RAINDROPS: RECONSTRUCTING PAST WATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR DROUGHT-RESISTANT CROPS
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-01-16

Irrigation, river floods or permanent water sources are often deemed necessary for cultivation to be practised in drylands, especially in hyper arid areas where annual rainfall might be below 100 mm. However, there are modern traditional examples that testify to the existence of successful rain-fed cultivation systems, even in hyper-arid environments. Quantification of the extent of these practices in the past has the potential to dramatically change our understanding of human adaptation and agriculture. RAINDROPS, an ERC starting grant beginning in January 2018, investigates cultivation practices that support human resilience and adaptation in drylands. The project is developing an innovative and reliable methodology based plant remains and isotopic proxies for the identification of water management practices from archaeobotanical remains. By establishing a protocol for the accurate identification of rain-fed cultivation, RAINDROPS will pave the way for the investigation of this practice in the past. Highly controlled data on phytolithratios and carbon, oxygen and silicon isotopes from macro- and micro-remains from experimental fields of finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.] and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] will be validated with ethnographic evidence before being applied to selected key archaeological case studies. In this paper we present some preliminary results from ethnographic modern comparative samples collected from rain-fed fields in Sudan. The study was a pilot to develop a model for identifying fields in drylands by using phytoliths. Our analysis show that phytoliths are a valuable tool to discriminate both between long and short-term use of a field, as well as plant water availability.


Lancelotti, Carla - Biagetti, Stefano (CaSEs Research Group; Department of Humanities; Universitat Pompeu Fabra) - Madella, Marco (CaSEs Research Group; Department of Humanities; Universitat Pompeu Fabra; ICREA - Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies)