Water Management and Irrigation (Other Keyword)
1-25 (42 Records)
This is an abstract from the "The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bagan was an authoritative capital as well as a cosmological and ritual epicenter of Theravada Buddhism for the Classical Burmese Empire during the eleventh to fourteenth centuries CE. Integral in the Buddhist belief system is the notion of merit; achieved through good deeds or donations to the Buddhist Church. This...
Around the Neighboring Watering Hole: Comparative Analysis of Fountains in Pompeii and Herculaneum (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Water and Sanitation Management in the Mediterranean " session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Substantial urban development is linked to the first century CE in Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as throughout the Bay of Naples. An important component of this development included the construction of the Aqua Augusta, or Serino Aqueduct as it is known today. The associated lead pipe network supplied pressured water for private...
Automated Detection of Gridded Canal Networks in Veracruz, Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ancient peoples of Classic Period Veracruz employed a suite of strategies for agricultural intensification aimed at increasing agricultural yields and managing seasonal rainfall. One common strategy involved the construction of gridded canal networks with alternating raised field platforms which drained water in the wet season and retained it in the dry...
The Bajada Canals of the Safford Basin, Southeastern Arizona: Excellence in Prehistoric Engineering (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Exceptionally well-engineered prehistoric canals have been disclosed near the city of Safford, Arizona. Within an area of roughly 450 square kilometers, 12 distinct canal systems, comprised of 41 canals, have been identified originating in the bajada (foothills) of the Pinaleño Mountains. Conveying water from mountain runoff and springs, the longest canal is...
Coastal Hydrogeological Context of Potable Water Sources of the Vista Alegre Maya Port Site, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico (2018)
Ongoing investigation at the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre has revealed a multi-phased and significant occupation spanning the Preclassic to Postclassic periods. However, the vital source of potable water that would have supported this coastal settlement remains unknown. We present a hydrogeological assessment of the region to understand changing water sources over the last 2 millennia. Potential groundwater foci at the intersections of conjugate fracture sets are presently either...
Collective Action, Transport Costs, Watercraft Technologies, and the Engineered Ancestral Landscapes of Southern Florida (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Negotiating Watery Worlds: Impacts and Implications of the Use of Watercraft in Small-Scale Societies" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Watercraft technologies have a long history in southern Florida. Archaeologists have recovered large vessels but historic documents also describe the Calusa utilizing complex ships able to transport large numbers of people. In addition to the sizable amount of labor that the people of...
Detection of Water Management Systems Using LiDAR at Las Abejas, Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 2016, the PfBAP (Programme for Belize Archeological Project) employed airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging) remote sensing technology to map the project area in northwestern Belize. The PfBAP has used LiDAR data to detect and analyze anthropogenic modifications created by the ancient Maya. With this data in hand, we have generated a map with which to...
The Development of Hydroelectric Power over Ancestral Land in Chilean Patagonia (2018)
Chile is largely reliant on fossil fuels for energy and is working to transition to more renewable energy sources, specifically hydroelectric power. As part of this initiative, the state is proposing the construction of five hydropower dams in southern Chile. In this paper, we analyze the potential impact of this project on the ancestral land of the Mapuche. The Mapuche have been resisting the modern Chilean state’s approach to water and power and are fighting for land rights and the...
The Early Agricultural Period at La Playa, Mexico, A Geoarchaeological Investigation (2018)
La Playa (SON F:10:3), in Sonora, Mexico, has the remains of an irrigation canal system associated with the Early Agricultural period (2100 B.C.-A.D. 50), a period characterized by the development of agriculture in the southwest United States and northwest Mexico. Satellite imagery analysis and magnetic gradiometry surveys covering over 53,000 m2 of the site, document almost 8,700 m2 of agricultural fields, 15 km of irrigation canals, and over a dozen circular structures. Irrigation canals were...
Early Agricultural Practices at La Playa, Sonora, Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Geoarchaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This poster presents results from geoarchaeological research on earthen irrigation canals at La Playa (SON F:10:3), in Sonora, Mexico. La Playa’s agricultural field system is associated with the Early Agricultural period (2100 B.C. – A.D. 50), which is characterized by the development of agriculture in the southwest United States and northwest Mexico. A combined dating...
El sistema de desagües del Juego de Pelota de Monte Albán (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Avances en los estudios de la arquitectura de Monte Albán" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. La recolección y almacenamiento de agua pluvial es una de las prácticas más antiguas en Mesoamérica. La investigación arqueológica en diversos sitios ha permitido la identificación y documentación de depósitos subterráneos, depósitos a cielo abierto, almacenamiento en recipientes y más común el sistema de desagües. En Monte Albán...
Examining the Concept of Hinterland in Antiquity in Arid Regions of the Levant Using Archaeobotanical Data and GIS Analysis (2018)
Studies concerning the size of agricultural hinterlands in antiquity have generally been conducted on sites with favorable climates and have become the standard comparative tool. However, little has been examined relating to the size of a settlements hinterland in arid environments even when excellent archaeological evidence for extensive agricultural production, as can be seen in southern Jordan and Israel during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Likewise, a disproportionate focus has been...
Filled to the Brim: Estimating Lowland Maya Reservoir Capacities by Combining Survey, Soil Cores, and GIS (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. One of the limiting factors to settlement aggregation in the Maya lowlands is the availability of potable water. With few perennial surface rivers and lakes, the ancient Maya collected water from rainfall for consumption. In areas with high population densities, such as Classic period cities, this required engineering the built landscape to funnel water for...
