{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T21:14:53Z","timestamp":1775769293250,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,13]],"date-time":"2017-08-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1502582400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Research on the Application of Remote Sensing Technology in Exploring the Origin of Chinese Civilization","award":["No. 2013BAK08B06"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No. 2013BAK08B06"]}]},{"name":"Remote sensing and geophysical comprehensive in archaeological research of China classical archaeological site","award":["No. 2015BAK01B01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No. 2015BAK01B01"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJGI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Silk Road opened during the Han Dynasty, and is significant in global cultural communication. Along this route in the central part of Xinjiang, the archaeological sites with defensive characteristics once provided a safeguard for this area. Reconstructing the defensive system is an important way to explore the ancient culture\u2019s propagation and the organizational structure of these sites. In this research, the compound visibility network with complex network analysis (CNA) and the least-cost paths based on the defensibility models from linear and logistic regression methods constitute the principle defensive structure. As possible transportation corridors, these paths are considered to be mostly fitted to each other in general, and are different from normal slope-based paths. The sites Kuhne Shahr and Agra play important roles for information control according to the CNA measures, while the sites Kuhne Shahr and Kuyux Shahr are considered to be crucial cities due to their positions and structural shapes. Some other sites, including Uzgen Bulak, Shah Kalandar, Chuck Castle, Caladar, and Qiuci, as well as some beacons, have important effects on defending the transportation corridors. This method is proven efficient for the study of the historical role of archaeological sites with defensive characteristics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi6080247","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,14]],"date-time":"2017-08-14T10:23:12Z","timestamp":1502706192000},"page":"247","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["GIS-Based Visibility Network and Defensibility Model to Reconstruct Defensive System of the Han Dynasty in Central Xinjiang, China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9717-1372","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jianfeng","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), Beijing 100101, China"},{"name":"Joint Laboratory of Remote Sensing Archaeology, Beijing 100101, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yueping","family":"Nie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), Beijing 100101, China"},{"name":"Joint Laboratory of Remote Sensing Archaeology, Beijing 100101, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huaguang","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Joint Laboratory of Remote Sensing Archaeology, Beijing 100101, China"},{"name":"National Museum of China, Beijing 100006, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fang","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), Beijing 100101, China"},{"name":"Joint Laboratory of Remote Sensing Archaeology, Beijing 100101, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lijun","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), Beijing 100101, China"},{"name":"Joint Laboratory of Remote Sensing Archaeology, Beijing 100101, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"46","article-title":"On the troops wasteland-opening up and its effect in the western regions during the Han-Tang Dynasty","volume":"31","author":"Abdukirim","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Kashgar Teach. Coll."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Jiang, N. (2013). Research on the System of Frontier in Han Dynasty. [Ph.D. Thesis, Central China Normal University]."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"58","article-title":"Establishment of the Western Regions Frontier Command and Competition for Qiuci between Han Empire and Huns during the Western and Eastern Han, analyzing from Wulei to Tagan","volume":"5","author":"Song","year":"2012","journal-title":"Qiuci Stud."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"40","article-title":"Jurisdiction and management of Han and Tang Dynasty in Xinjiang from the archaeological data","volume":"21","author":"Zhou","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Xinjiang Norm. Univ."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"47","article-title":"The remains of the site and the layout of the defense cities of the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions","volume":"30","author":"Zhang","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Chin. Hist. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"647","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaa.2013.03.003","article-title":"To see or to be seen...is that the question? An evaluation of palaeolithic sites\u2019 visual presence and their role in social organization","volume":"32","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Anthropol. Archaeol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2113","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2012.12.012","article-title":"Assessment of the Lines of Torres Vedras defensive system with visibility analysis","volume":"40","author":"Rua","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"525","article-title":"A matter of scale. Assessing the visibility of circular tombs in the landscape of Bronze Age Crete","volume":"4","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"405","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2005.08.005","article-title":"Assessing the level of visibility of cultural