A Clustering of Castles: Multi-scalar Architectural Types to Examine Fortified Elite Residences within a House Societies Model

Abstract

Abstract Castles have certain universal, strategic functions embedded in both their architecture and their placement upon the landscape. These materialized functions allow the castle to: (1) serve as control points along important arteries of commerce; (2) provide protection for local communities; and (3) act as monumental territorial markers symbolic of social rivalries and inter-group competition. This paper uses a variation of the House Societies Model (HSM), in conjunction with statistical analyses, to explore the most basic relationships between society, architecture, and landscape within a cross-cultural framework, emphasizing functionality and behavioral practices in castle placement and design. Using a dataset of medieval European castles (c. A.D. 500–1500), Early Modern fortresses from colonial contexts (A.D. 1500–1900), and castle-like structures from around the world, we demonstrate how various iterations of “the castle” statistically categorize by function and their relationship to local topography rather than its regional or cultural contexts. These results suggest that the social roles castles fit cross-cultural patterns that must be more fully explored.