Call for papers by Thomas Vetter
Looking for papers on: Water harvesting systems as key for understanding human management of arid... more Looking for papers on: Water harvesting systems as key for understanding human management of arid environments
Journal articles by Thomas Vetter
Journal of Arid Environments , 2019
The Marmarica, an arid region in NW-Egypt between the Jebel el Akhdar to the west and the Nile Va... more The Marmarica, an arid region in NW-Egypt between the Jebel el Akhdar to the west and the Nile Valley to the east, offers rich evidence for understanding the interlinkages of scarce natural resources, above all water and soil and their human utilization in antiquity. Analysing the natural hydrological regime depending on rainfall, soils and topography in the region and the man-made interventions lies at the heart of this landscape archaeological study. Integrating evidence from various disciplines (hydrology, geomorphology, soil science, archaeobiological methods, ceramic studies, evaluation of literary sources based on papyri) and from various periods (late 2nd millennium BCE to 7th century CE) allowed for the reconstruction of the ancient water management and the related life-strategies.
An assessment of climatic conditions and morphological features of the Eastern Marmarica is provided, where wadis, alluvial fans, but also lateral wadi slopes and to a certain extent even parts of the vast tableland plains represent favourable geomorphological units for water harvesting and hence, agricultural production. Yet, a characteristic that sets the Marmarican systems apart from those in other arid regions are cultivated terrace systems (run-in areas) that are located on lower lateral valley slopes and even on the tableland plains.
The results provide insights into the long-term responses of the inhabitants in antiquity to catchment hydrology by water harvesting and the effects of their interventions, the adapted livelihoods, regional specialization of rural production and intra- and interregional exchange of goods. However, new questions arose regarding i) the implications of the ancient water management strategy for the social organisation of the local people, ii) the destinations of locally produced pottery, iii) the habitational and land-use patterns before the Graeco-Roman period, iv) the role and range of climatic shifts, and v) reasons for the decline of the sophisticated runoff management.
Libyan Studies 40, 2009, 9–23
In arid and semi-arid regions runoff-fed agriculture has been common for millennia. Recent geogra... more In arid and semi-arid regions runoff-fed agriculture has been common for millennia. Recent geographical and archaeological investigations in the north-eastern part of ancient Marmarica (north-western Egypt) revealed a dense network of water harvesting systems associated with settlements and production sites dating back to Ptolemaic times. The environmental conditions and the ancient water management strategies are characterised by minimal intervention but maximised effect and optimised utilisation of the scarce water (100–150 mm seasonal discharge) and soil resources of the region.
in: Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontologie Teil 1, 2009, Heft 1/2, 171–187
In dem halbwüstenhaften Küstensaum NW-Ägyptens bestimmt Oberflächenabfluss das Abflussgeschehen u... more In dem halbwüstenhaften Küstensaum NW-Ägyptens bestimmt Oberflächenabfluss das Abflussgeschehen und den Materialtransport. Verstärkt durch die große Variabilität der Abflussereignisse stellen die meisten Landschaftseinheiten unter heutigen klimatischen und Bewirtschaftungsbedingungen Quellengebiete fiir bodenbürtiges Material dar. Die Genese feinkörniger Kolluvien im Untersuchungsgebiet, die heute unter unbewirtschafteten Bedingungen generell ausgeräumt werden, kann für mehrere wesentliche Standorttypen durch geomorphologische Analyse, archäologische und OSL-Datierung als anthropogen nachgewiesen werden. Eine Talfüllung wurde nach den vorliegenden Ergebnissen beim Höhepunkt und Abklingen der lctzten Kaltzeit gebildet.
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Call for papers by Thomas Vetter
Journal articles by Thomas Vetter
An assessment of climatic conditions and morphological features of the Eastern Marmarica is provided, where wadis, alluvial fans, but also lateral wadi slopes and to a certain extent even parts of the vast tableland plains represent favourable geomorphological units for water harvesting and hence, agricultural production. Yet, a characteristic that sets the Marmarican systems apart from those in other arid regions are cultivated terrace systems (run-in areas) that are located on lower lateral valley slopes and even on the tableland plains.
The results provide insights into the long-term responses of the inhabitants in antiquity to catchment hydrology by water harvesting and the effects of their interventions, the adapted livelihoods, regional specialization of rural production and intra- and interregional exchange of goods. However, new questions arose regarding i) the implications of the ancient water management strategy for the social organisation of the local people, ii) the destinations of locally produced pottery, iii) the habitational and land-use patterns before the Graeco-Roman period, iv) the role and range of climatic shifts, and v) reasons for the decline of the sophisticated runoff management.
An assessment of climatic conditions and morphological features of the Eastern Marmarica is provided, where wadis, alluvial fans, but also lateral wadi slopes and to a certain extent even parts of the vast tableland plains represent favourable geomorphological units for water harvesting and hence, agricultural production. Yet, a characteristic that sets the Marmarican systems apart from those in other arid regions are cultivated terrace systems (run-in areas) that are located on lower lateral valley slopes and even on the tableland plains.
The results provide insights into the long-term responses of the inhabitants in antiquity to catchment hydrology by water harvesting and the effects of their interventions, the adapted livelihoods, regional specialization of rural production and intra- and interregional exchange of goods. However, new questions arose regarding i) the implications of the ancient water management strategy for the social organisation of the local people, ii) the destinations of locally produced pottery, iii) the habitational and land-use patterns before the Graeco-Roman period, iv) the role and range of climatic shifts, and v) reasons for the decline of the sophisticated runoff management.