objects in past landscapes","volume":"33","author":"Ogburn","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"362","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2006.09.004","article-title":"Settlement models, land use and visibility in rural landscapes: Two case studies in Greece","volume":"80","author":"Sevenant","year":"2007","journal-title":"Landscape Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaa.2014.05.003","article-title":"Extrinsic site defensibility and landscape-based archaeological inference: An example from the Northwest Coast","volume":"35","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Anthropol. Archaeol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaa.2009.01.001","article-title":"Quantifying the defensiveness of defended sites on the Northwest Coast of North America","volume":"28","author":"Martindale","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Anthropol. Archaeol."},{"key":"ref_13","first-page":"42","article-title":"Predictive modeling for preventive archaeology: Overview and case study","volume":"6","author":"Danese","year":"2014","journal-title":"Cent. Eur. J. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaa.2012.10.001","article-title":"An ethnoarchaeological inductive model for predicting archaeological site location: A case-study of pastoral settlement patterns in the Val di Fiemme and Val di Sole (Trentino, Italian Alps)","volume":"32","author":"Carrer","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Anthropol. Archaeol."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4127","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2013.06.003","article-title":"The spatial distribution of Palaeolithic human settlements and its influence on palaeoecological studies: A case from Northern Iberia","volume":"40","author":"Turrero","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2096","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2009.06.004","article-title":"Using multivariate statistics and fuzzy logic system to analyse settlement preferences in lowland areas of the temperate zone: An example from the Polish Lowlands","volume":"36","author":"Jaroslaw","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2012.08.023","article-title":"GIS-based methodology for Palaeolithic site location preferences analysis. A case study from Late Palaeolithic Cantabria (Northern Iberian Peninsula)","volume":"40","author":"Garcia","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"623","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2010.10.015","article-title":"A GIS method for assessing the zone of human-environmental impact around archaeological sites: A test case from the Late Neolithic of Wadi Ziql\u00e2b, Jordan","volume":"38","author":"Ullah","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaa.2009.09.002","article-title":"An analysis of factors influencing sixteenth and seventeenth century Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) settlement locations","volume":"29","author":"Jones","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Anthropol. Archaeol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"426","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2014.10.024","article-title":"Plants and environment: Results of archaeobotanical research of the Bronze Age settlements in the Carpathian Foothills in Poland","volume":"53","author":"Korczynska","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Menze, B.H., and Ur, J.A. (2012). Mapping patterns of long-term settlement in Northern Mesopotamia at a large scale. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 778\u2013787.","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1115472109"},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"416","article-title":"Border surveillance: Testing the territorial control of the Andalusian defense network in center-south Iberia through GIS","volume":"9","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"144","article-title":"Best travel options: Modeling Roman and early-medieval routes in the Netherlands using a multi-proxy approach","volume":"3","author":"Lanen","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2048","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2008.01.009","article-title":"Some spatial analyses of Chalcolithic settlement in Southern Israel","volume":"35","author":"Fletcher","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_25","first-page":"43","article-title":"Research on today\u2019s location of Regions Frontier Command site from archaeological perspective","volume":"6","author":"Lin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Hist. Res."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Xinjiang Bureau of Surveying Mapping and Geoinformation (2015). The Map of China Xinjiang."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Zhou, J. (2010). Study on the Xiyu Duhu of the Western Han Dynasty. [Master\u2019s Thesis, Northwest Normal University]."},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"5","article-title":"A brief comment on the research on the safeguard city in the Western Region in Han Dynasty","volume":"28","author":"Hong","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Xinjiang Norm. Univ."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"31","article-title":"Several economical problems of Qiuci in Han and Tang Dynasty","volume":"4","author":"Shang","year":"1989","journal-title":"J. Xinjiang Norm. Univ."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9030262","article-title":"Evaluation of Recently Released Open Global Digital Elevation Models of Hubei, China","volume":"9","author":"Hu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"581","DOI":"10.1006\/jasc.1996.0142","article-title":"Spatial Analysis of visible areas from the Bronze Age Cairns of Mull","volume":"24","author":"Fisher","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"Scott, J. (2012). Social Network Analysis: A Handbook, Sage Publications. