Читать книгу Incised Drawings from Early Phrygian Gordion - Lynn E. Roller - Страница 12

2

Technique and Subject Matter of the Drawings

Technical Features of the Drawings

Let us turn our attention now to the character of the drawings on the incised stones. The drawings were incised directly onto the poros blocks, a fairly soft stone that can be scratched with just about any type of sharp tool. The placement of the drawings on the blocks is quite irregular: no effort was made to center the drawings on the blocks or frame them in any way. In some cases (examples include 1, 5, 8, 10, 12, 29, 59, 67, 82, 93, 94, 99, 104) the incision work covers the whole front surface of the block, while in others (note 4, 6, 21, 27, 31, 36, 48, 53, 80, 95, 102) incision marks were made only on a portion of the front surface, leaving the remaining area blank.³⁶ Where two or more adjoining blocks survived in situ (see Figs. 9, 12, 13), we can see that no drawing extends over the edge of one block onto the next, suggesting that each drawing is self-contained on a single block.

I use the word “drawing” to describe the material, but in fact several different techniques can be observed. Some drawings were scratched lightly into the stone, while others were cut more deeply. In a few instances the area around the incised scene was deeply carved and stone was partially cut away from the outline of the figure; examples include 31, 33, 59, 74, 95, 98, and 102. Drawing 98, which depicts a man and a lion, furnishes a particularly notable example; here the stone around the lion is deeply cut back in what appears to have been a preliminary attempt at relief sculpture.

The treatments of the individual scenes are equally variable. Some of the drawings show efforts to do careful, precise work. Others, however, are of quite amateurish character, little more than stick figures, and several consist merely of formless lines and shapes scratched onto the stones. On a number of stones one figure overlaps with another on the same block. In some cases such overdrawing seems to be the result of experimentation in the composition of the picture. For example, in drawing 1 we appear to see three drafts of a lion’s head in various poses; the lighter lines may form preliminary sketches for the subject and the more deeply incised lines create the final picture.³⁷ Drawing 10 has the beginning of a sketch of a lion’s face above a complete lion’s head. Drawing 71 contains two attempts at drawing a human head with a helmet in addition to the final version showing both human head and body. Drawing 53 shows a lion with two tails; the inciser originally made the drawing with the tail extending down between the lion’s hind legs and later changed it to curve up and over the animal’s back. In other cases it appears that several different artists were at work, intentionally placing multiple subjects on top of another. In 9a the elevation of a building was placed over a bird. In 14, a bird shown in left profile was drawn on top of two warriors who face each other with drawn swords, while the warrior at right was drawn over a lion striding right. Drawing 98 depicts a male figure drawn over a lion; the lion is deeply cut as if for relief sculpture, but the male figure is much more lightly incised and appears to have been added later. Drawing 8 illustrates a particularly complex example. Here the head of a bird drawn in right profile shares a common line with the body of another bird; both are overlain by a lion facing right, which then merges into the outstretched wingspread of a bird in flight, with random lines across the whole. Drawing 82 also displays a complex mixture of geometric patterns and animal figures, with several birds overlapping a lion and a horse.

A large number of drawings contain random lines and arcs interspersed around a more complex subject. In at least a few cases, a pictorial scene appears to have been intentionally obscured by lines or scratches after its completion, as if someone was trying to deliberately erase the scene; examples include 13, 44, 58, 81, and 83.

Subject Matter of the Drawings

The unequal nature of the drawing styles and techniques initially gives the impression that the drawings were a completely haphazard series of scenes. A closer review of the material, however, reveals that certain subjects recur regularly, the most common being human figures, animals, and geometric motifs. These tend to fall into patterns that suggest a limited set of sources of the drawings, a circumstance which has interesting implications for their meanings.

This discussion of the subject matter of the drawings will begin with scenes of human figures. As is true of the corpus of drawings as a whole, the drawing styles used to depict human figures vary greatly. A few have an almost cartoon-like quality, such as a pair of stick figures who engage their outstretched hands as if about to fight (81), and a small beak-headed man who holds a disproportionately large spear (74). In many instances, however, the figure is more carefully drawn and a great deal of detail can be detected. In every case where indications of gender are visible the figure is male, although in some cases the figures are so schematically rendered that the gender cannot be determined, e.g., 49, 52, 54. In most instances the figure was drawn with head in profile, shoulders and upper torso full front, and lower torso and legs in profile (1, 2, 5, 8, 14, 31, 44, 46, 52, 54, 59, 88, 98). Two figures are shown with both head and torso fully frontal (49, 101), and a few are in full profile (50, 71, 77, 94). In one example (33), the drawing’s creator apparently started to make a full front figure, and then changed to a profile figure; this drawing is so poorly executed, though, that it is difficult to be certain.

