The ancient Sri Lankan city of Anuradhapura is currently the subject of one of the world's largest and most intensive archaeological research projects. Having traced its growth from an Iron Age village to a medieval city, the research team now moves to the task of modelling the surrounding landscape. Three seasons of fieldwork have located numerous sites of which the most prominent in the urban period are monasteries. Here is a clue about how the early urban hinterland was managed which has implications well beyond Sri Lanka.
Qanats are a traditional source of water management that exists throughout much of the Middle East, and extending into North Africa, Spain and South Asia. In particular, they have played an important role in managing the supply of water throughout Iran for over two millennia in what is an arguably a sustainable manner. With water scarcity playing a prominent role in the modern world, qanats offer a practical, low cost solution to these issues. This paper looks at the early development of qanats in Iran, the important role they played in revolutionising the settlement systems and sustainability of communities in the past, and how they are now being reinvigorated to provide sustainable water in the present in Iran and other countries.
his hpter is in ook pulished under gretive gommon RFH snterntionl liense @gg f RFHAF his liense llows you to shreD opyD distriute nd trnsmit the workY to dpt the work nd to mke ommeril use of the work providing ttriution is mde to the uthors @ut not in ny wy tht suggests tht they endorse you or your use of the workAF ettriution should inlude the following informtionX olt¡ n fiedermnn nd eln trthern @edsFAD ri vnk t the grossrods of ristoryD vondonD gv ressD PHIUF httpsXGGdoiForgG IHFIRQPRGIIIFWUVIWIIQHUVPP Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.