 Early Qing present Inferred Expert -
Used against Qing troops by the Jinchuan. [1]

[1]: (Theobald 2013, 17)


51 Late Shang present Confident Expert -
" no defensive fortifications apart from a single moat have yet been discovered amid the opulent remains at Anyang". [1]

[1]: Sawyer, R. 2011. Ancient Chinese Warfare. Basic Books.


52 Tang Dynasty I present Inferred Expert -
In use in previous polities
53 Tang Dynasty II present Inferred Expert -
Within the technical capability of the time.
54 Western Zhou present Confident Expert -
Evidence of a moat at the Yan state capital during the Western Zhou period. [1]

[1]: (Littlewood 2008, 212) Littlewood, Mark. Littlewood, Misty. 2008. Gateways to Beijing. Genesis Books.


55 Great Yuan present Inferred Expert -
City of Fancheng had a moat which the Mongols filled in. [1] Inferred that other Chinese cities under Mongol control had them.

[1]: (Lorge 2005, 85)


56 Shuar - Colonial absent Confident Expert -
older reports describe palisades and watchtowers made from wood only
57 Ayyubid Sultanate present Confident Expert -
Excavated new moat around Jerusalem some time after 1187 CE. [1]

[1]: (Nicolle 2011) Nicolle, D. 2011. Saladin. Osprey Publishing.


58 Egypt - New Kingdom Ramesside Period present Inferred Expert -
Academic confirmation required.
59 Egypt - Thebes-Libyan Period unknown Suspected Expert -
No data.
60 Atlantic Complex unknown Suspected Expert -
Not mentioned in the literature.
61 Beaker Culture absent Inferred Expert -
Not mentioned in the literature.
62 Carolingian Empire II present Confident Expert -
A monastery in a region of recently pacified Saxons had "an encircling moat and a strong wall, which extended to the River Weser. Towers fortified the four corners and gate towers secured the entrance into the monastery precinct. The site was originally the location of a Roman castelllum." [1]

[1]: (Schutz 2004, 354) Herbert Schutz. 2004. The Carolingians in Central Europe, Their History, Arts, and Architecture: A Cultural History of Central Europe, 750-900. BRILL. Leiden.


63 Hallstatt A-B1 unknown Suspected Expert -
Not mentioned in the literature.
64 Hallstatt C absent Inferred Expert -
Not mentioned in the literature.
65 La Tene A-B1 unknown Suspected Expert -
Not mentioned in the literature.
66 La Tene B2-C1 unknown Suspected Expert -
Not mentioned in the literature.
67 Ashanti Empire absent Inferred Expert -
The sources reviewed so far make no mention of ditches or moats around Ashanti settlements or forts.
68 Hawaii III absent Confident Expert -
"The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


69 Iban - Pre-Brooke unknown Suspected Expert -
No references in the literature. RA.
70 Mataram Sultanate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
71 Yehuda unknown Confident Expert -
-
72 Yisrael absent Confident Expert -
-
73 Deccan - Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
-
74 Neolithic Middle Ganga unknown Suspected Expert -
-
75 Early A'chik absent Confident Expert -
-
76 Late A'chik absent Confident Expert -
-
77 Early Dynastic unknown Suspected Expert -
-
78 Uruk unknown Suspected Expert -
-
79 Elymais II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
80 Qajar unknown Suspected Expert -
-
81 Icelandic Commonwealth unknown Suspected Expert -
-
82 Ostrogothic Kingdom present Confident Expert -
-
83 Rome - Republic of St Peter II present Confident Expert -
-
84 Papal States - High Medieval Period present Inferred Expert -
-
85 Papal States - Early Modern Period I present Confident Expert -
-
86 Papal States - Early Modern Period II present Confident Expert -
-
87 Papal States - Renaissance Period present Confident Expert -
-
88 Exarchate of Ravenna present Confident Expert -
-
89 Early Roman Republic unknown Confident Expert -
-
90 Late Roman Republic unknown Confident Expert -
-
91 Middle Roman Republic unknown Confident Expert -
-
92 Western Roman Empire - Late Antiquity unknown Confident Expert -
-
93 Republic of St Peter I present Confident Expert -
-
94 Gupta Empire present Inferred Expert -
Cannot find any data other than passing references to city walls and that the later Guptas didn’t build enough fortifications. The Guptas held a vast territory (where resources available differed greatly from one place to the next) so one could infer this included cities which already had stone walls, earth ramparts, moats and ditches, and palisades.
95 Gurjar-Pratihara Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions ramparts constructed with earth and moats. [1]

[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 103) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.


96 Magadha present Inferred Expert -
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions ramparts constructed with earth and moats. [1]

[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 103) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.


97 Magadha - Maurya Empire present Confident Expert -
around Pataliputra [1]

[1]: (Schlingloff, D 2013, 39)


98 Vijayanagara Empire present Confident Expert -
Certain types of forts "had deep moats around them which prevented the enemy from coming near the walls." [1]

[1]: (Ramayanna 1986, p. 121)


99 Abbasid Caliphate II present Confident Expert -
Moats were used in this region in the Middle Ages. No specific reference.
100 Akkadian Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
No evidence to code.
101 Dynasty of E present Inferred Expert -
In the second millennium BCE, "Moats were becoming a common feature of city defenses" [1]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 189) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.


102 Neo-Babylonian Empire present Inferred Expert -
Popular text refers to a ’Moat of Babylon’ (Neo-Babylonia) and the index of a work from 1915 mentions ’Moat, of Babylon’. Likely but cannot find reference at this time.
103 Ubaid absent Confident Expert -
The remains of any fortifications have not been yet discovered. [1]

[1]: Stein 1994, 39


104 Buyid Confederation present Confident Expert -
Moats were used in this region in the Middle Ages. No specific reference.
105 Formative Period unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


106 Elam II present Confident Expert -
The ancient city of Madaktu in Elam was moated at the time of Assurbanipal (668-631 BCE) of Assyria. [1]

[1]: (Russell 2017, 490) John M Russell. Assyrian Art. Eckart Frahm. ed. 2017. A Companion to Assuria. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Hoboken.


107 Elam III present Confident Expert -
The ancient city of Madaktu in Elam was moated at the time of Assurbanipal (668-631 BCE) of Assyria. [1]

[1]: (Russell 2017, 490) John M Russell. Assyrian Art. Eckart Frahm. ed. 2017. A Companion to Assuria. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Hoboken.


108 Sasanid Empire I present Inferred Expert -
moat at Hatra in this period?
109 Sasanid Empire II present Confident Expert -
moat at Hatra in this period?
110 Seleucids present Inferred Expert -
Present in previous and subsequent periods.
111 Seljuk Sultanate unknown Suspected Expert -
In Syria?
112 Susa I unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


113 Latium - Copper Age absent Inferred Expert -
no fortresses means no moats?
114 Latium - Iron Age absent Inferred Expert -
No fortresses to moat?
115 Roman Empire - Principate present Confident Expert -
A ditch filled with water would not have been beyond the technological capabilities of the Romans during this period but did they use/need them?
116 Roman Kingdom absent Inferred Expert -
no fortresses to moat?
117 Republic of Venice III present Inferred Expert -
We can probably include Venice itself?
118 Republic of Venice IV present Inferred Expert -
We can probably include Venice itself?
119 Asuka unknown Suspected Expert -
No data. Likely based on presence in earlier periods.
120 Japan - Incipient Jomon absent Confident Expert -
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
121 Kamakura Shogunate present Confident Expert -
-
122 Andronovo unknown Suspected Expert -
-
123 Phoenician Empire unknown Confident Expert -
-
124 Saadi Sultanate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
125 Mali Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
126 Early Mongols unknown Suspected Expert -
-
127 Late Mongols unknown Suspected Expert -
-
128 Rouran Khaganate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
129 Shiwei unknown Suspected Expert -
-
130 Uigur Khaganate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
131 Xianbei Confederation unknown Suspected Expert -
-
132 Early Xiongnu unknown Suspected Expert -
-
133 Late Xiongnu unknown Suspected Expert -
-
134 Xiongnu Imperial Confederation unknown Suspected Expert -
-
135 Zungharian Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
136 Later Wagadu Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
137 Middle Wagadu Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
138 Kingdom of Norway II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
139 Cuzco - Late Intermediate I unknown Suspected Expert -
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140 Cuzco - Late Intermediate II unknown Suspected Expert -
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141 Cuzco - Late Formative unknown Suspected Expert -
-
142 Wari Empire unknown Suspected Expert -
-
143 Orokaiva - Pre-Colonial absent Confident Expert -
-
144 Orokaiva - Colonial absent Confident Expert -
-
145 Kachi Plain - Aceramic Neolithic absent Inferred Expert -
-
146 Kachi Plain - Ceramic Neolithic unknown Suspected Expert -
-
147 Kachi Plain - Chalcolithic unknown Suspected Expert -
-
148 Kachi Plain - Post-Urban Period absent Confident Expert -
-
149 Kachi Plain - Pre-Urban Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
150 Kachi Plain - Proto-Historic Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
151 Egypt - Kushite Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
152 Sarazm unknown Suspected Expert -
-
153 Fatimid Caliphate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
154 Late Cappadocia unknown Suspected Expert -
-
155 Hatti - Old Kingdom absent Confident Expert -
-
156 Japan - Late Jomon absent Confident Expert -
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
157 Nara Kingdom present Confident Expert -
present in the preceding and succeeding periods.
158 Warring States Japan present Confident Expert -
at yamashiro castles [1]

[1]: (Turnbull 2002)


159 Western Turk Khaganate absent Confident Expert -
[1] Inferred from Eastern Turk Khaganate of the same time

[1]: (Kradin 2015, personal communication)


160 Late Angkor present Confident Expert -
mentioned around temples but not for defensive purposes. [1] Zhou Daguan mentions a moat surrounding city walls, and that access to the city was given by causeways. [2]

[1]: (Penny et al 2007)

[2]: (Zhou Daguan 1992, 2)


161 Bamana kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
Closest relevant data: in the 19th century the Yoruba capital Ketu had double walls and a moat. [1]

[1]: (Smith 1989, 111) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.


