Architectural Assemblages: The Northwest Complex at Zincirli

Abstract

The Northwest Complex is one of several known Syro-Anatolian elite residences on the citadel of Zincirli. Syro-Anatolian elite residences such as the Northwest Complex are generally described with the anachronistic term Hilani. The related discourse has focussed on the architectural features that can define the Hilani type. More recently, discussions have focused anew on how these complexes functioned. This paper uses assemblage theory to move the discourse away from its focus on what architecture is to what it can do. It situates the Northwest Complex in an assemblage of Syro-Anatolian elite residences that partake in a shared culture of hospitality. It argues that the distinctive feature of these residences is their externalization of hospitality through the creation of elaborate in-between spaces in the form of external porticos.

Ancient Urban Assemblages and Complex Spatial and Socio-Political Organization in Iron Age Archaeological Sites from Southern Africa

“…In this paper, we use two theoretical constructs of recent years to further question and place this debate in context. Using assemblage theory from its various perspectives, we here argue that it is perhaps more useful and more rewarding to view the Zimbabwe Culture settlements as assemblages at two levels (Jervis, 2016;Kertai, 2019;Hamilakis and Jones, 2017). At the wider regional level we see the architectural remains as cultural assemblages that were produced through space and time and as dynamic rather than a constant.…”

“…We further see them as representing cultural expressions that need to be viewed as a changing assemblage in form and composition. In this regard, we note for example that the original Whitty stylistic classification of the walling styles into P, Q and R with the generally accepted chronological significance and association with the development of different complex state systems of the Zimbabwe Culture is problematic (Shenjere-Nyabezi et al, 2020;Kertai, 2019). Based on detailed architectural observations in north-western Zimbabwe and elsewhere, we have noted that in terms of wall styles, the different styles, previously seen as signifiers of architectural evolutionary development do in fact occur within the same walls at some sites and also occur in combination within and between sites.…”

“…At the site level, the construction of cultural space and the production of an assemblage at this level would also have been subject to change as a result of various factors, geographical, environmental, social, political and economic. This is in the sense that the architectural assemblages that characterize and constitute the Zimbabwe Culture should be regarded not only as architectural arrangements, but things that highlight the processes of arranging (Kertai, 2019). In this sense, the assemblages then become products of various processes operating among people working individually and collectively.…”