Most of the human figures are shown clothed, and the costumes depicted fall into regular patterns. In the most common costume, the male figure wears a short kilt, sometimes with a visible pattern in the fabric (2, 44, 46, perhaps also 81) and/or belt (5, 44, 59, 101). This seems to be the costume of a warrior, since in several cases a weapon is also present; this can be a short sword, worn at the side (5, 31, 44, 46, 59, 101) or extended in use (14), a mace (44, 98), a spear (74), or a bow and arrow (33, 37). One pair of warriors (14) is shown with helmets, on one of which a crest is indicated. On all these figures there is no indication of clothing on the upper torso; this may be due to the simple nature of the drawing and the lack of internal detail, since one would assume that a warrior would wear some form of protection on his upper torso.

Other costumes are quite different. One, found in 71, 77, and 94, is a long gown that appears to cover the whole body and is fastened at the waist with a wide belt and belt buckle. The figures in this costume also wear a type of cylindrical headdress that also occasionally appears on a figure wearing the short kilt, e.g., 46 (both costume and headdress are described in greater detail below). On one example, 88, a figure wears a long gown that follows the contours of the body but is not belted.

When a hairstyle is visible on a human figure, e.g., 1, 8, 14, 44, 98, and perhaps 88, the style normally shown is with hair pulled to the back of the head and curling up slightly in a pigtail at the nape of the neck. In one example, 101, the figure’s hair appears to be parted in the middle, with braids hanging down on each side of the face; this is also a rare example of a figure shown in a frontal pose. None of the figures who wear the short kilt appears to have a beard, but on some of the figures who wear the long gown, 71, 77 and 94, depictions of the chin area appears to merge into the costume, suggesting that the figure may be bearded.

Several drawings merely depict a standing male figure, not obviously connected through costume or pose with a clear identity or activity. These are 1, one man walking left, the other walking right; 8, a small male figure facing right; 47, a crudely drawn figure facing right; 97, the lower torso of a rather squarish figure facing right; 52 and 54, both of which show a figure in right profile. Drawing 49 is the simplest figure of all; the drawing depicts a crudely drawn head and columnar body with outstretched arms, with no internal details to suggest gender, costume, or action.

A few scenes, however, depict human figures in poses or with attributes that suggest that a specific action or narrative element was intended. As noted above, several drawings depict warriors, either men standing and holding weapons, or men actively engaged in fighting. Drawing 2 depicts a man walking left holding a bow in his right hand and an arrow in his left. Similarly in 5 the figure holds what appears to be a bow on his left shoulder and wears a sword at his side.³⁸ Drawing 31 depicts a man walking left, with his left arm bent and the hand placed on the hip, and a sword along his right leg, similar to 5. Drawing 98 shows a man walking right; his left arm, extended in front of him, is bent up at the elbow and he appears to hold a weapon like a mace with the head pointed back at him (this is analogous to, although not identical with, the weapon held by the figure in 44, discussed below). Drawing 33 depicts a standing male holding a shield and a large spear to the right (alternatively, this could be a disproportionately large bow and arrow, analogous to the weapons in 2). The figure is quite clumsily rendered, with an odd combination of full front and profile figure, but the depiction of the weapons is quite clear. Drawing 37 preserves only a partial section of weapons, a shield and spear (or bow and arrow), but it is likely that these were held by a human figure which is not preserved.