162 Jenne-jeno I absent Inferred Expert -
no evidence of "external threats to Jenne-jeno" [1]

[1]: (Reader 1998, 230)


163 Jenne-jeno II absent Confident Expert -
no evidence of "external threats to Jenne-jeno" [1]

[1]: (Reader 1998, 230)


164 Jenne-jeno III absent Confident Expert -
no evidence of "external threats to Jenne-jeno" [1]

[1]: (Reader 1998, 230)


165 Eastern Turk Khaganate absent Confident Expert -
According to personal communication with N. Kradin. [1]

[1]: (Kradin 2015, personal communication)


166 Khitan I present Confident Expert -
Khar Bukhyn Balgas in Mongolia: "Built in stone by the Khitan, it was surrounded by ramparts and a moat." [1]

[1]: (Baumer 2016) Christoph Baumer. 2016. The History of Central Asia: The Age of Islam and the Mongols. I.B. Tauris.


167 Second Turk Khaganate absent Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Kradin 2015, personal communication)


168 Classic Basin of Mexico absent Inferred Expert -
"Whereas no sites are documented as fortified or military observatories during the Formative and Classic periods, approximately one quarter of sites are during the Epiclassic and one-third of sites are during the Postclassic." [1]

[1]: (Carballo and Pluckhahn 2007: 615) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/MUW5MHB7.


169 Late Formative Basin of Mexico unknown Suspected Expert -
May not survive archaeologically, only detectable via excavation.
170 Cuzco - Early Intermediate I unknown Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Brian Bauer 2015, personal communication)


171 Cuzco - Early Intermediate II unknown Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Brian Bauer 2015, personal communication)


172 Inca Empire present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 331)


173 Indo-Greek Kingdom present Confident Expert -
Reference for use of the moat as a form of fortification in northern India around 3rd century BCE - 300 CE. [1]

[1]: (Singh 2008, 394) Upinder Singh. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Longman. Delhi.


174 Umayyad Caliphate present Confident Expert -
Siege of Al-Wasit, last Umayyad stronghold in Iraq: "In the first such encounter Umayyad forces were defeated, and they retreated to the moat that surrounded the western section of the city." [1]

[1]: (Elad 1986, 65) Saron, M. 1986. Studies in Islamic History and Civilization: In Honour of Professor David Ayalon. Brill.


175 Konya Plain - Early Bronze Age absent Confident Expert -
not found in settlements
176 Middle Bronze Age in Central Anatolia absent Confident Expert -
not found in settlements
177 Byzantine Empire I present Confident Expert -
Moats. [1]

[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences. Personal Communication


178 Konya Plain - Early Chalcolithic absent Confident Expert -
not yet found in settlements such as Çatal Höyük
179 Konya Plain - Late Chalcolithic absent Confident Expert -
not found in settlements
180 East Roman Empire present Confident Expert -
Moat. [1]

[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015, Personal Communication)


181 Lysimachus Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
-
182 Ottoman Empire II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
183 Cahokia - Lohman-Stirling absent Confident Expert -
-
184 Cahokia - Moorehead absent Confident Expert -
-
185 Kingdom of Hawaii - Kamehameha Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
186 Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian II absent Confident Expert -
-
187 Cahokia - Sand Prairie absent Confident Expert -
-
188 Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian I absent Confident Expert -
-
189 Chagatai Khanate unknown Suspected Expert -
-
190 Khanate of Bukhara unknown Suspected Expert -
-
191 Ancient Khwarazm unknown Suspected Expert -
-
192 Koktepe I unknown Suspected Expert -
-
193 Koktepe II unknown Suspected Expert -
-
194 Sogdiana - City-States Period unknown Suspected Expert -
-
195 Yemen - Late Bronze Age absent Inferred Expert -
-
196 Neolithic Yemen unknown Suspected Expert -
-
197 Yemen - Qasimid Dynasty unknown Suspected Expert -
-
198 Qatabanian Commonwealth unknown Suspected Expert -
-
199 Sabaean Commonwealth unknown Suspected Expert -
-
200 Kingdom of Saba and Dhu Raydan unknown Suspected Expert -
-
201 Yemen - Tahirid Dynasty unknown Suspected Expert -
-
202 Durrani Empire present Inferred Expert -
"Built on the grand scale by Ahmad Shah Durrani - the dashing young cavalryman who founded the great Durrani Empire - with huge walls surrounded by a moat and pierced by six massive gates, Kandahar was designed to impress the approaching traveller, friend or foe. The walls were pulled down in the 1940s..." [1] Inferred because this is not a specialist source.

[1]: (Gall 2012, 19) Sandy Gall. 2012. War Against the Taliban: Why It All Went Wrong in Afghanistan. Bloomsbury. London.


203 Ghur Principality present Inferred Expert -
"Malik ’Abbas built numerous fortress-like villages in Ghur. Qutb al-Din Muhammad founded the fortress-like villages in Ghur. Qutb al-Din Muhammad founded the fortress and city of Firuzkuh. Basha al-Din Sam erected strong fortresses in Ghur, the Garmsir, Gharchistan and Herat, keeping strategic needs in view. A castle constructed at Wadawajzd by Sultan Ghiyath al-Din was so impregnable that it survived the onslaught of the Mongols." [1] Reference for use of the moat as a form of fortification in northern India around 3rd century BCE - 300 CE. [2]

[1]: (Nizami 1999, 189) K A Nizami. The Ghurids. M S Asimov. C E Bosworth. eds. 1999. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. Part One. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi.

[2]: (Singh 2008, 394) Upinder Singh. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Longman. Delhi.


204 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom present Confident Expert -
"Ai Khanum ... was protected by large towers, a moat and an acropolis, as well as a large palace complex." [1]

[1]: Bernard, P. ’Ar Khanoum en Afghanistan hier (1964-1978) et aujourd’hui (2001): un site en pmi- Perspectives d’avenir’, CRAI, pp. 971 1029. (2001)


205 Hephthalites present Confident Expert -
The Questions of King Milinda on Salaka: "Wise architects have laid it out ... strong towers and ramparts, with superb gates and entrance archways; and with the royal citadel in its midst, white walled and deeply moated." [1]

[1]: (Bauer 2010, 180-181) Bauer, S W. 2010. The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade. W. W. Norton & Company.


206 Erligang present Confident Expert -
"The inner walls surrounded an area of about 289 ha, while some parts, if not all, of the inner and outer walls were apparently surrounded by a moat up to 20 m wide." [1]

[1]: (Campbell 2014, 72)


207 Erlitou present Confident Expert -
"The inner walls surrounded an area of about 289 ha, while some parts, if not all, of the inner and outer walls were apparently surrounded by a moat up to 20 m wide." [1]

[1]: (Campbell 2014, 72)


208 Jin present Inferred Expert -
Evidence of a moat at the Yan state capital during the preceding Western Zhou period. [1] There was some siege warfare so it is possible some Chu towns had moat defenses. There would have been no lack of water nearby to fill the moat.

[1]: (Littlewood 2008, 212) Littlewood, Mark. Littlewood, Misty. 2008. Gateways to Beijing. Genesis Books.


