Suchergebnisse

The dry-zone water-harvesting and management system in Sri Lanka is one of the oldest historically recorded systems in the world. A substantial number of ancient sources mention the management and governance structure of this system suggesting it was initiated in the 4th century BCE (Before Common Era) and abandoned in the middle of the 13th century CE (Common Era). In the 19th century CE, it was reused under the British colonial government. This research aims to identify the ancient water management and governance structure in the dry zone of Sri Lanka through a systematic analysis of ancient sources. Furthermore, colonial politics and interventions during reclamation have been critically analyzed. Information was captured from 222 text passages containing 560 different records. 201 of these text passages were captured from lithic inscriptions and 21 text passages originate from the chronicles. The spatial and temporal distribution of the records and the qualitative information they contain reflect the evolution of the water management and governance systems in Sri Lanka. Vast multitudes of small tanks were developed and managed by the local communities. Due to the sustainable management structure set up within society, the small tank systems have remained intact for more than two millennia.

The cost of human movement, whether expressed in time, effort, or distance, is a function of natural and human related variables. At the same time, human movement itself, whether on land, air or sea, causes environmental cost. We are looking into the long-term environmental relationship of this interplay. Gullies-linear landforms, which dissect the landscape-are considered to be a cost for human movement, as they can form unpassable barriers destroying present path networks. On the other hand, human movement creates pathways, which flatten the surface and decrease the water permeability potential. This process results in runoff generation and possibly gully erosion. Accordingly, the spatial relationship between pathways and gullies is investigated. In the Tigray region of the Northern Ethiopian Highlands, gullies and pathways were mapped using remote sensing data. Frequency Ratio was used for assessing pathways as a variable affecting the location of gullies while Least Cost Paths were tested to evaluate the possible constraining impact gullies have on mobility. Based on these results, it is concluded that a positive feedback exists between the cost of human movement and gully erosion. We further discuss possible effects gullies may have had on trade, territory, and political affairs in Tigray. Consequently, we suggest that movement cost and gullying may not only hold strictly environmental or movement-related implications, but also socio-cultural ones.