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Peru’s ancient irrigation systems succeeded in turning deserts into farms because of the culture − without it, the systems failed (theconversation.com)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20585117

Ancient practices hold important lessons for farmers facing drying lands, but they were often more complex than modern societies realize. Glacier loss adds to the challenge today.

Ancient beliefs, behaviors and norms – what archaeologists call culture – were fundamentally integrated into technological solutions in this part of Peru in ancient times. Isolating and removing the tools from that knowledge made them less effective.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The whole point of this article is the apparent culture that made these irrigation methods possible. However, instead of telling you about it, it keeps repeating itself, over and over again, and never really tells you why or what made irrigation better 1,500 years ago.

The article is 6 A4 pages long, and can very succinctly be summised in those 4 lines OP attached to the post as a lure.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

The article is definitely lacking details about the Moche and Chimu cultures. The coast of Peru has a history of severe droughts and floods and landslides and earthquakes, yet these people had advanced irrigation systems and managed to live in such an environment for centuries. From what I understand, it's the communal management and temporary nature of the irrigation infrastructure that differs from modern methods, but the how of managing it and moving it over time is left out. If anyone knows more, perhaps they can comment here.