209 Longshan present Confident Expert -
In the Guchengzhai site, "The moat, which used water from the Qinshui river, was another important defensive barrier around the site. Its width ranges from 34m to 90 m. Coring/probing (zuantan 钻探) determined that the now buried moat is over 4.5m deep in the eastern section, but the river bed is still visible today." [1] "Haojiatai, whose walled enclosure covers an area of 6.5 ha, is also built on an elevated platform and is further protected by an external ditch, most likely a defensive moat." [2] "Some of the walled settlements have surrounding ditches that may have served as moats. One of the functions of the walls probably was defense." [3]

[1]: (Zhao 2013, 245)

[2]: (Demattè 1999, 126)

[3]: (Underhill in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 157)


210 Japan - Final Jomon absent Confident Expert -
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
211 Konya Plain - Early Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
not yet found in settlements such as Göbekli Tepe
212 Ottoman Empire I present Confident Expert -
Present. [1]

[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.


213 Phrygian Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
not mentioned in the literature
214 Rum Sultanate unknown Suspected Expert -
References to Seljuks building moat fortification for a different region.
215 Samanid Empire present Inferred Expert -
"This five-walled and triple-moated kilometer-square city is, in fact, correctly named Shahr-i-Gholghola, and is located in the sand sea of several hundred square kilometers properly bearing the name Sar-o-Tar." [1] Located in the Samanid region of control. I don’t know when the city was established/gained its moat. It was destroyed in the Mongol conquest.

[1]: (? 1986, 61) ?. ?. Albrecht Wezler Ernst Hammerschmidt. 1992. Proceedings of the (XXXII) International Congress for Asian and North African Studies.: Hamburg 25th-30th August 1986. F Steiner.


216 Timurid Empire present Inferred Expert -
Moats were present at cities besieged by Timur e.g. Sivas. [1]

[1]: (Marozzi 2004, 287) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.


217 Great Ming present Confident Expert -
e.g. the Forbidden City [1] Upkeep of The Grand Canal was necessary along with other fortifications and border management to support frontier defenses against the Mongols. [2]

[1]: (Faust 2016, p.41)

[2]: (Dardess 2012, p.14)


218 Northern Song present Confident Expert -
City walls usually protected by a moat. [1] "When Jin forces attacked the Song capital of Kaifeng in 1126, they met stout resistance. The city’s defenses had been overhauled, and it boasted immense walls, a deep wide moat, and advanced fortifications structures including bastions and barbicans." [2] "In the late-tenth and very beginning of the eleventh century, the Song dynasty (960-1279) undertook a large-scale defensive project to protect its northeast border. ... the Song government gradually constructed a continuous band of water obstacles, spanning hundreds of miles across northern Hebei province from the Taihang Mountains ... in the west to the Gulf of Bohai in the east. The spine of these obstacles was a dike that connected its surrounding rivers and swamps into a continuous defense line. Unlike the Great Wall, the role of which was miniscule, this Great Ditch played a large part in stabilizing the military situation between the Song and Liao, leading to the Chanyuan Covenant (Chanyuan zhi meng) in 1005, and a peace that lasted for more than a century." [3]

[1]: (Lorge 2011, 30)

[2]: (Andrade 2016, 34) Andrade, Tonio. 2016. The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

[3]: (Lorge 2008, 60) Peter Lorge. The Great Ditch of China. Don J Wyatt. 2008. Battlefronts Real and Imagined: War, Border, and Identity in the Chinese Middle Period. Palgrave Macmillan. New York.


219 Peiligang present Inferred Expert -
Jiahu likely had a moat surrounding the site. [1]

[1]: (Liu 2005: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Q77FKW2H?.


220 Late Qing present Confident Expert -
Beijing had an extensive fortification system, consisting of the Forbidden City, the Imperial city, the Inner city, and the Outer city. Fortifications included gate towers, gates, archways, watchtowers, barbicans, barbican towers, barbican gates, barbican archways, sluice gates, sluice gate towers, enemy sighting towers, corner guard towers, and a moat system. It had the most extensive defence system in Imperial China.
221 Sui Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
Construction of Chang’an: "possibly some of it [the earth] was excavated to form a moat outside the walls." ; The city walls of Chang’an built under Yang Chien: "the building material was the light brown earth." [1]

[1]: (Wright 1978, 86) Wright, Arthur. 1978. The Sui Dynasty. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.


222 Early Wei Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
"The Ta Ming Wu Chieh chapters of the I Chou Shu ... mention several methods of attacking a city: mounding in the moat (yin) ... but the text probably dates from Warring States times." [1]

[1]: (Needham and Yates 1994, 241) Joseph Needham. Robin D A Yates. 1994. Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5. Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Part VI. Military Technology: Missiles and Sieges. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.


223 Western Han Empire present Confident Expert -
possible cities still had moats from previous eras when they were necessary. however, with the unification of China under the Qin and Han, they might have lost them. "The border defense system had five basic architectural components. First were the border towns...most of them have moats, walls, gates, wall towers, corner towers, streets, administrative offices, shops, residences and storehouses. Some had additional wall fortifications and beacon towers." [1]

[1]: (Steinhardt, Nancy. 2002. Chinese Architecture. 新世界出版社. 38)


224 Yangshao present Confident Expert -
"The Yangshao (7000-4500 B.P.) tradition of the middle Yellow river valley witnessed the emergence of relatively large agricultural communities organized around a public courtyard, many with a defensive moat." [1] "A defensive moat was dug on the periphery of the dwelling area." [2]

[1]: (Peregrine and Ember 2000, xix)

[2]: (Lee in Peregrine and Ember 2001, 334) Peregrine, P. and M. Ember (eds.) 2001. East Asia and Oceania (Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.


225 Neguanje absent Inferred Expert -
No evidence for fortifications in the Neguanje period has been found yet. [1]

[1]: (Giraldo 2015, personal communication)


226 Tairona absent Inferred Expert -
"The architectural and topographic survey of Pueblito shows that the town itself seems to have no particular contours, limits, or a predetermined shape. Neither does Ciudad Perdida. There is no perimeter or defensive wall, of any shape or form, encircling it or bounding it, and clustered residential compounds were not organized into a definite form that can be interpreted as a spatial template that was being followed." [1]

[1]: (Giraldo 2010, 274)


227 Shuar - Ecuadorian absent Confident Expert -
older reports describe make-shift palisades and watchtowers made from wood only.
228 Egypt - Middle Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
[1]

[1]: (Adam 1981, 232) Adam, S. 1981. “The Importance of Nubia: A Link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean.” In General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, edited by G. Mokhtar, II:226-44. General History of Africa. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8APQDQV3.


229 Ptolemaic Kingdom I unknown Suspected Expert -
Ditches and moats existed and were used at this time, e.g. in the Levant region. Were they used by the Ptolemies?
230 Ptolemaic Kingdom II unknown Suspected Expert -
Ditches and moats existed and were used at this time, e.g. in the Levant region. Were they used by the Ptolemies?
231 Egypt - Thebes-Hyksos Period present Confident Expert -
"The type of town defense most characteristic of the Hyksos was a sloping revetment or rampart above which a town wall itself was often built. For added protection a moat or fosse was frequently dug." [1]

[1]: (Wilson and Allen 1939, 20-21)


232 Egypt - Tulunid-Ikhshidid Period present Inferred Expert -
Present for Abbasid Caliphate: Abbasid siege of Al-Wasit, last Umayyad stronghold in Iraq: "In the first such encounter Umayyad forces were defeated, and they retreated to the moat that surrounded the western section of the city." [1]

[1]: (Elad 1986, 65) Saron, M. 1986. Studies in Islamic History and Civilization: In Honour of Professor David Ayalon. Brill.


233 Spanish Empire I present Confident Expert -
Moat used as a defence in Peru. [1]

[1]: (Bradley 2009, 58) Bradley, Peter T. 2009. Spain and the Defense of Peru: Royal Reluctance and Colonial Self-Reliance. Lulu.com. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/VFMNE6JR


234 Proto-French Kingdom present Confident Expert -
Loches Keep: "The 11th-century tower, a rectangle 82 feet long by 43 feet wide with walls 9 feet thick, is one of the earliest and finest examples of a stone keep; it was here that the chronicler Philippe de Commynes, among many others, was incarcerated. Of the original double curtain walls and broad moat (35-40 feet), only one wall still stands." [1]

[1]: (Kibler in Kibler et al 1995, 1058)


235 French Kingdom - Late Capetian present Confident Expert -
"The so-called Palace of the Viscounts was actually built, according to Héliot, in the 13th century by Simon de Montfort and especially Louis IX. Constructed of rough-worked sandstone, it is surrounded on three sides by a deep moat and protected by nine towers." [1] "At the height of the Middle Ages, great castles were built with deep, defensive ditches or moats and several concentric rings of stone walls reinforced with towers that required attackers to fight their way through several layers of defense to achieve victory." [2]

[1]: (Kibler in Kibler et al 1995, 322)

[2]: (Newman 2001, 75) Paul B Newman. 2001. Daily Life in the Middle Ages. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Jefferson.


