Irrigation and human niche construction. An example of socio-spatial organisation in the Zerqa Triangle, Jordan

Kaptijn, Eva

doi:10.1007/s12685-015-0129-7

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…39,40 Traditional systems often operate at the local level without the need for higher order regulation or control, e.g., traditional irrigation on Bali and early modern irrigation in the Jordan Valley. [41][42][43] Ancient small-scale, low-tech irrigation systems, which are usually not labor-intensive to install and maintain, may therefore be ideally suited for use in regions that have no history of irrigation but that have become vulnerable due to increasing aridity. Such systems can be especially valuable in the regions that are suffering most from aridification and simultaneously are subject to instable political circumstances or military conflicts.…”

Section: Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In theory, these systems are very effective, but because of unintentional misuse of technology or procedures and low farmer participation they rarely reach their full‐potential . Traditional systems often operate at the local level without the need for higher order regulation or control, e.g., traditional irrigation on Bali and early modern irrigation in the Jordan Valley . Ancient small‐scale, low‐tech irrigation systems, which are usually not labor‐intensive to install and maintain, may therefore be ideally suited for use in regions that have no history of irrigation but that have become vulnerable due to increasing aridity.…”

Section: Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning from ancient water management: Archeology's role in modern‐day climate change adaptations

Kaptijn

2017

WIREs Water

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Climate change is altering our environment and societies worldwide have to devise adaptation strategies. Water management strategies are becoming especially important. In the past, societies had to adapt in order to survive as well. Communities often practised long-term sustainable agriculture. By understanding the ways in which ancient communities were successful at or failed in attaining social-ecological resilience through water management archeologists can provide important information for modern communities facing similar problems. Archeology's long time perspective is very valuable. However, archeologists are confronted with a number of issues. Archeology can only study the material remains of past societies, not the living communities. Not all human activity translates into material residue and not all materials survive. Moreover, people will not demonstrate completely rational causeand-effect behavior, but ideology and beliefs, which archeology can only poorly attest, will also have influenced decisions. Nevertheless, archeology can bring a unique perspective to the debate on climate change adaptation: archeology can falsify or corroborate sustainability claims, ancient water management techniques may still be a resilient mode of subsistence and ancient techniques often rely on relatively simple technology allowing for easier adoption. When transposing ancient water management techniques to modern situations it is important to involve stakeholders from an early stage, to incorporate traditional knowledge systems as much as possible and most importantly to ascertain whether physical and socio-cultural circumstances are comparable. Archeological knowledge on ancient sustainability and water management is not a panacea for all climate related aridification, but can contribute a unique longue durée perspective.

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Section: Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning from ancient water management: Archeology's role in modern‐day climate change adaptations

Kaptijn

2017

WIREs Water

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“…In southern Mesopotamia, disposal of excess water from irrigation canals into the marshlands would have affected fishing and the exploitation of other marshland resources. More speculatively, excess irrigation water could have enlarged the marshes' area, creating the conditions for the spread of malaria, which in turn may have caused human genetic changes (Wilkinson, Rayne and Jotheri 2015; for another example relating water management to genetics, see Kaptijn 2015).…”

Section: Moral Nichesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The examples of lactose intolerance (Gerbault et al 2011) and sickle-cell tolerance for malaria (O'Brien and Laland 2012) are well-known examples of niche construction; another example is the domestication of 'wolves' into 'dogs' or the general transition from hunter-gatherer-based to agriculture-based societies (Rowley-Conwy and Layton 2011; Smith 2011). Concerning the latter, human agency interacting with land and water has been important in many different global contexts (see Kaptijn (2015), including the Alpine region where artificial snow has created favourable conditions for human winter sporting activities, as well as the growth of certain algae (Gross and Winiwarter 2015).…”

Section: Moral Nichesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Friendship is a slow ripening fruit’: an agency perspective on water, values and infrastructure

Ertsen

2016

World Archaeology

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This paper argues that human and material agents co-shape 'morality'. Water systems will be discussed in more detail. Artefacts (technologies) relate humans and their worlds, but the specifics of this relationship become meaningful only within specific actor-networks. As such, the material influences the moral decisions of humans. Examples from the larger Mesopotamian area, on both state-led and community-managed water systems, are discussed to show that these result from activities of individuals, households and groups manipulating water fluxes in short time periods of hours and days. Analysis of these daily activities, and especially of how the material acts, offers options for archaeologists to trace morality in action.

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“…However, "carrying capacity" varies not only across environments but also among different cultures and time periods (Currie et al 2015). Farmers can invest their time in building terraces or irrigation infrastructure, constructing local agricultural niches and consequently raising the local carrying capacity (Lansing and Fox 2011;Bevan et al 2013;Kaptijn 2015;Wilkinson et al 2015). The result is a two-way feedback; population size depends on carrying capacity and carrying capacity depends on population size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multilevel Simulation of Demography and Food Production in Ancient Agrarian Societies: A Case Study from Roman North Africa

Gauthier¹

2019

Preprint

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Feedbacks between population growth, food production, and the environment were central to the growth and decay of ancient agrarian societies. Population growth increases both the number of mouths a society must feed and the number of people working to feed them. The balance between these two forces depends on the population's age structure. Although age structure ultimately reflects individual fertility and mortality, it is households that make decisions about the production and consumption of food, and their decisions depend on interactions with all other households in a settlement. How do these organizational levels interact to influence population growth and regulation? Here, I present a multi-level agent-based model of demography, food production, and social interaction in agricultural societies. I use the model to simulate the interactions of individuals, households, and settlements in a food-limited environment, and investigate the resulting patterns of population growth. Using Roman North Africa as a motivating example, I illustrate how abstract properties like "carrying capacity" emerge from the concrete actions and interactions of millions of individual people. Looking forward, bottom-up simulations rooted in first principles of human behavior will be crucial for understanding the coevolution of preindustrial societies and their natural environments.

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Irrigation and human niche construction. An example of socio-spatial organisation in the Zerqa Triangle, Jordan

Cited by 6 publications

References 18 publications

Learning from ancient water management: Archeology's role in modern‐day climate change adaptations

Learning from ancient water management: Archeology's role in modern‐day climate change adaptations

‘Friendship is a slow ripening fruit’: an agency perspective on water, values and infrastructure

Multilevel Simulation of Demography and Food Production in Ancient Agrarian Societies: A Case Study from Roman North Africa

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