We are only at the very early stages of developing our ideas of the reconstruction of this landscape. The contemporary landscape looks relatively uninteresting, apart from a few major standing buildings dominating the area: it gives few clues to the earlier use of the area. However, the interpretation of the aerial imagery suggests an organised landscape, with a complex interaction of space and functions.
There are a number of elements to this landscape, not all of which may have functioned simultaneously. For example, if the elite residential/palatial areas, indicated by the köshks and possible surrounding formal gardens, were 8th or 9th century in date, then they may have been encroached upon, or surrounded by, later Seljuk activities: most notably the caravanserais. Indeed, it is hard to read back through the aerial images to earlier landscapes in this area: for example, what was happening in the area before the caravanserais were constructed? However, the later landscape, that of the late 11th and 12th centuries, does appear to be more legible: the gardens are not obscured by later buildings; the köshks are still standing; the religious complex is not demolished; the caravanserais are visible. So while we cannot be sure, without excavation, that all of the different landscape elements were operating at that time, it seems a reasonable assumption (Fig. 66).
Figure 66: Tentative reconstruction drawing of the suburban area in the mid/late 12th century AD, looking north-east from a position approximately above the Lesser Kyz Kala. Hotspots lead to brief descriptions of the various elements of the landscape. (Drawing by Claire Venables).
By reconstructing large areas as formal gardens, the superficially isolated monuments also become part of a vibrant and managed elite space. An alternative hypothesis would be that the elite space was being encroached upon, perhaps as it became neglected. Clearly work on the chronology of these monuments and landscapes is needed: some excavated sequences would probably improve our understanding of these transformations.
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Last updated: Mon Sept 29 2008