Geoarchaeological Investigations of Wetlands and Waterways in Crooked Tree, Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeology and the History of Human-Environment Interaction in the Lower Belize River Watershed" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The lagoon system around the island of Crooked Tree in northern Belize provides a compelling hydrological landscape with a strongly seasonal flood regime. The area also presents evidence of long occupation and use by the Maya. Our ongoing investigations include geoarchaeological testing...
Geomorphic Framework Development for Willamette Valley Reservoirs to Support Cultural Resources Management (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Future Directions for Archaeology and Heritage Research in the Willamette Valley, Oregon" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. High-head, multipurpose dams and reservoirs constructed in the 1940–1960s in the Willamette Valley encompass a diverse array of landscapes utilized by humans for thousands of years. These reservoirs overlap numerous cultural sites that are subject to dynamic erosion and deposition processes....
GIS Modeling of Precolonial Maya Natural Resource Management Strategies during Major Climatic Changes (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This project analyzes the water management systems of a smaller Puuc community, tentatively labeled Site A that was recently identified using lidar (light detection and ranging) technology. This region is distinctive for having no natural surface water features. Precolumbian Puuc communities captured rainwater during the wet season in chultuns (underground...
Historic Water Management Infrastructure in the San Pasquale Valley, Calabria, Italy (2018)
Over the last several field seasons, the Bova Marina Archaeological Project has been documenting the timing of construction and the physical characteristics of the original water management infrastructure as well as documenting the changes in the natural and social systems of the San Pasquale Valley in Calabria, Italy. The Valley was recolonized in the 19th and early 20th centuries for both large scale bergamot plantations and by peasant farmers. With large scale population exodus from the...
Hohokam Water-Harvesting in the Queen Creek Area: Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives of Water Management along Ephemeral Drainages in the Southern Arizona Desert (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Phoenix Basin Hohokam are celebrated for the construction of massive and elaborate canal systems fed by perennial waterways, principally the Salt and Gila rivers. In desert areas, however, along the many ephemeral drainages that crisscross the region, rainfall-harvesting and water-storage technologies largely overshadowed canal irrigation. These...
Irrigation Time: An Assessment of Time as a Factor in Hohokam Irrigated Acreage (2018)
The Hohokam within the lower Salt River Valley, central Arizona, practiced large-scale irrigation the spanned thousands of acres. Previous studies examining Hohokam irrigation assumed that there was a direct correlation between the amount of available water within the lower Salt River and the amount of land that could be irrigated. The amount of available water is necessary for assessing where water was sufficient for successful crops and where insufficient water made agricultural production...
Long-Term and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Water Use and Management in the Mountain West (2023)
This is an abstract from the "A Further Discussion on the Role of Archaeology in Resource and Public Land Management" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Water heritage associated with water use and management, including infrastructure like canals, irrigation ditches, and ponds, and intangible heritage like traditions, experiences, stories, and myths, reveals how past and present communities adapt to uncertain climatic and changing social conditions....
Maize: Phenotypic Response to Variable Depth Water Input (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Experimental Archaeology in Range Creek Canyon, Utah" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Prehistoric maize farming has been well-documented in Range Creek Canyon, Utah. Evidence includes numerous corn cobs, maize storage structures, starch on ground stone tools, and pollen and isotopic evidence from sediment cores. Maize farming experiments in Range Creek suggest dry farming would not have been a sustainable option for...
Mind the Gap: Absolute Dating of Middle Gila River Canals provides Evidence for 1,500 Years of Continuous Irrigation Agriculture in the Phoenix Basin (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Evidence suggests that the first irrigation canals along the Middle Gila River were built by at least the Vahki phase ca. AD 450, and the construction and use of canals continued throughout the remainder of prehistory. Canal systems are also a prominent part of the historical lifeway of the Akimel O'Odham who live in the Hohokam core area today, with reported...
Multiproxy and LiDAR Evidence for Intensive Maya Wetland Agriculture Along the Rio Bravo River (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Ancient Maya Landscapes in Northwestern Belize, Part II" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. We present preliminary results from a newly discovered Maya wetland canal and raised field system found along the Rio Bravo River in Northwest Belize using airborne LiDAR. The LiDAR data reveals canals and raised fields in a very rectilinear pattern that suggest planning and organization for many kilometers down the floodplain near...
Placing Ancestral Pueblo Water Management Practices into Ritual Contexts (2018)
Across cultures, the ritual use of water is nearly ubiquitous, yet most archaeological studies of water focus primarily on its socio-economic importance. The large (~200-1500 person) mesa-top Ancestral Pueblo (AD 1100-1700) villages of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico are particularly good contexts for the archaeological study of water because small water storage features, often referred to as reservoirs, are found at many villages across the region. Alternative hypotheses for feature function,...
Political Water: Hohokam Irrigation and Sociopolitical Organization in Canal System 2, Lower Salt River Valley, Central Arizona (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Since the publishing of Irrigation Communities: A Comparative Study in 1955, sociopolitical hierarchy has factored strongly in interpretations of irrigation system control. A lively debate has developed as to where control lies, ranging from a central authority (top-down) to water user cooperatives (bottom-up). Although Hohokam irrigation has appeared in that...