236 Carolingian Empire I present Confident Expert -
A monastery in a region of recently pacified Saxons had "an encircling moat and a strong wall, which extended to the River Weser. Towers fortified the four corners and gate towers secured the entrance into the monastery precinct. The site was originally the location of a Roman castelllum." [1]

[1]: (Schutz 2004, 354) Herbert Schutz. 2004. The Carolingians in Central Europe, Their History, Arts, and Architecture: A Cultural History of Central Europe, 750-900. BRILL. Leiden.


237 Hallstatt B2-3 unknown Suspected Expert -
Not mentioned in the literature.
238 Early Merovingian present Confident Expert -
Includes moats dug with deep pits inside for the wader to sink into. [1]

[1]: (Bachrach 1972, 55) Bachrach, B S. 1972. Merovingian Military Organization 481-751. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis.


239 Proto-Carolingian present Confident Expert -
Includes moats dug with deep pits inside for the wader to sink into. [1]

[1]: (Bachrach 1972, 55) Bachrach, B S. 1972. Merovingian Military Organization 481-751. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis.


240 Middle Merovingian present Confident Expert -
Includes moats dug with deep pits inside for the wader to sink into. [1]

[1]: (Bachrach 1972, 55) Bachrach, B S. 1972. Merovingian Military Organization 481-751. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis.


241 La Tene C2-D present Confident Expert -
242 French Kingdom - Early Valois present Inferred Expert -
"Castle architecture became increasingly complex from the 12th to 13th centuries. ... All of these precautions became obsolete with the widespread use of gunpowder in the 14th and 15th centuries, and castles became simply country residences for the nobility." [1]

[1]: (Jesse 1995, 181) Scott Jesse. Castles. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon.


243 Hawaii I unknown Suspected Expert -
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


244 Hawaii II unknown Suspected Expert -
Not clear whether this information applies to pre-contact polities. "The Hawaiians generally did not build fortifications, but non-combatants could find sacred sanctuary in places of refuge known as pu’uhonua." Pg 4. [1]

[1]: Hommon, Robert, J. 2013. The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


245 Java - Buni Culture unknown Suspected Expert -
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’fortress’ and ’siege’. [1]

[1]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi.


246 Kalingga Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’fortress’ and ’siege’. [1]

[1]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi.


247 Kediri Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’fortress’ and ’siege’. [1] In Medang period Ratu Boko had a dry moat as a defensive structure [2]

[1]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi.

[2]: (Millet in Miksic 2003, 74)


248 Majapahit Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
According to Miksic the Majapahit capital did not seem to have any sort of defensive perimeter. [1] This does not mean that no town or fort in Majapahit had any type of defensive fortification. Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’fortress’ and ’siege’. [2]

[1]: (Miksic 2000, 115)

[2]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi.


249 Medang Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
Ratu Boko had a dry moat as a defensive structure [1]

[1]: (Millet in Miksic 2003, 74)


250 Canaan absent Inferred Expert -
"Nevertheless, the results of this archaeological survey suggests that there is no clear evidence that any MB features in the Levant should be identified as moats. While the bottoms of some fosses may be below the water table today in certain areas, the lack of data for the level of the water table in the MB at the time of their construction makes it impossible to be sure that they were intended to hold water…" [1]

[1]: Burke (2004:147).


251 Kingdom of Ayodhya present Inferred Expert -
Reference for use of the moat as a form of fortification in northern India around 3rd century BCE - 300 CE. [1]

[1]: (Singh 2008, 394) Upinder Singh. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Longman. Delhi.


252 Chalukyas of Badami present Inferred Expert -
Present for the Satavahana period. [1] Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions ramparts constructed with earth and moats. [2]

[1]: (Chakrabarti 1995, 306) D K Chakrabarti. Post-Mauryan states of mainland South Asia (c. BC 185-AD 320). F R Allchin. 1995. The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

[2]: (Olivelle 2016, 103) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.


253 Chalukyas of Kalyani present Inferred Expert -
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions ramparts constructed with earth and moats [1] and the moat was still employed during the preceding Rashtrakuta period. [2]

[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 103) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: Jayashri Mishra, Social and Economic Conditions Under the Imperial Rashtrakutas (1992), p. 206


254 Deccan - Iron Age unknown Suspected Expert -
Moats around defensive walls are known in the Ganga valley in India from about 500 BCE, or perhaps earlier. [1] Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a moat. [2]

[1]: (? 1990, 298) Amalananda Ghosh ed. 1990. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. Volume I. E J BRILL. Leiden.

[2]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.


255 Post-Mauryan Kingdoms unknown Suspected Expert -
Moats around defensive walls are known in the Ganga valley in India from about 500 BCE, or perhaps earlier. [1] Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions a moat. [2]

[1]: (? 1990, 298) Amalananda Ghosh ed. 1990. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. Volume I. E J BRILL. Leiden.

[2]: (Olivelle 2016, 142-143) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.


256 Delhi Sultanate present Confident Expert -
"Most Indian castles have a ditch, dry or filled with water, in front of the walls; only mountain castles rarely have a ditch." [1] "In The Arthashastra, Kautilya (Art. II, 3 (21)) recommends surrounding a fortress with three ditches (parikha) filled with water. ... This was an ideal scheme but it was rarely put into practice." [1]

[1]: (Nossov 2006, 14) Konstantin S Nossov. 2006. Indian Castles 1206-1526: The Rise and Fall of the Delhi Sultanate. Osprey Publishing.


257 Gahadavala Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions ramparts constructed with earth and moats. [1] "Deloche notes that between the third and fourteenth centuries, the Hindu rulers constructed complex gateways, towers and thicker walls with earthen embankments in order to make their durgas (forts) impregnable." [2] Deloche’s studies on Indian fortifications are in French.

[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 103) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: (Roy 2011, 123) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi.


258 Hoysala Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions ramparts constructed with earth and moats [1] and the moat was still used during the Rashtrakuta period. [2]

[1]: (Olivelle 2016, 103) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: Jayashri Mishra, Social and Economic Conditions Under the Imperial Rashtrakutas (1992), p. 206


259 Kadamba Empire present Confident Expert -
The Banavasi fort was partly protected by a moat. [1]

[1]: S.K. Joshi, Defense Architecture of the Kadambas, in B.R. Gopal and N.S. Tharanatha, Kadambas: Their History and Culture (1996), p. 74


260 Kampili Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
"The Kingdom of Kampili on the Raichur Doab between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers was protected by the strong forts of Kunmata and Anegondi. The Muslim armies repeatedly attacked Kampili and captured Kunmata on their third attempt." [1] -- what were the nature of the obviously fairly effective fortifications at Kunamata and Anegondi?

[1]: (Sadasivan 2011, 191) Sadasiva, Balaju. 2011. The Dancing Girl: A History of Early India. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.


261 Kannauj - Varman Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
When a Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang visited Kanauj in the mid-7th century CE he "gives a vivid description of the city and its king Harsha. The town was over three miles in length, one mile in breadth, and surrounded by a moat and fortified by a strong lofty tower." [1]

[1]: 1917. The Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay. Volume 10. Antropological Society of Bombay.


262 Mahajanapada era present Confident Expert -
NBP = Northern Black Polished Ware. "Also lying on this route is Jai Mangal Garh, a roughly 80-100 acre NBP-bearing site which is clearly surrounded by a moat but is perhaps without fortification." [1] Moats around defensive walls are known in the Ganga valley in India from about 500 BCE, or perhaps earlier. [2]

[1]: (Chakrabarti 2006, 16) Dilip K Chakrabarti. Relating History to the Land: Urban Centers, Geographical Unites, and Trade Routes in the Gangetic and Central India of circa 200 BCE." Patrick Olivelle. ed. Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

[2]: (? 1990, 298) Amalananda Ghosh ed. 1990. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. Volume I. E J BRILL. Leiden.


263 Mughal Empire present Confident Expert -
Port of Surat: the inner citadel was protected by a moat. [1] Ed: seems to be references to something called a khandaq - which could be either moat or a ditch or both.

[1]: Gommans, J. J. L. 2002. Mughal Warfare: Indian frontiers and high roads to Empire, 1500-1700. London: Routledge, p139.


264 Rashtrakuta Empire present Confident Expert -
A moat was created to protect one side of Malkhed. [1]

[1]: Jayashri Mishra, Social and Economic Conditions Under the Imperial Rashtrakutas (1992), p. 206


265 Satavahana Empire present Confident Expert -
"Banavasi in North Kanara, an acient capital city of the region measuring 1 km2, goes back at least to the Satavahana period and shows a burnt-brick fortification on rubble foundations and a moat." [1]

[1]: (Chakrabarti 1995, 306) D K Chakrabarti. Post-Mauryan states of mainland South Asia (c. BC 185-AD 320). F R Allchin. 1995. The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.