A few drawings depict warriors engaged in hostile action. Drawing 14 is the most detailed example. In this drawing two warriors stand and face each other with their arms extended towards each other; the figure at the left appears to hold a sword in his right hand, while the figure at the right has a pointed projectile extending from the right hand, presumably also a weapon. Both figures appear to be shown with helmets on their heads, and the right figure’s helmet has a crest indicated on it. The scene strongly suggests a depiction of a confrontation between two armed warriors was intended. Similarly drawing 59 shows two scenes of men facing each other in hostile confrontation. None of the figures appears to be holding weapons, although the right figure of the pair at the far right of 59 wears a sword by his side.³⁹ Instead they raise their fists towards each other as if about to engage in a fist fight. Drawing 81 depicts a simpler version of two individuals fighting. The figures, rendered as virtual stick figures, stand and face each other, with arms extended out towards the opposite figure and the hands of the two figures interlocked, as if in struggle. The figure at the right is both poorly drawn and poorly preserved, so few internal details can be seen, but on the figure at the left we see a belt across the figure’s waist and two fleshy buttocks.

The figures shown wearing the long costume, in 71, 77, 88, and 94, convey a different, more stately impression. Drawings 71, 77, and 94 depict standing males wearing a similar costume, a long gown with voluminous folds indicated by vertical lines (few internal lines are visible in 94); the gown is fastened at the waist by a belt with an elaborate belt buckle (this is shown most clearly on 77). The figure has a flat-topped cylindrical object on his head, probably a type of headdress. The rendering of the head and headdress is often so simplistic that it is difficult to read clearly, but this seems to be some official head covering, such as a crown. In all three of these figures the chin area flows directly into the gown with no indication of a neck, suggesting that the figure had a long flowing beard that hangs over the front of the gown. This feature appears most clearly shown in 77, although in none of the figures is any detail of a beard, such as individual curls, shown. It is difficult to determine if any of these figures is engaged in some activity. The figure in 71 holds one arm, probably the right, back and outstretched; the figure may be holding a weapon such as a spear. The figure in 77 may have the left arm outstretched. No arms are visible on 94.

Drawing 88 also depicts a human figure in a long gown striding to the right. While this drawing lacks the detail of 77, it is clear that the costume, headdress, and pose of this figure are somewhat different from the figures discussed above. There is no belt on the costume, and the only internal detail shown is a vertical fold in the garment’s hem. The large rounded head suggests that a rounded head covering of some kind was intended. The figure’s hair is gathered in a knot at the nape of the neck; it is uncertain whether a beard is indicated. The figure may have one arm extended before him, but no other details are shown.

A small number of scenes with human figures merit particular attention, since they depict subjects not paralleled elsewhere in the drawings. Two examples, 44 and 98, show a male figure walking to the right. In each drawing the figure is holding one arm back and brandishing a weapon, as if about to strike someone or something. On both examples the handle of the weapon is turned so that the mace head is next to the human figure’s head, a potentially awkward position for striking another object. In 98, the figure appears alone and the potential object of the blow is not shown. Drawing 44, however, depicts a more complex scene. Here the male figure wears a short kilt with a fringe and a decorative belt, and has a sword fastened by his side. His left arm, bent forward in front of him, holds the cord of a bag that dangles in front of him; in the bag we see a hare upside down. Traces of another set of hare’s ears and head are visible next to the bag; this is probably part of a trial drawing that was abandoned. The figure holds a weapon, probably a mace or ax, with its right arm. The implication is that the figure is brandishing the weapon as if to strike the hare in the bag.

Drawing 46 also portrays a complex and unusual scene. In this piece the drawing style is considerably simpler, but the scene is nonetheless interesting. Along the left side of the incised surface is a standing male figure facing right. The figure wears a short kilt and has a sword or dagger at his side. Above his head is the flat-topped cylindrical headdress; this appears to be the same headdress as was noted on the figures wearing the long gown, although the crude style of the drawing makes certain identification difficult. The figure’s arms, indicated as single lines, are shown outstretched in opposite directions, the right extended straight out while the left extends back with the elbow bent up. Two birds in flight appear on either side of the figure. The presence of the birds may be co-incidental, since many of the drawings show unrelated figures next to each other. The position of the figure’s arms, however, suggests that he has extended his left arm to attract the bird at right, the direct object of the figure’s gaze. The scene appears to be a depiction of falconry, showing an individual who holds out one arm for the bird to perch on, while with the other arm he swings a lure to attract the bird. Falconry may also be the subject of 19, which shows two birds perched on an outstretched object. The bird at right is clearly a raptor, as indicated by its sharp curved beak, and the object on which it perches may be a human arm with protective covering.⁴⁰

