Within the Range of the Watchtowers: Nature and Purpose of Late Bronze Age Hilltop Buildings in the Blagoevgrad Basin, Southwestern Bulgaria

Abstract The Struma/Strymon River valley, due to its key geographical position, carving a corridor in mountain massifs, served as a natural communication route between the north: south-eastern and central Balkans and further on – Central Europe, and the south: the coast of the Aegean Sea. The lack of detailed studies of the settlement pattern have not allowed for complete characterization of its role in the cultural contacts of prehistoric communities. Fortunately, this state of research is changing, due to the carrying out intensive field surveying, and recording of archaeological sites. As a result of it, evidence of the flourishing of settlements in the Late Bronze Age and the transition period between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age were recorded. In addition to flat settlements, “atypical” sites were also identified – called the Kamenska Chuka-type, named after the first discovered site of this type, located in naturally defensive and hard-to-reach places with a wide observation views. From the very moment of discovery, researchers have been speculating about the functions of these archaeological sites. The aim of this article is to attempt to explain some issues – nature and purpose related to Kamenska Chuka-type sites and verify the theses put forward by researchers of the topic, using geographic information system (GIS) technology and freely available spatial data, combining them with traditional archaeological data.