266 Magadha - Sunga Empire present Inferred Expert -
Inferred from the preceding Mauryans: "In The Arthashastra, Kautilya (Art. II, 3 (21)) recommends surrounding a fortress with three ditches (parikha) filled with water. ... This was an ideal scheme but it was rarely put into practice." [1]

[1]: (Nossov 2006, 14) Konstantin S Nossov. 2006. Indian Castles 1206-1526: The Rise and Fall of the Delhi Sultanate. Osprey Publishing.


267 Pre-Ceramic Period unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


268 Vakataka Kingdom present Inferred Expert -
Moats around defensive walls are known in the Ganga valley in India from about 500 BCE, or perhaps earlier. [1] Present for the preceding Satavahana period. [2] Kautilya’s Arthasastra, written after 200 BCE, mentions ramparts constructed with earth and moats. [3]

[1]: (? 1990, 298) Amalananda Ghosh ed. 1990. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. Volume I. E J BRILL. Leiden.

[2]: (Chakrabarti 1995, 306) D K Chakrabarti. Post-Mauryan states of mainland South Asia (c. BC 185-AD 320). F R Allchin. 1995. The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

[3]: (Olivelle 2016, 103) Patrick Olivelle trans. 2016. King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India: Kautilya’s Arthasastra. Oxford University Press. Oxford.


269 Abbasid Caliphate I present Inferred Expert -
Abbasid siege of Al-Wasit, last Umayyad stronghold in Iraq: "In the first such encounter Umayyad forces were defeated, and they retreated to the moat that surrounded the western section of the city." [1]

[1]: (Elad 1986, 65) Saron, M. 1986. Studies in Islamic History and Civilization: In Honour of Professor David Ayalon. Brill.


270 Amorite Babylonia present Confident Expert -
In the second millennium BCE, "Moats were becoming a common feature of city defenses". [1] e. g. at Kish [2]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 189) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.

[2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge, 223


271 Kassite Babylonia present Confident Expert -
In the second millennium BCE, "Moats were becoming a common feature of city defenses". [1] e. g. at Kish [2]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 189) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.

[2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge, 223


272 Bazi Dynasty present Confident Expert -
In the second millennium BCE, "Moats were becoming a common feature of city defenses". [1] e. g. at Kish [2]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 189) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.

[2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge, 223


273 Second Dynasty of Isin present Confident Expert -
In the second millennium BCE, "Moats were becoming a common feature of city defenses". [1] e. g. at Kish [2]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 189) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.

[2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge, 223


274 Isin-Larsa present Confident Expert -
In the second millennium BCE, "Moats were becoming a common feature of city defenses" [1]

[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 189) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD.


275 Neo-Assyrian Empire present Inferred Expert -
The ancient city of Madaktu in Elam was moated at the time of Assurbanipal (668-631 BCE) of Assyria. [1]

[1]: (Russell 2017, 490) John M Russell. Assyrian Art. Eckart Frahm. ed. 2017. A Companion to Assuria. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Hoboken.


276 Southern Mesopotamia Neolithic absent Inferred Expert -
"As with the rest of the Near East, there is little evidence for warfare in Neolithic Mesopotamia." [1]

[1]: (Hamblin 2006: 33) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD.


277 Ur - Dynasty III present Confident Expert -
e. g. at Ur. [1]

[1]: Rutkowski 2007, 26


278 Achaemenid Empire present Confident Expert -
Sidon, which was taken by the Achaemenids in 345 BCE, was "surrounded by three high walls and a moat." [1] "In respect to Sogdiana of the fourth century B.C., Arrian and Curtius remarked that the city of Marakanda possessed a strongly fortified citadel, encircled by a wall and a moat. Both town and citadel were surrounded by a defensive wall with a circumference of approximately thirteen kilometres. ... It would appear that this large city originated in the Achaemenid period (Masson 1959: 127)." [2]

[1]: (Dandamaev 1989, 308) Dandamaev, M A. 1989. A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire. Brill.

[2]: (Dandamaev 1989, 37-38) M A Dandamaev. J Vogelsang trans. 1989. A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire. E. J. BRILL. Leiden.


279 Ak Koyunlu present Inferred Expert -
Citadel on the ridge above Urfa had a moat and was held by the Ak Koyunlu: "The Mamelukes tended to use smaller stones, while the Ak Koyunlu Uzun Hasan in his rebuilding campaign of 1462-63 imitated the original masonry." [1]

[1]: Francis Russell. 2017. 123 Places In Turkey. A Private Grand Tour. Wilmington Square Books. London.


280 Susiana - Muhammad Jaffar unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


281 Elam - Awan Dynasty I unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


282 Parthian Empire II present Confident Expert -
Hatra had "inner and outer city walls surrounded by a moat". [1] "Other than a few cities in Mesopotamia, Parthian cities seem not to have been surrounded by walls, although some defensive preparations, such as the aforementioned fortresses and moats, have been identified in some sites." [2]

[1]: (Ring, Watson and Schellinger 2014, 122) Ring, Trudy. Watson, Noelle. Schellinger, Paul. 2014. Middle East and Africa: International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge.

[2]: Rezakhani, Khodadad. 2016. Arsacid Society and Culture. Accessed 06.09.2016: https://iranologie.com/the-history-page/the-arsacid-empire/arsacid-society-and-culture/


283 Elam - Crisis Period unknown Suspected Expert -
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [2] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.

[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.


284 Ilkhanate present Inferred Expert -
Ilkhans would have encountered moats e.g. in Syria. Did they use them themselves? Were any already present in Persia that survived the Mongol destructions e.g. southern Persia?
285 Susiana A unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


286 Susiana B unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


287 Susiana - Late Ubaid unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


288 Susiana - Early Ubaid unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


289 Elam - Kidinuid Period unknown Suspected Expert -
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [2] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.

[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.


290 Elam - Igihalkid Period unknown Suspected Expert -
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [2] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.

[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.


291 Elam - Shutrukid Period unknown Suspected Expert -
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [2] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.

[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.


292 Elam I unknown Suspected Expert -
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [2] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.

[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.


293 Parthian Empire I present Confident Expert -
Hatra had "inner and outer city walls surrounded by a moat". [1] "Other than a few cities in Mesopotamia, Parthian cities seem not to have been surrounded by walls, although some defensive preparations, such as the aforementioned fortresses and moats, have been identified in some sites." [2]

[1]: (Ring, Watson and Schellinger 2014, 122) Ring, Trudy. Watson, Noelle. Schellinger, Paul. 2014. Middle East and Africa: International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge.

[2]: Rezakhani, Khodadad. 2016. Arsacid Society and Culture. Accessed 06.09.2016: https://iranologie.com/the-history-page/the-arsacid-empire/arsacid-society-and-culture/


294 Japan - Early Jomon absent Confident Expert -
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
295 Japan - Middle Jomon absent Confident Expert -
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
296 Safavid Empire present Confident Expert -
Isfahan: "Canals were outside the city walls, which might have functioned as a wet moat." [1] "There was a citadel at Sarakh situated on the top of a hill and surrounded by a moat." [1]

[1]: (Roy 2014, 105) Roy, Kaushik. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. A&C Black.


297 Elam - Shimashki Period unknown Suspected Expert -
Closest reference is a moat at Ur c2000 BCE. [1] Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [2] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [3] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.

[1]: (Rutkowski 2007, 26) Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28.

[2]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.

[3]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.


298 Elam - Early Sukkalmah unknown Suspected Expert -
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [2] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.

[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.


299 Elam - Late Sukkalmah unknown Suspected Expert -
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [2] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.

[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.


300 Susa II unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


301 Susa III unknown Suspected Expert -
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]

[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56


302 Latium - Bronze Age present Inferred Expert -
Data from Po Valley: "At least from the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age a new phenomenon is noticeable in the Po Valley - pile-dwellings on dry land, called terramare. These villages were trapezoidal in shape and were surrounded with a moat and within this a rampart." [1]

[1]: (Childe 1925, 267-268) V Gordon Childe. 1925 (1996). The Dawn of European Civilization. Routledge. Abingdon.


303 Ashikaga Shogunate present Confident Expert -
’Connected by the singular artery of Muromachi Road and surrounded by a patchwork of walls, moats, and guardhouses, these small enclaves served as makeshift fortresses within which residents sought to secure a level of stability, safety, and commercial viability despite the violence and lawlessness of the age (see Figure 6.2). Politically, they organized into “neighborhood federations” (chō-gumi) through which they engaged in corporate defense and self-government [1]

[1]: Stavros, Matthew 2014. Kyoto: An Urban History Of Japan’s Premodern Capital. University of Hawai’i Press.p.143


304 Japan - Azuchi-Momoyama present Confident Expert -
’Despite their imposing appearances, the castles of the Azuchi- Momyama epoch were not constructed only for defense. Daimyo wished to develop commercially thriving towns around their fortresses and therefore often selected castle sites more on the basis of economic than military considerations. But above all, the typical Azuchi-Momoyama daimyo conceived of the castle as a means to impress the world with his grandeur and power. Thus, although castles of the time were noteworthy because of their broad, deep moats and huge protective walls made of stone, their most distinctive features were multistoried donjons or keeps, which were of little use militarily but were highly decorative and showy.’ [1] "the water-filled moat or hori afforded the best guarantee against penetration." [2]

[1]: Yamamura, Kozo (ed). 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 3. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press [sixth edition].p.492

[2]: (Kirby 1962) John Kirby. 1962. From Castle to Teahouse: Japanese Architecture of the Momoyama Period. Tuttle Publishing.