Drawing 101 also presents an interesting scene, in which a standing figure is shown with the body and face full front. There are no indications of clothing on the figure apart from five horizontal lines across the figure’s waist that probably indicate a type of belt; an object attached to the figure’s left side may be intended as a sword. The figure’s hairstyle is unusual: it is parted in the center and fastened in two braids or ponytails. The arms are outstretched on either side of the body with the left arm bent up at the elbow, and the right arm down, while the legs are in right profile. The legs suggest that the figure is walking to the right, or perhaps running or dancing, since the left leg is kicked up in the air. Drawing 50, shown in profile, also depicts a figure whose arm and leg position suggest that he is moving or dancing. This figure has no internal details to delineate a costume, headdress, or weapons of any kind.

The identity of these human figures is hard to determine. The details of costume, head covering, and weaponry are consistent and detailed enough to suggest that the individuals who drew these scenes had a specific visual model in mind. That model may lie outside Gordion, since the human figures in these drawings present many striking parallels in pose and costume with figures in Neo-Hittite relief sculpture, and parallels for these scenes will be discussed below in Section 3. Yet there also seems to be some interest in connecting these figures with elements of contemporary Phrygian society. This is most evident in depictions of elaborate belts and belt buckles (77 furnishes a good example). The burial tumuli at Gordion have yielded several examples of intricately worked metal belts;⁴¹ clearly this was a form of personal adornment that was important to the Phrygians, which may account for its presence in these drawings.

The status of the figures is also uncertain. One would assume that most were intended to represent human beings engaged in various activities. The addition of details of costume, such as the belt and the distinctive cylindrical headdress, was intended to identify the figure and designate individuals of high social position. Parallels with contemporary Syro-Hittite models, however, lay open the possibility that at least some may have been intended as divine or semi-divine figures. The intent of the human pictorial scenes is also problematic. The figures are for the most part isolated individuals, or, in four cases (14, 59 left and right, 81), a pair of figures fighting. Were they intended to represent contemporary life? The formidable fortification walls of Gordion certainly suggest the potential for military activity in the contemporary community. Moreover, two intriguing scenes noted earlier, 19 and 46, may show representations of falconry, an activity that could have been carried out by contemporary residents of Gordion. Yet other scenes, such as the striding warrior holding a hare in a bag (44), the warrior with a lion (98), the figure with a beak-shaped head, perhaps intended to depict a composite human-animal creature (74), the figure shown in full frontal pose (101) suggest allusions to a more complex narrative function, not necessarily connected with casual observations of daily life. These are all issues to which I will return in Section 3.

Let us look at another pictorial category, animals. Animals form the most frequent subject matter, with some type of animal occurring on approximately three-quarters of the incised stones.⁴² The single most common animal is a bird, found on nearly half of the incised stones. Various poses appear, including birds at rest and in flight. Many consist of simple outline drawings, but in several cases great care was taken to depict internal details such as wing and tail feathers; noteworthy examples include 3, 5, 9a, 11, 16, 19, 20, 62, 66, 69, 72, 77, and 96.

Several different types of birds can be recognized. One that recurs regularly is a raptor, or bird of prey, easily recognized by its curved beak and talons, emphasizing the bird’s predatory nature. Depictions of the Gordion raptors fall into standard and repetitive patterns. The most common pose depicts the raptor in profile, sitting at rest with wings and tail folded and talons outstretched as if about to perch on something; good examples can be seen in 5, 8, 9, 11 right, 16 left and center, 19, 20 right, 26, 54, 69. Less commonly, a sitting raptor is shown with outstretched wings, e.g., 3, 11 left, 16 right, 20 left, 55.

In addition to the depictions of raptors, there are many depictions of tamer fowl, some of which may be domesticated birds. Examples include 59 and 82 left and center, pheasant-like fowl; 14, perhaps a sitting grouse; 41, 50, 71, perhaps also 2, birds that have the long neck, beak, and legs of a stork; 27 and 50, which look like sitting hens; 94, possibly also 92, a goose. Drawings 67 and 104 depict a bird with a distinctive high crest, perhaps a type of crane, and 82, 94 right, and 96 lower right show a bird with a long, elaborate folded tail; this too could be a crane, or perhaps a peacock. Other depictions of birds follow a set pattern that is not detailed enough to identify a distinct species. One is the undifferentiated bird in profile; this can be seen in 8, 11 right, 14 left, 65, 70. Others show the outstretched wing span of a bird in flight; note examples on 8, 46, 62, 72, 74, 77, 82 right, and 92. Here the emphasis is less on the individual species of bird and more on the appearance of the airborne bird as if seen from the vantage point of the human viewer below.

