Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The operation of the estate was not an easy task even after the irrigation and
drainage system had been
nished. We know of a complaint from a person named
Psentaes, one of the peasants to whom land was given, that his whole plot had never
before been plowed, and therefore was full of gullies.
50
Experts were needed to plan irrigation and drainage works. Petechon, an engi-
neer and contractor, was working on the major parts of the irrigation and drainage
system, in particular on the great canal of Kleon, which irrigated sandy land, and on
a complicated drainage system for the recovery of marshy land by means of ditches.
In his correspondence we also
nd that land which was salty was considered
hopelessly unproductive. The detailed sources we have on the construction of the
irrigation and drainage system testify to the large investments of knowledge and
labor that were undertaken in Antiquity to establish productive agricultural systems.
We can safely assume that the amount of labor, material, knowledge and organi-
zation needed for the Egyptian system were comparable to those of equally com-
plex systems found elsewhere in the world.
Colonial exploitation has scarred African landscapes, whose soils are often
delicate and prone to degradation. A wealth of studies has con
rmed the common
pattern of ignorance on the part of the colonizers, coupled with their self-
assuredness of knowing it better and their interest in supporting their own econo-
mies by often recklessly exploiting colonial environments as being destructive to
soils.
51
African soils are nowadays part of a global economy based on unequal
distribution which leads to high demands on soils in the poor countries of what used
to be called the Third World. This does not aid to their sustainable use. A
'
Doubly
Green Revolution
has been proposed by agronomists in the 1990s to counteract the
widespread unsustainable use of soils.
'
3.3.2.5 The Mediterranean
We possess abundant evidence about soils and their use for a large part of the
human history of the Mediterranean.
52
Although landscapes are varied and an array
of cultivation techniques has been developed, there are some common features in
the climatic regime and soil types commonly encountered which allow us to discuss
common features. One contrast to the northern parts of the European continent is
the semi-arid character of its climate. The most important limiting factor for agri-
culture was water, whereas the shortness of the growing season and the danger of
frost were limiting factors further north.
The history of agricultural knowledge in the Mediterranean starts with a work of
which only blurred traces exist, Mago of Carthage
s comprehensive treatise on
agriculture, which is said to have comprised 28 volumes. It was rescued during the
'
50
Rostovtzeff (
1922
).
51
Fairhead and Leach (
1996
), Showers (
2005
).
52
Winiwarter (
2006b
,
c
).
