Stephanie Rost, ed., with contributions by Maurits Ertsen; Vernon L.
Scarborough and Christian Isendahl; Martin Sterry, David J.
Mattingly, and Andrew Wilson; Jason A. Ur; M. Kyle Woodson; Marco
Madella and Carla Lancelotti; Stephanie Rost; Robert C. Hunt;
Hervé Reculeau; Emily Hammer; Michael J. Harrower; Juan Carlos Moreno
García; Li Min, Liu Bin, Wang Ningyuan, Lang Jianfeng, and Wei
Yi; Miriam T. Stark; and JoAnn Scurlock, and responses by Sylvia
Rodríguez; Carrie Hritz; and McGuire Gibson
Irrigation has long been of interest in the study of the past. Many
early civilizations were located in river valleys, and irrigation was of
great economic importance for many early states because of the key role
it played in producing an agricultural surplus, which was the main
source of wealth and the basis of political power for the elites who
controlled it. Agricultural surplus was also necessary to maintain the
very features of statehood, such as urbanism, full-time labor
specialization, state institutions, and status hierarchy.
Yet, the presence of large-scale or complex irrigation systems does
not necessarily mean that they were under centralized control. While
some early states organized the construction, operation, and maintenance
of irrigation works and resolved conflicts related to water
distribution, other early governments left most of the management to
local farmers and controlled only the surplus.
The cross-cultural studies in this volume reexamine the role of
irrigation in early states. Ranging geographically from South America
and the southwestern United States to North Africa, the Middle East, and
Asia, they describe the physical attributes and environments of early
irrigation systems; various methods for empirical investigation of
ancient irrigation; and irrigation’s economic, sociopolitical, and
cosmological dimensions. Through their interdisciplinary perspectives,
the authors—all experts in the field of irrigation studies—advance both
methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding irrigation in
early civilizations.
Contents
Preface
Introduction. Stephanie Rost.
Part I: The Features of Irrigation
1. A Leak in the Irrigation System May Not Be Seen: How to Connect Agency and Long-Term Effects in Irrigation. Maurits Ertsen.
2. Cross-Cultural Archaeology and the Role of the Tropics in Informing the Present. Vernon L. Scarborough and Christian Isendahl.
3. Foggaras and the Garamantes: Hydraulic Landscapes in the Central Sahara. Martin Sterry, David J. Mattingly, and Andrew Wilson.
Part II: The Empirical Investigation of Ancient Irrigation
4. Remote Sensing of Ancient Canal and Irrigation Systems. Jason A. Ur.
5. The Archaeological Excavation and Explanation of Ancient Canal Irrigation Systems in Southern Arizona, USA. M. Kyle Woodson.
6. Archaeobotanical Perspectives on Water Supply and Water Management in the Indus Valley Civilization. Marco Madella and Carla Lancelotti.
7. Written Sources in the Empirical Investigation of Ancient Irrigation:
The Operation of the I-sala Irrigation System in the Umma Province in
Late Third-Millennium BCE Southern Mesopotamia. Stephanie Rost.
Part III: The Economic Function of Irrigation
8. Irrigation, Food Surplus, and Complexity: A Case from Hohokam, a Prehistoric Neolithic Culture in the American Southwest. Robert C. Hunt.
9. “Opener of Canals, Provider of Abundance and Plenty”: Royal
Investment in Large-Scale Irrigation in Second-Millennium BCE Upper
Mesopotamia. Hervé Reculeau.
10. Role and Characteristics of Irrigation in the Kingdom of Urartu. Emily Hammer.
Part IV: The Sociopolitical Function of Irrigation
11. A New Interpretation of Irrigation and Ancient State Formation:
Political Rhetoric, Social Logic, and Spatial Heterogeneity. Michael J. Harrower.
12. Wells, Small-Scale Private Irrigation, and Agricultural Strategies in the Third and Second Millennia BCE in Egypt. Juan Carlos Moreno García.
13. Water Management at the Liangzhu Prehistoric Mound Center, China. Li Min, Liu Bin, Wang Ningyuan, Lang Jianfeng, and Wei Yi.