Virtually every bird is shown as an isolated entity, sketched independently and not interacting with other figures, human or animal, that appear in the same scene. In some instances several birds are shown in a row, e.g., 5, 11, 16, 20, 69, as if someone was experimenting with drawing various bird profiles. In 5 a human figure stands in the center with raptors on either side of him, but there is no interaction between them. Two interesting exceptions to this practice were noted above: 46 depicts a male standing with outstretched arms while birds fly around him, and 19, although more poorly preserved, appears to depict two raptors perched on an object which may be an outstretched human arm. Both of these may illustrate scenes of falconry, the first depicting a man twirling a lure to recall the raptor, while the second showing the raptors on the trainer’s arm.

The lion is the next most frequently represented animal, found on approximately 25% of the examples. The lions are presented in much more consistent fashion. All are shown in profile, as if striding forward.⁴³ They are normally shown with open mouth; in a few cases sharp teeth are clearly visible (80, 102), and some have a long tongue hanging out (1, 7, 10, 38, 48 left, 53). Several lions are shown with prominent claws (4, 6, 29, 47, 53, 58); often these are unusually long and curved, more reminiscent of a bird’s talons than feline claws. The combination of teeth and claws serves to emphasize the animal’s ferocity. Some of the lions are done in simple outline, but several were provided with distinctive internal details, such as prominent shoulder muscles (6, 29, 48, 53, 98, 102), a wrinkled muzzle (1, 45, 48, 80, 99), a neck ruff that can appear almost like a collar (1, 4, 6, 48, 53, 95, 99, 102), and a semicircular or angular mark indicating the cheek (1, 4, 6, 51). A few examples (10, 29, possibly also 98) show the full mane of the adult male lion. On one stone, 80, a particularly well preserved pair of lions have carefully detailed faces on which the face whiskers are clearly visible. Where the gender of the animal can be determined, all the lions are male, with one prominent exception, 85, a nursing lioness whose teats are clearly shown.

The method of drawing the Gordion lions falls into a repetitive pattern, as if the drawing were following a standard model. The animal’s nose and the curve of its head and back were drawn first, then legs were added, and finally internal details. This can be demonstrated from examples where the inciser made multiple attempts at drawing, abandoning an incomplete form and then starting another similar form nearby. Note the double nose on 10, a double tail on 83, and the double lion’s back on 47 and 84.44

All of the lions on the Gordion incised stones appear as isolated figures, standing alone and not interacting with any other figure, human or animal. This is so even when more than one animal appears on the same stone. As noted above, there are several depictions of armed warriors, but no scene of a human figure hunting a lion appears among the incised drawings.

A variety of other animals also occurs, all appearing much less frequently than either a bird or a lion. Five stones depict horses (10, 12, 72, 82, 104), all shown in profile. In addition, there are two billygoats (10, 96), one stag (71), an animal that may be either an ibex or a type of wild cattle (72, 73, 100), an animal that may be a gazelle (75), and a hare (44), as well as a few quadrupeds either so poorly preserved or so sketchily drawn that their identity is uncertain, and at least one example of a fish (87). Several of the depictions record lively details: the billygoats have prominent horns and beards, one horse (72) is shown galloping with a striking mane and tail, the stag stretches its neck to display a fine set of antlers, and the ibex (or cattle) have impressive sets of horns. One animal drawing—the hare carried in a bag by a hunter (44)—forms part of a complex picture that suggests a narrative function (parallels for this scene will be discussed in Section 3), but the other examples depict the animal as an isolated figure, not interacting with a human figure or forming part of a complex scene.

