Difference between revisions of "Role of irrigation"
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Revision as of 22:05, 6 October 2011
Contents
Introduction
The role of irrigation help explain why most early agricultural peoples settled in village communities, rather than isolated farms. Taking place in the "urban revolution," a period of time in which agriculture played a lead role in the change of humanity within its environments, the needs of irrigation encouraged farmers specialized in different areas of work to come together to assure the access of water for crops.
Irrigation Projects
Big rivers were the foundation for irrigation projects that could channel water, assuring magnificent quantities of water to be transported to vast stretches of land. Large gangs of laborers were assembled to build even greater projects on major rivers, requiring teamwork, effort, and strength. Furthermore, regulations and constant management was required to assure that users along the river and in the villages had equal access to water supply (this was due to the constant bands of marauders that wanted to steal the water for their own personal use).
Impact on Societies
The feeling of trust and teamwork implied an increase in the scale of political and economic organization. Irrigated land produced surpluses with greater certainty and required new kinds of organization that helped these societies develop and progress through the urban revolution.
Theoretical Approach
According to Toynbee's concept of challenge and response, the neolithic villagers faced the challenge of having to develop huge stretches of empty land by constructing massive works of irrigation and draining, and that their response was their increase in numbers and organization that made it possible for them to accomplish these tasks. [1]
