Critical applications of KOCOA in Western Europe c. 26 BC - 1745 AD

Abstract

In the thirty years since Conflict Archaeology has evolved as a discipline, it has grown exponentially in scope. In order to define a methodological and conceptual framework for the discipline, conflict archaeologists in North America have adopted standard military analytical procedures and terminology. KOCOA (or OAKOC) is the standard military terrain analysis that conflict archaeologists use to aid in defining battlefield boundaries and interpreting battlefield remains. KOCOA is a military acronym that stands for Key or Decisive Terrain; Observation and Fields of Fire; Cover and Concealment; Obstacles; and Avenues of Approach and Withdrawal. The KOCOA approach has been utilized with success within the United States on a number of Revolutionary War, Civil War, and American Frontier Wars battlefields. The National Park Service (NPS) requires the application of KOCOA in evaluating the preservation potential of historic battlefields as part of the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP). Conflict Archaeologists have utilized KOCOA without appreciating its full potential or limitations. To date, KOCOA has mostly been applied to terrestrial battlefields that are at least partially preserved or otherwise historically documented. The majority of these projects were conducted under the auspices of the ABPP: the primary interest being the location and evaluation of defining battlefield features. Few attempts have been made to employ KOCOA in an academic setting in order to assess the influence of terrain on the conduct of battles, on command decisions made, or as a tool in the interpretation of archaeological assemblages for the purpose of reconstructing battles that are devoid of direct historical documentation. If KOCOA is to develop as part of the methodological and conceptual framework of Conflict Archaeology, then it needs to be applicable in wider chronological and geographical contexts. This thesis critically evaluates the applicability of KOCOA through answering a varied series of questions across a set of temporally and categorically different Western European sites. In the well documented, early modern Battle of Prestonpans (1745), KOCOA is used to rationalize how the terrain influenced where the actual engagement took place. KOCOA is then utilized to posit the location of the English siege lines and artillery fortifications from the Siege of Edinburgh Castle (1573) that have been subsumed by the urbanization of Edinburgh city center. The Second Scottish War of Independence battlefield at Halidon Hill (1333) is well known, but the battle itself is only documented in secondary chronicles, some written many years after the battle. A KOCOA analysis was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the chronicles, as well as to show how the English selection of the terrain served as a critical factor in the Scottish defeat. The location of sparsely documented Battle of Dún Nechtain (685) has generated fierce debate among scholars. A KOCOA analysis was undertaken to evaluate the terrain of Dunnichen and Dunachton and demonstrate which may have been the site of the battle. The Roman conquest of the Cantabrian oppidum at Monte Bernorio (c. 26 BC) is not documented in classical sources. Ongoing archaeological excavations at Monte Bernorio have recovered an artifact assemblage that was interpreted through a KOCOA analysis in order to reconstruct the course of the battle. The KOCOA method itself is critically evaluated as an analytical tool based upon the case studies, and it shows that when informed by other components of METT-T, KOCOA is applicable in wide range of chronologically and categorically different sites, both directly documented and undocumented