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wasserman, S., and Faust, K. (1994). Social network analysis in the social and behavioral sciences. Social Network Analysis Methods and Application, Cambridge University Press. [1st ed.].","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511815478"},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"22","article-title":"Landscapes of warfare: Intervisibility analysis of Early Iron and Urartian fire beacon stations (Armenia)","volume":"3","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2012.01.005","article-title":"Nuraghes and landscape planning: Coupling viewshed with complex network analysis","volume":"105","author":"Caschili","year":"2012","journal-title":"Landscape Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"346","article-title":"Webs of defense: Structure and meaning of defensive visibility networks in Prehispanic Peru","volume":"8","author":"Mullins","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"(2016, November 04). Wikipedia. Available online: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Centrality."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3435","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2011.08.005","article-title":"Measuring the relative topographic position of archaeological sites in the landscape, a case study on the Bronze Age barrows in northwest Belgium","volume":"38","author":"Bourgeois","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2918","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2008.06.006","article-title":"Investigation of past archaeological landscapes using remote sensing and GIS: A multi-method case study from Mount Ida, Crete","volume":"35","author":"Siart","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_40","first-page":"54","article-title":"Eyes of the empire: A viewshed-based exploration of Wari site-placement decisions in the Sondondo Valley, Peru","volume":"4","author":"Marsh","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landusepol.2013.02.002","article-title":"Visual, seascape and landscape analysis to support coastal aquaculture site selction","volume":"34","author":"Falconer","year":"2013","journal-title":"Land Use Policy"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2293","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2011.03.035","article-title":"Deletion\/Substitution\/Addition (DSA) model selection algorithm applied to the study of archaeological settlement patterning","volume":"38","author":"Fernandes","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1080\/17538947.2011.576778","article-title":"Geospatial predictive modeling of the Neolithic archaeological sites of Magnesia in Greece","volume":"4","author":"Perakis","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Digit. Earth"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1016\/j.culher.2006.06.001","article-title":"GIS based models and estimation methods for the probability of archaeological site location","volume":"7","author":"Espa","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Cult. Herit."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"607","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaa.2007.05.001","article-title":"Transportation corridors and political evolution in highland Mesoamerica: Settlement analyses incorporating GIS for northern Tlaxcala. Mexico","volume":"26","author":"Carballo","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Anthropol. Archaeol."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1171","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2009.12.015","article-title":"Defensibility of large prehistoric sites in the Mid-Fraser region on the Canadian Plateau","volume":"37","author":"Sakaguchi","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"200","DOI":"10.1002\/gea.21510","article-title":"Finding a way: Modeling landscape prerequisites for Roman and early-Medieval routes in the Netherlands","volume":"30","author":"Lanen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Geoarchaeology"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2014.11.030","article-title":"\u201cDotting the joins\u201d: A non-reconstructive use of least cost paths to approach ancient roads. The case of the Roman roads in the NW Iberian Peninsula","volume":"54","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_49","first-page":"7","article-title":"Moving without destination. A theoretical, GIS-based determination of routes (optimal accumulation model of movement from a given origin)","volume":"64","year":"2006","journal-title":"Archaeol. Comput. Newsl."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"843","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jas.2010.11.006","article-title":"Order in movement: A GIS approach to accessibility","volume":"38","author":"Llobera","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaa.2006.06.001","article-title":"The southern dispersal hypothesis and the South Asian archaeological record: Examination of dispersal routes through GIS analysis","volume":"26","author":"Field","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Anthropol. Archaeol."},{"key":"ref_52","first-page":"123","article-title":"Mapping changes in late prehistoric landscapes: A case study in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula","volume":"40","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Archaeol. Sci."}],"container-title":["ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/6\/8\/247\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:42:14Z","timestamp":1760208134000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/6\/8\/247"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,13]]},"references-count":52,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,8]]}},"alternative-id":["ijgi6080247"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijgi6080247","relation":{},"ISSN":["2220-9964"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2220-9964","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,8,13]]}}}