305 Heian present Confident Expert -
’Heian itself was almost certainly unwalled, except for a small garden-like structure about 6 feet high on the city’s southern border that served as a setting for Rampart Gate.That extremely modest "rampart," only about a third as high as the great walls that surrounded Ch’ang-an, was paralleled by two ditches or moats a little less than 10 feet wide, one inside the wall and the other outside. The remainder of the city’s boundaries is thought to have been delineated by nothing more formidable than extensions of those moats and perhaps some kind of simple earthwork.’ [1]

[1]: Shively, Donald H. and McCullough, William H. 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press.p.106-107


306 Japan - Initial Jomon absent Confident Expert -
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
307 Kansai - Kofun Period present Confident Expert -
"Tomb-era villages were quite different from their Yayoi predecessors. ... Villages might range from ten to sixty or more pit dwellings, along with several storehouses, and residences might be grouped in units of two or three, suggesting that they contained extended families. In larger settlements, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of sizable wooden structures, sometimes surrounded by a moat or stone walls." [1] There were apparently fewer moats in the Kofun era compared to the Yayoi. According to Kenichi Saski "the new age was also marked by the disappearance of moats enclosing settlements" although "influential people appeared, who could maintain larger storehouses ... these influential people resided within moated enclosures together with ordinary residences. In the Kofun era, settlements were no longer enclosed by moats, but elites began to reside in mansions, enclosed by moats and spatially distinct from ordinary settlements." [2]

[1]: (Farris 2009, 17) William Wayne Farris. 2009. Japan To 1600: A Social and Economic History. University of Hawai’i Press. Honolulu.

[2]: (Saski 2017, 68) Ken’ichi Saski. The Kofun era and early state formation. Karl F Friday. ed. 2017. Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History. Routledge. Abingdon.


308 Tokugawa Shogunate present Confident Expert -
[1]

[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.174.


309 Monte Alban V absent Confident Expert -
There is no evidence for a moat at Monte Alban or other settlements. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


310 Kara-Khanids present Confident Expert -
"Krasnaya Rechka. Site in northern Kyrgyzstan, c. 36 km east of Bishkek. ... identified with either Sarigh or Navakat ... Located along the Silk Route, the settlement developed in the 6th century and explanded in the 7th. ... The city was fortified with a pise and mud-brick wall (h. 15m; w. 12.3 m) with protuding bastions, fortified gates and a large moat. In the center of the site was an extensive area (20 sq. km) with traces of an irrigation system, sections of inner walls ... Excavation of a palace (10th-12th century), manor houses, craft workshops, pottery kilns and vineyards suggest that this became the city center during the period of Karakhanid (r. 940-1211) rule." [1]

[1]: (Bloom and Blair 2009, 399) Jonathan M Bloom. Sheila S Blair. eds. 2009. Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. Oxford.


311 Classical Angkor present Confident Expert -
’The enclosure of Banteay Prei Nokor is the largest and most formidable of which we have any knowledge in pre-Angkorian Cambodia. It was surrounded by a large earthen rampart, probably surmounted by a wooden palisade. The rampart is about 2.50 kilometers square. A moat, about 100 meters wide, surrounded the rampart [...].’ [1] ’Angkor Wat (see diagram 1 and map 5) was built over a period of 28 years (1122-1150), though some decorations were never com- pleted. Like several earlier Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is sur- rounded by a moat; in this case the moat is 200 meters (660 feet) wide. Digging this moat involved removing 1,500,000 cubic meters of earth; this could have been done by 5,000 men in 10 years.’ [2]

[1]: (Briggs 1951, pg. 76)

[2]: (Miksic 2007, p. 23)


312 Early Angkor present Confident Expert -
’The enclosure of Banteay Prei Nokor is the largest and most formidable of which we have any knowledge in pre-Angkorian Cambodia. It was surrounded by a large earthen rampart, probably surmounted by a wooden palisade. The rampart is about 2.50 kilometers square. A moat, about 100 meters wide, surrounded the rampart [...].’ [1] Banteay Prei Nokor was ’a very large city demarcated by a wall and exterior moat.’ [2]

[1]: (Briggs 1951, pg. 76)

[2]: (Higham 2014b, p. 353)


313 Khmer Kingdom present Confident Expert -
’The enclosure of Banteay Prei Nokor is the largest and most formidable of which we have any knowledge in pre-Angkorian Cambodia. It was surrounded by a large earthen rampart, probably surmounted by a wooden palisade. The rampart is about 2.50 kilometers square. A moat, about 100 meters wide, surrounded the rampart [...].’ [1]

[1]: (Briggs 1951, pg. 76)


314 Chenla present Confident Expert -
’With the later Iron Age, these have been identified through the banks that ringed the sites to retain and control the flow of water. Smiths fashioned heavy iron ploughshares and sickles. At Lovea in Cambodia, rice field boundaries radiated out from the moats. The division and improvement of land and increased production occurred as elites at Noen U-Loke were being interred in graves filled with rice, along with outstanding sets of exotic ornaments. Smiths also forged iron arrowheads and heavy spears. Some settlements grew to be much larger than others. Valued cattle and water buffalo were protected in corrals within the moats, and substantial houses were constructed in the residential quarters of the moated towns. It is suggested that this was a period of formative social change involving the emergence of powerful leaders rooted in hereditary inequality.’ [1] ’All we know is that like Oc Eo, the surrounding moats were square or rectangular.’ [2] Prei Khmeng and Ak Yum and its brick predecessor occupied an area thats seem to have been ’associated with a fan-shaped area of rice fields (Hawken 2011). The orientation of the linear banks north of these temples and fields might well have served to converse or direct water into these irrigated fields, associated in all likelihood with the use of drought oxen or water buffaloes to draw a plough, are must more productive than broadcast rice and the use of the hoe or spade alone to turn the soil.’ [3]

[1]: (Higham 2014, p 833-834)

[2]: (Higham 2014b, 288)

[3]: (Higham 2014b, 295)


315 Early Monte Alban I absent Inferred Expert -
Monte Albán’s fortifications are relatively well understood, but no source mentions the existence of a moat. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


316 Funan I present Confident Expert -
’The picture [of the Funan] is one of small town-states, moated, fortified and frequently in conflict with each other.’ [1] ’This extraordinary site [Oc Eo] comprises a rectangular enceinte measuring 3 by 1.5 km. It lies behind five ramparts and four moats, and covers an area of 450 ha.’ [2]
’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ [3] ’The river which flows there today was formerly a canal which functioned as a moat and a harbour, and ran about halfway around the outskirts of town.’ [4] ’Angkor Borei, a city covering about 300 hectares (750 acres), located above the Mekong Delta in Cambodia mayonee have been the capital of a state called FUNAN. The city had been occupied as early as the fourth century B.C.E. and was a major center. It is ringed by a brick wall and a moat. Chinese visitors to the region in the third century C.E. described a capital of a state called Funan, and Angkor Borei, which was linked to OC EO and other delta settlements by a canal, may well have been such a regal centre.’ [5] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ [6]

[1]: (Freeman and Jacques 1999, p. 8)

[2]: (Higham 2014, p. 279)

[3]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[4]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p, 57)

[5]: (Higham 2004, p. 17)

[6]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)


317 Archaic Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
"Whereas no sites are documented as fortified or military observatories during the Formative and Classic periods, approximately one quarter of sites are during the Epiclassic and one-third of sites are during the Postclassic." [1]

[1]: (Carballo and Pluckhahn 2007: 615) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/MUW5MHB7.