I will return to a fuller consideration of the meaning of the animal drawings in Section 3, but, given the breadth and complexity of the examples, a few summary remarks are in order here. Taken together, the depictions of animals reveal an intriguing mixture of animal forms that follow a prescribed pattern and animals with individual features that show close observation of nature. The drawings of the lions are the most formulaic: the animals are found in a limited range of poses, most frequently walking in right profile, and certain details, such as the open mouth, bared teeth, neck ruff, shoulder muscles, and curled claws, are depicted in very standard and repetitive patterns. Several of the depictions of birds also follow a repetitive pattern, a bird of prey in right profile with prominent beak and talons being the most common example. Others, however, suggest a keen eye for detail, and this is even more true of the less frequently depicted animals. This suggests that the lions and, to an extent, the birds of prey were depicted for their symbolic value, while other bird species and other animals reflect the artist’s observation of the world around him. Taken together, the drawings of animals offer a shifting perspective between recurring symbolism and observation of daily life.

Depictions of architectural structures form another highly interesting subject. One architectural type that recurs in several drawings is an elevation of a tall building with a pitched roof. One block, 9a and 9b, now in two non-joining pieces, contains drawings of three such structures, and a smaller illustration of the same architectural type but with less detail appears in 46.45 In each case the drawing depicts the rectangular wall of a building; this is surmounted by a triangular pediment, indicating that we are looking at the short end of a building with the roof gable above. In one of the drawings (9a-right) a door is visible in the building’s end wall. In two cases (9a-left, 9b) the building is taller than it is wide, while in the other two drawings (9a-right, 46) the building’s façade is nearly square. These factors strongly suggest that the drawings depict the elevation of one end of a Phrygian megaron, such as those that comprise the most common building type in the Citadel complex, including Megaron 2 itself. These presumably had a pitched roof and a doorway in the short end of the building (for the plan of the standard Gordion megaron, see Fig. 3).⁴⁶

Let us look at the three architectural elevations depicted on 9a and 9b in greater detail. These have usually been discussed together as a unit, but close examination of the drawings reveals that they differ from each other in several ways, indicating that the three drawings depict three separate structures. Reading from left to right, the building incised on the left side of 9a depicts a tall narrow structure with a steeply pitched roof forming a high gable supported by a central vertical beam in the pediment. Above the central point of the gable are lines in the shape of a crescent; this is likely to be an intentional decoration on the roof, although it is difficult to be certain whether the drawing depicts a separate decorative element such as an akroterion placed on the building’s roof or reproduces the visual effect of wooden rafters that continued above the ridgepole. Set into the center of the building’s wall is a rectangle; this is likely to indicate a window, since it is too high above the ground level to be a door. In the pediment are lines forming small rectangles, one to the left of the central beam and two to the right; these appear to illustrate a set of windows in the pediment. The lower left portion of the building wall overlaps a drawing of a bird of prey, shown in right profile. The incised lines forming the building are heavier than those of the bird; thus it seems likely that the bird was drawn first and the building was incised later over the bird.

The center example also depicts the elevation of a building wall surmounted by the triangular end of a steeply pitched roof supported by a central vertical beam. Lines forming the side walls of the building continue beyond the top of the wall, although whether this reproduces an intentional construction feature or is just a product of sloppy drawing is uncertain.⁴⁷ The diagonal lines that outline the roof extend above the central ridgepole to form a V pattern; this is likely to be intentional, illustrating the extension of the sloping rafters above the ridgepole to create a decorative pattern on the roof. In the center of the building’s façade is a double door composed of two leaves, each made from a row of vertical beams bound together with two horizontal cross timbers. To the right of the double door is a small rectangle, probably a window, while over the door is a circle with small lines inside it, presumably a form of decoration placed on the building wall. The building’s wide double doors and its exterior decoration above the door suggest that it was an imposing structure of some importance.

