Water Management in the Land of the Terribly Hot: A Hydrological Study of the Bagan Settlement Zone

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Located along the Ayeyarwady river, in the dry-zone of Upper Myanmar, is an area once described as "the land of the terribly hot", a land where the Classical Burmese capital of Bagan (11th to 14th centuries CE) is found. Home to over 4,000 monuments, a large and diverse population lived within the mixed urban-rural settlement zone. This paper will address how this successful city supported such a large population. While the monarchy controlled six major production enclaves across their kingdom, only a limited number of studies have addressed the local production capacity of this region. When considering the agricultural potential of this area, the question of water management comes to the forefront. Dominating this arid landscape is the Thetsoe-Taung range, a large string of mountains 11 km southeast of Bagan. Located at the base of this range is the Mya Kan reservoir, an important nexus for the dispersal of water across the Bagan settlement zone. In this paper, the water management strategy implemented across Thetsoe-Taung range will be discussed. Research will draw on the survey of numerous reservoirs, canals, and modified catchment zones. A preliminary understanding of this important water source, which ultimately supported the Bagan settlement, will be presented.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26152