Description
To terrace, or not to terrace: Landscape management through the capture of soils/sediments from alluvial systems in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Carol Lang (presenting author) and Daryl Stump Department of Archaeology, University of York. [email protected] Over the past three years the AAREA project (Archaeology of Agricultural Resilience in Eastern Africa) has focused its attention on the two historic terraced and irrigated landscapes: the abandoned site of Engaruka, NW Tanzania and the extant site at Konso, SE Ethiopia. This paper does not focus on the typical idea of a terraced and irrigated landscape that is employed to mitigate water run-off and prevent soil erosion in mountainous areas. Rather the terraced and irrigation landscapes in question capture soils/sediments that have eroded from upper valley slopes and are carried downstream by localised alluvial systems and are subsequently captured behind stone revetments in large sediment-trap fields; in some instances more than 2m deep. Through the application of geoarchaeological techniques, new evidence on the sustainability of both agricultural systems has been brought to light that challenges the assumptions that Engaruka’s abandonment stems from climatic change and ecological/economic failure, while Konso displays similar sediment capture techniques and is celebrated as a model of agricultural resilience. It is evident from both macro-and micro-analysis of the sediments at both sites that innovative soil and water management was employed, and in the case of Konso still is, and had been undertaken to sustain agricultural resilience at both Konso and Engaruka. Acknowledgements: European Research Council Starter Grand Scheme (FP/200702013/) ERC Grant Agreement No. ERC-StG-2012-337128-AAREA| Period | 26 Nov 2016 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | United KingdomShow on map |
Keywords
- Engaruka
- Tanzania
- Konso
- Ethiopia
- erosion
- sediment
- abandoned
- alluvial
- geoarchaeology