Hic sunt leones. Iconographic analysis and computational modelling for the study of the Iron Age free-standing lions of the Elbistan plain (south-eastern Anatolia)

Lying between the central Anatolian plateau and the Euphrates region,the Elbistan plain represents an ideal environment for inspecting forms of culturalinterconnection. During the Iron Age, this territory was marked by the presenceof notable inscribed monuments, the study of which allowed scholars to establishrelationships with the most significant Neo-Hittite dynasties. This region is alsocharacterized by the presence of sets of anepigraphic portal lions, positioned seeminglyat random in the open landscape and with no apparent relationship withcoeval archaeological remains, which have never been concretely integrated intothe historical picture. In this contribution, the iconographic and stylistic analysis ofthese sculptures will allow us to situate them in their chronological and historicalframework. A computational spatial model is further used to evaluate the meaningof their positioning as markers of a visual networking system that may have representedthe most significant thoroughfares to and from the Elbistan plain.