Part V: The Cosmological Dimension of Irrigation
14. From the Mekong to the Tonle Sap: Water Management and Cosmology in Cambodia’s Ancient States. Miriam T. Stark.
15. World-Encircling River. JoAnn Scurlock.
Responses
16. All Water Is Local. Sylvia Rodríguez.
17. Discussant Remarks. Carrie Hritz.
18. Response. McGuire Gibson.
- Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2022
- ISBN 978-1-61491-071-8
- Pp. xxx + 452; 99 figures, 45 tables, 4 maps
- Oriental Institute Seminars 13
Irrigation has long been of interest in the study of the past. Many early civilizations were located in river valleys, and irrigation was of great economic importance for many early states because of the key role it played in producing an agricultural surplus, which was the main source of wealth and the basis of political power for the elites who controlled it. Agricultural surplus was also necessary to maintain the very features of statehood, such as urbanism, full-time labor specialization, state institutions, and status hierarchy.
Yet, the presence of large-scale or complex irrigation systems does not necessarily mean that they were under centralized control. While some early states organized the construction, operation, and maintenance of irrigation works and resolved conflicts related to water distribution, other early governments left most of the management to local farmers and controlled only the surplus.
The cross-cultural studies in this volume reexamine the role of irrigation in early states. Ranging geographically from South America and the southwestern United States to North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, they describe the physical attributes and environments of early irrigation systems; various methods for empirical investigation of ancient irrigation; and irrigation’s economic, sociopolitical, and cosmological dimensions. Through their interdisciplinary perspectives, the authors—all experts in the field of irrigation studies—advance both methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding irrigation in early civilizations.
Contents
Preface
Introduction. Stephanie Rost.
Part I: The Features of Irrigation
1. A Leak in the Irrigation System May Not Be Seen: How to Connect Agency and Long-Term Effects in Irrigation. Maurits Ertsen.
2. Cross-Cultural Archaeology and the Role of the Tropics in Informing the Present. Vernon L. Scarborough and Christian Isendahl.
3. Foggaras and the Garamantes: Hydraulic Landscapes in the Central Sahara. Martin Sterry, David J. Mattingly, and Andrew Wilson.
Part II: The Empirical Investigation of Ancient Irrigation
4. Remote Sensing of Ancient Canal and Irrigation Systems. Jason A. Ur.
5. The Archaeological Excavation and Explanation of Ancient Canal Irrigation Systems in Southern Arizona, USA. M. Kyle Woodson.
6. Archaeobotanical Perspectives on Water Supply and Water Management in the Indus Valley Civilization. Marco Madella and Carla Lancelotti.
7. Written Sources in the Empirical Investigation of Ancient Irrigation:
The Operation of the I-sala Irrigation System in the Umma Province in
Late Third-Millennium BCE Southern Mesopotamia. Stephanie Rost.
Part III: The Economic Function of Irrigation
8. Irrigation, Food Surplus, and Complexity: A Case from Hohokam, a Prehistoric Neolithic Culture in the American Southwest. Robert C. Hunt.
9. “Opener of Canals, Provider of Abundance and Plenty”: Royal
Investment in Large-Scale Irrigation in Second-Millennium BCE Upper
Mesopotamia. Hervé Reculeau.
10. Role and Characteristics of Irrigation in the Kingdom of Urartu. Emily Hammer.
Part IV: The Sociopolitical Function of Irrigation
11. A New Interpretation of Irrigation and Ancient State Formation:
Political Rhetoric, Social Logic, and Spatial Heterogeneity. Michael J. Harrower.
12. Wells, Small-Scale Private Irrigation, and Agricultural Strategies in the Third and Second Millennia BCE in Egypt. Juan Carlos Moreno García.
13. Water Management at the Liangzhu Prehistoric Mound Center, China. Li Min, Liu Bin, Wang Ningyuan, Lang Jianfeng, and Wei Yi.
Part V: The Cosmological Dimension of Irrigation
14. From the Mekong to the Tonle Sap: Water Management and Cosmology in Cambodia’s Ancient States. Miriam T. Stark.
15. World-Encircling River. JoAnn Scurlock.
Responses
16. All Water Is Local. Sylvia Rodríguez.
17. Discussant Remarks. Carrie Hritz.
18. Response. McGuire Gibson.
- Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2022
- ISBN 978-1-61491-071-8
- Pp. xxx + 452; 99 figures, 45 tables, 4 maps
- Oriental Institute Seminars 13
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