318 Funan II present Confident Expert -
’The picture [of the Funan] is one of small town-states, moated, fortified and frequently in conflict with each other.’ [1] ’In the 1920s Pierre Paris overflew this area [the flat plains surrounding the Mekong and its Bassac arm below Phnom Penh] and took a series of photographs. These revealed a network of canals crossing the landscape, and various nodal points where they met. One such junction revealed a huge enceinte demarcated by five moats and ramparts encoding 1,112 acres (450 ha). It was here that Louis Malleret excavated in 1944. The site was known as Oc Eco [...].’ [2] ’The river which flows there today was formerly a canal which functioned as a moat and a harbour, and ran about halfway around the outskirts of town.’ [3] ’Some have hypothesized that Angkor Borei was Naravaranagara, a capital of Funan in the sixth century. According to Michael Vickery, however, Naravaranagara was probably 60 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Angkor Borei. In any case, Angkor Borei was one of the most impressive sites in early first-millennium Southeast Asia.’ [4] ’The oldest dated inscriptions from Funan (K.557 and K.600), dated 611, have both been found at Angkor Borei. Another recently discovered inscription is believed to date from about 650. This stele mentions that Rudravarman, Funan’s last known ruler, was living in Angkor Borei.’ [5] ’Nor should one overlook the extent of the moats and defences of Oc Eo, and the large brick structure which was built in its central area.’ [6] ’This extraordinary site [Oc Eo] comprises a rectangular enceinte measuring 3 by 1.5 km. It lies behind five ramparts and four moats, and covers an area of 450 ha.’ [7]

[1]: (Freeman and Jacques 1999, p. 8)

[2]: (Higham 2012b, p. 590)

[3]: (Jacques and Lafond 2007, p, 57)

[4]: (Miksic 2007, p. 19)

[5]: (Miksic 2007, p.20)

[6]: (Higham 2014b, p. 342)

[7]: (Higham 2014, p. 279)


319 Bronze Age Cambodia present Confident Expert -
"The term “Memotian” culture is now used to refer to 40 circular ramparted and moated sites (banteay kou in Khmer) in a hilly area of east Cambodia and a corner of southwest Vietnam measuring 85 kilometers east-west and 35 kilometers north-south, occupied between the early third millennium to early first millennium bce; about 15 have been intensively studied. The oldest sites seem to cluster in the west of this area, from whence they spread gradually east. Their components include an outer rampart, interior depression or “moat”, and a gap in the rampart, probably an entrance/exit." [1]

[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 113) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS.


320 Bronze Age Cambodia present Confident Expert -
"The term “Memotian” culture is now used to refer to 40 circular ramparted and moated sites (banteay kou in Khmer) in a hilly area of east Cambodia and a corner of southwest Vietnam measuring 85 kilometers east-west and 35 kilometers north-south, occupied between the early third millennium to early first millennium bce; about 15 have been intensively studied. The oldest sites seem to cluster in the west of this area, from whence they spread gradually east. Their components include an outer rampart, interior depression or “moat”, and a gap in the rampart, probably an entrance/exit." [1]

[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 113) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS.


321 Jenne-jeno IV absent Confident Expert -
no evidence of "external threats to Jenne-jeno" [1] "For much of every year, Jenne was encircled by the flood waters of the Niger river ... Its inhabitants also built high protecting walls round their city, somewhat like those that may still be seen at Kano". [2]

[1]: (Reader 1998, 230)

[2]: (Davidson 1998, 58) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.


322 Segou Kingdom unknown Suspected Expert -
Closest relevant data: in the 19th century the Yoruba capital Ketu had double walls and a moat. [1]

[1]: (Smith 1989, 111) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.


323 Songhai Empire - Askiya Dynasty present Confident Uncertain Expert -
In the 15th century, Djenné was the archetype of a fortified city: built on an island, it was defended by a ring of water; the city itself was protected by a wall with 11 doors. "Mais au XVè siècle, Djenné était la ville forte par excellence: bâtie sur une île, elle était admirablement défendue par une ceinture d’eau; la ville elle-même était protégée par une enceinte percée de 11 portes." [1]

[1]: (Niane 1975, 125)


324 Songhai Empire - Askiya Dynasty absent Confident Uncertain Expert -
In the 15th century, Djenné was the archetype of a fortified city: built on an island, it was defended by a ring of water; the city itself was protected by a wall with 11 doors. "Mais au XVè siècle, Djenné était la ville forte par excellence: bâtie sur une île, elle était admirablement défendue par une ceinture d’eau; la ville elle-même était protégée par une enceinte percée de 11 portes." [1]

[1]: (Niane 1975, 125)


325 Mongol Empire present Confident Expert -
Khirkhira town had a citadel surrounded by a rampart and a moat. [1]

[1]: (Kradin 2010, 261)


326 Monte Alban Late I absent Inferred Expert -
Monte Albán’s fortifications are relatively well understood, but no source mentions the existence of a moat. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


327 Monte Alban II absent Inferred Expert -
Monte Albán’s fortifications are relatively well understood, but no source mentions the existence of a moat. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


328 Monte Alban III absent Inferred Expert -
Monte Albán’s fortifications are relatively well understood, but no source mentions the existence of a moat. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


329 Monte Alban IIIB and IV absent Inferred Expert -
Monte Albán’s fortifications are relatively well understood, but no source mentions the existence of a moat. [1]

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


330 Aztec Empire absent Inferred Expert -
"For fortifications, Aztec sites show a broad range with some totally exposed on valley floors and others being walled or at elevations. Tenochtitlan only had walls around the sacred precinct but of course had natural fortification by being an island in a lake that could be entered only through a few causeways. At the high end of fortification was the Tlaxcalan stronghold of Tepeticpac, up on a high hill and encircled by walls. That was their strategy of resistance against the Aztec empire. Huexotla is a site in the domain of Texcoco with a large wall and their were fortified garrisons on the frontier between the Aztec and Tarascan empires, in west Mexico. But probably more sites were not fortified than were. There was nothing comparable to the medieval European pattern or earlier fortified city states of Mesopotamia or elsewhere in Eurasia." [1]

[1]: (Carballo 2019: pers. comm. to E. Cioni and G. Nazzaro)


331 Terminal Formative Basin of Mexico unknown Suspected Expert -
May not survive archaeologically, only detectable via excavation.
332 Initial Formative Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
"Whereas no sites are documented as fortified or military observatories during the Formative and Classic periods, approximately one quarter of sites are during the Epiclassic and one-third of sites are during the Postclassic." [1]

[1]: (Carballo and Pluckhahn 2007: 615) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/MUW5MHB7.


333 Middle Postclassic Basin of Mexico absent Confident Expert -
"For urban centres in the rest of Mesoamerica, the lack of perimeter walls and defensive settings is striking. The undefended nature of Aztec towns, for example, contrasts sharply with the ethnohistoric record of Aztec warfare". [1]

[1]: (Smith 2003: 38) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/WEIQNSNP


334 Oaxaca - Rosario unknown Suspected Expert -
Sources [1] do not mention any archaeological evidence for fortification for this period.

[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.


335 Oaxaca - San Jose unknown Suspected Expert -
The fact that sources mention evidence for defensive palisades [1] but not evidence for any other kind of fortification suggests that there is only evidence for the former. Evidence for large or complex fortifications has not been found for this period.

[1]: Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (2005). Excavations at San José Mogote 1: The Household Archaeology, University of Michigan Museum, p102


336 Oaxaca - Tierras Largas unknown Suspected Expert -
The fact that sources mention evidence for defensive palisades [1] but not evidence for any other kind of fortification suggests that there is only evidence for the former. Evidence for large or complex fortifications has not been found for this period.

[1]: Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (2005). Excavations at San José Mogote 1: The Household Archaeology, University of Michigan Museum, p102


337 Sind - Abbasid-Fatimid Period unknown Suspected Expert -
Reference for use of the moat as a form of fortification in northern India around 3rd century BCE - 300 CE. [1]

[1]: (Singh 2008, 394) Upinder Singh. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Longman. Delhi.


338 Sind - Samma Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
"The decline of the Delhi Sultanate in the 15th century led to a situation where each lord needed to fortify his province with numerous castles." [1] Reference for use of the moat as a form of fortification in northern India around 3rd century BCE - 300 CE. [2]

[1]: Konstantin S Nossov. 2012. Indian Castles 1206-1526: The Rise and Fall of the Delhi Sultanate. Osprey Publishing.

[2]: (Singh 2008, 394) Upinder Singh. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Longman. Delhi.


339 Sakha - Early present Confident Expert -
Tokarev and Gurvich mention fortifications surrounded by water and snow: "When speaking of structures, we should also mention the fact that in the old days the Yakuts knew how to make fortifications or ostrozhki, as they were called in the Russian texts of the 17th century. For example, in 1636-1637, during the campaign against the Kangalastsy, the Russian Cossacks found that “they had built strong forts with two walls covered with gravel, and surrounded by snow and water;” it was only after a two-day assault that the Cossacks managed to take one of these forts. In 1642 the Russians also took a Sakha fortress after great difficulty: “. . . the fort was made with two walls, the space between the walls was filled with earth, and there were log towers.” At a later stage these fortifications disappeared, and no one has described them since in detail. But even in the 19th century it was possible to find special tower-like barns here and there, which belonged to the Toyons." [1]

[1]: Tokarev, S. A., and Gurvich I. S. 1964. “Yakuts.” Peoples Of Siberia, 265


340 Oneota unknown Suspected Expert -
Apparently the sites of Sleeth and C.W. Cooper were "fortified" [1] , but fortification type is not specified. Given that Cahokia and East St Louis had been fortified with wooden palisades [2] , it seems reasonable to infer that this same type of fortification was used for Oneota sites as well. However, it is entirely possible that fortifications, here, did include moats, do it does not seem correct to code this variable as absent. And it is not unknown, as someone out there must know what these fortifications consisted of.