The third architectural elevation, on 9b, also shows the short end of a rectangular building with a gabled roof, but this drawing contains several unique features that set it apart from the other two. In this case the outline of the building’s roof is drawn with parallel double lines, and the double outline extends well above the roof gable in a curved-V with inverted arms. The intent of the drawing seems to be to illustrate a decorative frame for the gable ends. This may well reproduce a decorative feature of stone, such as a stone akroterion with wings that curve inward on the point of the gable, of which actual examples have been found at Gordion.⁴⁸ There is no door in the front of a building, but an animal with a raised tail, drawn in right profile, is visible within the outlines of the building’s front wall.⁴⁹ This is probably a lion, and here surely represents a type of decoration, either a relief sculpture or a painted drawing, placed on the building’s façade. Next to the lion can be seen crossed diagonal lines forming a lozenge pattern; these are very faint, but seem intended to illustrate some form of geometric ornament that would also have decorated the building’s front façade. The combination of lion and geometric pattern implies that this drawing represents the decorated front façade of an imposing public building. The lion on 9b is too small to offer the level of detail visible in the drawings of lions discussed earlier, but the striding pose and raised tail of the animal are similar to the incised stone drawings of lions and suggest that this lion was intended as a symbol of power, further reinforcing the imposing nature of the building’s appearance. Below the building is a series of horizontal parallel lines; these may represent stairs that led up to the building’s entrance.

The building elevation illustrated in the far right of 46 is a simpler version of the previous three. In this drawing the short end of a building with a gabled roof is depicted; crossed lines extending above the point of the gable are likely to represent rafters extending above the ridgepole, on analogy with the building in 9a-right. There is a doorway in the middle of the building façade, but no other internal details are visible. Below the building is a single horizontal line bisected by a vertical line; this may indicate a step or courtyard in front of the building.

In addition to the examples of the megaron elevation, another, completely different architectural form appears on 38. On the left side of this stone is a drawing of a structure with a rectangular face, the top and bottom of which are indicated by two parallel horizontal lines; in its center is a tall vertical member, topped by a pointed triangular form, perhaps intended to suggest a tower. On either side of the central vertical structure, a pair of diagonal lines extends from its midsection to the upper left and right corners of the rectangular face. The effect is to suggest an elevation of a structure composed of a wooden frame braced by diagonal supports, with a large central tower. This could be part of a wooden fortification wall, such as a stockade, or it could be a gate with two leaves, although it would be surprising to see a tower placed in the middle of a gate, which is one reason for preferring the interpretation of a stockade wall. Alternatively, if the drawing represents a gate, the actual tower would have been placed at the side of the gate, and the drawing intentionally distorts the perspective to make the tower appear more conspicuous. Below this is a series of parallel horizontal lines; these may represent a set of steps leading up to the wall/gate or a stone base supporting it.

One further example provides further information about architecture at Gordion, a drawing on 8 that may replicate a section of a decorated standing wall. This stone is heavily incised with multiple scenes, but at the upper left corner is a form that appears to depict a wall made of two parallel faces of ashlar masonry, similar to the construction of Megaron 2 itself. One of these faces is decorated with a hooked meander pattern, perhaps alluding to decoration that was placed on the walls of buildings in the Early Phrygian Citadel.

Geometric patterns form another subject that recurs regularly among the Gordion incised drawings. These can range from fairly simple motifs such as straight and zigzag lines, squares and rectangles, the five-pointed star, and hand- and compass-drawn circles, to more complex and intricate patterns and forms. As in the drawings of anthropomorphic figures, the skill level of the drawings of patterns is quite uneven. Some of the incised stone drawings of geometric patterns were done by hand and can appear rather clumsy. Others, such as the compass-drawn rosettes, were carefully done with a precision instrument.

Some of the patterns are basic elements of drawing that could be adapted to a variety of designs, including simple straight and zigzag lines (very common) and the compass-drawn circle or arc of a circle, found in 34, 42, 82. There are also several examples of more complex patterns built on a circle, such as the vertical row of compass-drawn circles found on 82. A more elaborate development of the compass-drawn circles was the rosette, a design comprising a circle with internal six petals formed by using the compass to draw arcs of the same circumference as the enclosing circle; note 10, 70, 72, 75, 82, 85.

Some of the simpler examples need not have any special significance, since forms such as lines, zigzags, and circles are all fairly basic drawing elements that were widely known and used. Other examples of complex patterns in the stone drawings, however, may have had special meaning for Early Phrygian Gordion, since they are similar to several of the designs used as decorative motifs in other media in Phrygian art, including painted pottery and wooden furniture. These can include concentric squares (12), meander patterns (23), diamonds and lozenge rows (15, 37, 43, 49, 67), and X-in-square or X-in lozenge designs (10, 20, 30, 57, 82, 103). These same patterns suggest the types of designs that could have been used in perishable media, such as textiles.