Critical applications of KOCOA in Western Europe c. 26 BC - 1745 AD
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Date
18/11/2021Author
Brown, Craig James
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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