[1]: T. Pauketat and J. Brown, The late prehistory and protohistory of Illinois, in J.A. Walthall and T.E. Emerson (eds.) Calumet & fleur-de-lys: archaeology of Indian and French contact in the midcontinent (1992), pp. 77-128

[2]: J. Galloy, The East St. Louis Mound Center: America’s Original “Second City” (2011), in The Cahokian Fall 2011: 11-15


341 Ayutthaya present Inferred Expert -
Inferred from the fact, in the 1560s, "[c]ities invested in brick walls, wider moats, and defensive cannon" [1]

[1]: (Baker and Phongpaichit 2009, p. 12)


342 Rattanakosin present Confident Expert -
"Rattanakosin Island, where King Rama I established the Royal Palace in 1782, was created by the digging of a defensive canal/moat which joined with the Chao Phraya River at the north and south and encircled the royal settlement." [1]

[1]: (Bristol 2010, 117) Graeme Bristol. Rendered invisible. Urban planning, cultural heritage and human rights. Michele Langfield. William Logan. Mairead Nic Craith. eds. 2010. Cultural Diversity, Heritage and Human Rights: Intersections in Theory and Practice. Routledge. London.


343 Konya Plain - Late Bronze Age II absent Confident Expert -
same as the previous polity: ’this fortification system arrangement remained unchanged throughout the imperial Hittite and Neo-Hittite periods’ [1]

[1]: Marcella Frangipane, ‘Arslantepe-Malatya: A Prehistoric and Early Historic Center in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 985


344 Byzantine Empire II present Confident Expert -
Moats. [1]

[1]: (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences. Personal Communication.


345 Byzantine Empire III present Confident Expert -
Present. [1]

[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences. Personal Communication


346 Hatti - New Kingdom absent Confident Expert -
same as the previous polity: ’this fortification system arrangement remained unchanged throughout the imperial Hittite and Neo-Hittite periods’ [1]

[1]: Marcella Frangipane, ‘Arslantepe-Malatya: A Prehistoric and Early Historic Center in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 985


347 Kingdom of Lydia unknown Suspected Expert -
not mentioned in literature
348 Konya Plain - Ceramic Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
not yet found in settlements such as Çatal Höyük
349 Konya Plain - Late Neolithic absent Confident Expert -
not yet found in settlements such as Çatal Höyük
350 Neo-Hittite Kingdoms absent Confident Expert -
’this fortification system arrangement remained unchanged throughout the imperial Hittite and Neo-Hittite periods’ [1]

[1]: Marcella Frangipane, ‘Arslantepe-Malatya: A Prehistoric and Early Historic Center in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 985


351 Ottoman Emirate present Confident Expert -
Present. [1]

[1]: Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences.


352 Roman Empire - Dominate present Inferred Expert -
A ditch filled with water would not have been beyond the technological capabilities of the Romans during this period but did they use/need them?
353 Tabal Kingdoms unknown Suspected Expert -
not mentioned in literature
354 Early Illinois Confederation absent Inferred Expert -
In terms of settlement organisation, the main defensive strategy seems to have been to construct larger villages [1] .

[1]: Illinois State Museum, Illinois Economy: Settlements (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/ec_settle.html


355 Yemen - Era of Warlords present Inferred Expert -
Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


356 Haudenosaunee Confederacy - Early absent Confident Expert -
"The Iroquois preferred a location where a stream or river looped in such a fashion that it could be utilized as a natural moat. If such a condition was not practicable, they built a dry moat." [1]

[1]: (Jones 2004, 52) Jones, David. 2004. Native North American Armor, Shields, and Fortifications. Austin: University of Texas Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/943RGM7A/itemKey/HABDQG2T


357 Haudenosaunee Confederacy - Late absent Inferred Expert -
Only dry moats or "natural moats" (rivers) were used. [1]

[1]: (Jones 2004, 52) Jones, David. 2004. Native North American Armor, Shields, and Fortifications. Austin: University of Texas Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/943RGM7A/itemKey/HABDQG2T


358 Proto-Haudenosaunee Confederacy absent Inferred Expert -
By this period villages were often located on defensible hilltops, away from major routes, and were fortified "either by ravines or by artificial earthworks and multiple palisades," and even watchtowers. Also, "the placement of houses within a palisade may also have been motivated by defensive considerations" and to create defensible corridors. [1] [2]

[1]: (Snow 1994: 52) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TQ4KR3AE.

[2]: (Engelbrecht 2003: 92) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/FJ3EAI76.


359 Cahokia - Early Woodland absent Inferred Expert -
Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


360 Cahokia - Late Woodland II absent Inferred Expert -
Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


361 Cahokia - Middle Woodland absent Inferred Expert -
Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


362 Yemen Ziyad Dynasty present Inferred Expert -
Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


363 Cahokia - Late Woodland III absent Inferred Expert -
Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


364 Cahokia - Late Woodland I absent Inferred Expert -
Inferred from the following. "About two millennia ago, during the Middle Woodland period, which spanned several hundred years, intergroup conflict ending in violence was largely absent from eastern North America. Compared to both earlier Archaic hunter-gatherers and later village agriculturalists, few Middle Woodland skeletons have projectile points lodged in bones, distinctive stone-axe injuries, or signs of mutilation such as decapitation and scalping. [...] The scarcity of such injuries is not a result of inadequate sampling, since there are large and well-preserved skeletal collections dating to this period, especially from the Midwest. A rather sudden adoption of food-procurement practices that shifted the balance between resources and consumers to a time of relative plenty presumably played a big part in establishing conditions conducive to openness among otherwise separate groups." The situation only changed "[l]ate in the first millennium AD". [1]

[1]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6


365 Himyar I absent Inferred Expert -
"When the invader had re-crossed the seas, the Himyar king reconquered his realm, and wreaked a savage vengance on the Christians of Najaran, who had probably collaborated with the Axumites. Their churches were demolished, and several hundred Najranis, who refused to apostatize, were burnt alive in a trench or moat outside their principal settlement. This occurred in the year 523..."."When the invader had re-crossed the seas, the Himyar king reconquered his realm, and wreaked a savage vengance on the Christians of Najaran, who had probably collaborated with the Axumites. Their churches were demolished, and several hundred Najranis, who refused to apostatize, were burnt alive in a trench or moat outside their principal settlement. This occurred in the year 523...". [1] Khandak: "ditch, moat ... it may be an Aramaic loanword in Arabic. ... Salman al-Farisi ... it is said, advised Muhammad to protect Madina in the year 6 A.H. against its beleaguerers by digging a moat, a means of defence hitherto unknown in Arabia but usual in Persia." [2]

[1]: (Saunders 2002,13)John Joseph Saunders. 2002. A History of Medieval Islam. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Beveridge 1993, 899) H Beveridge. Khandak. M Th. Houtsma. A J Wensinck. T W Arnold. W Heffening. E Levi-Provencal. eds. 1993. E. J. Brill’s First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. Volume IV. E J BRILL. Leiden.


366 Naqada I absent Inferred Expert -
-
367 Himyar II absent Inferred Expert -
"When the invader had re-crossed the seas, the Himyar king reconquered his realm, and wreaked a savage vengance on the Christians of Najaran, who had probably collaborated with the Axumites. Their churches were demolished, and several hundred Najranis, who refused to apostatize, were burnt alive in a trench or moat outside their principal settlement. This occurred in the year 523..."."When the invader had re-crossed the seas, the Himyar king reconquered his realm, and wreaked a savage vengance on the Christians of Najaran, who had probably collaborated with the Axumites. Their churches were demolished, and several hundred Najranis, who refused to apostatize, were burnt alive in a trench or moat outside their principal settlement. This occurred in the year 523...". [1] Khandak: "ditch, moat ... it may be an Aramaic loanword in Arabic. ... Salman al-Farisi ... it is said, advised Muhammad to protect Madina in the year 6 A.H. against its beleaguerers by digging a moat, a means of defence hitherto unknown in Arabia but usual in Persia." [2]

[1]: (Saunders 2002,13)John Joseph Saunders. 2002. A History of Medieval Islam. Routledge. London.

[2]: (Beveridge 1993, 899) H Beveridge. Khandak. M Th. Houtsma. A J Wensinck. T W Arnold. W Heffening. E Levi-Provencal. eds. 1993. E. J. Brill’s First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. Volume IV. E J BRILL. Leiden.


368 Naqada II absent Inferred Expert -
-
369 Egypt - Dynasty 0 present Confident Uncertain Expert -
-
370 Egypt - Dynasty 0 absent Confident Uncertain Expert -
-