Water Resources and Irrigation Agriculture in Pre-Hispanic Peru Author(s): Chris C.

Park Reviewed work(s): Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 149, No. 2 (Jul., 1983), pp. 153-166 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/633600 . Accessed: 30/03/2012 00:02
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The Geographical Journal, Vol. 149, No. 2, July 1983, pp. 153-166

WATER

RESOURCES

AND IRRIGATION PRE-HISPANIC PERU CHRIS C. PARK

AGRICULTURE

IN

Many environmental problems in the Americas have traditionally been related to the needs of enlightened water-resource management. In many cases the management centres upon provision of adequate supplies of usable water to facilitate agicultural development, and irrigation systems have been developed in many areas. The most extensive and advanced system of irrigation in ancient America occurs in Coastal Peru, which ranks amongst the most arid regions of the world. Despite the environmental constraints of extreme water shortage, the coastal area of Northern Peru was to witness the rise of the most powerful pre-Incaic state in South America, the Kingdom of Chimor, and the evolution of the largest pre-Hispanic city on the continent, Chan Chan. This area thus offers an inviting prospect of studying the links between water resources and irrigation agriculture to an extent perhaps not possible elsewhere. This paper focuses on the environmental problems inherent in creating and operating the extensive irrigation systems in the area, and it highlights the extremely well developed understanding of hydraulic principles of canal design exhibited by the irrigation engineers.

AREA OF coastal northern Peru is characterized by a series of river valleys THEwhich carry runoff from the western slopes of the Andes Mountains (Fig. 1), across the relatively barren desert region of the coastal fringe. The climate is extremely dry, and human occupation is largely confined to the coastal valleys. Coastal Peru is one of the most arid regions of the world, and yet the north coast has traditionally been the most important agricultural area in Peru, and continues so today (Kus, 1974, p. 46), in part because the rivers there have annual fluctuations in flow which are much less than in other coastal areas, thus ensuring dependable sources of irrigation water. In addition, large amounts of arable land are available, and available water resources can be utilized fully in irrigation. The north coast also escapes the heavy winter fogs experienced further south, which means that crops can be raised throughout the year in the irrigated valleys. Water shortage is clearly a basic environmental problem in the coastal area of northern Peru, and archaeologists (such as Willey, 1953; Kus, 1974; Farrington, 1974) have stressed the links between availability of water resources and the evolution of agriculture in the valleys. Early (pre-900 BC) practices were based on floodwater farming in marshlands along the valley floors, and these were supplemented progressively by the construction of elaborate gravity-fed irrigation systems. The high relief and steep slopes of the streams emerging from the mountains to the east meant that it was relatively simple to divert water into canals for irrigation agriculture. The best documented irrigation systems on the north coast are those in the Moche Valley. The River Moche is a perennial stream which rises high in the Cordillera Blanca at the continental divide. It has a drainage area of roughly 1500 km2, an overall length of about 110 km, and a steep slope. Along most of its course the river is deeply entrenched in narrow, canyon-like valleys between steep-sided mountains. Here the only land suitable for cultivation is that comprising the river terraces, alluvial fans and steep mountain sides, and agriculture is rather limited in overall area. At about 25 km from the ocean, however, the floodplain of the Moche broadens out into a wide, gently sloping fan covered with alluvial soils (Fig. 2a). The fan is about 15 km in width when it reaches the coast. This fan provided the locus of the initial period of irrigation farming in the Moche area, and much of it is still under cultivation today. Abandoned field systems and canals in the area have captured the attention of numerous archaeologists -> Dr Park is a lecturer in geography at the University of Lancaster, Lancaster LA1 4YR. This paper was first presented for publication in November 1981. 0016-7398/83/0002-0153/$00.20/0 The ? 1983 Royal Geographical Society

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WATER RESOURCES IN PRE-HISPANIC PERU

70? YV

Eqvator

PACIFIC OCEAN

km

400

Shaded areas show location of majorprehispanic cultures Fig. 1. The setting ofcoastal Peru within north-western South America. Details ofthe locations and distribution of major pre-Hispanic cultures in the area are derived from Back (1981, Fig. 5)

WATER RESOURCES IN PRE-HISPANIC PERU

155

(such as Kosok, 1965; Keatinge and Day, 1973), and point to the greater extent of cultivation in the past (Fig. 2b). Ancient canals and associated field areas presently lie abandoned in the desert on both sides of the Moche Valley?the Moro, Vichansao and Mochica canals to the north, and the Huatape and General de Moche canals to the south?and were clearly extensions to the presently shrunken major canal systems of the valley. The aridity and topography of the lower Moche Valley have left a legacy of variations in soil cover and vegetation distribution in the region, and this pattern can be simplified into three broad ecological zones (Fig. 2a): The areas adjacent to the river system?characterized by a high water table; springs; heavy and poorly drained soils; and thick vegetation of trees, bushes and reeds. Salinization is a further environmental problem in this zone. Zone II: The upper terrace lands of the floodplain?with more easily drained, more fertile alluvial soils, and less dense vegetation cover. Zone III: The valley sides?devoid of vegetation, and either no soil or poorly developed soils. This zone is dominated by sand desert and desert pavements. Farrington (1974) points out that the pre-Hispanic farmers favoured land principally in Zone II, but also in Zone III, for irrigation because of the presence there of light, free-draining soils which could be easily cleared of vegetation and readily prepared for sowing by the use of the simple digging stick. These lands also needed frequent but moderate irrigation. In contrast, Zone I land was not widely used because of problems of drainage and spring control. A key element in the irrigation system was the availability of water resources in the major rivers. All of the river systems along the north coast have markedly seasonal regimes, with low flows between July and October and high flows between January and March when mountain rains provide water in abundance. The River Moche has average monthly flows in excess of 10 m3.sec-1 from January to May, followed by seven months with average flows of less than 8 m3.sec-1. History of irrigation in the Moche Valley The close association between socio-economic evolution and the progressive development of the irrigation systems in the Moche area led Farrington to conclude that 'the history of agriculture on the coast of Peru is the history of irrigation' (Farrington, 1974, p. 83). Pozorski (1979) has recently emphasized that large-scale agriculture in the area only became possible with the shift from floodplain farming to irrigation agriculture (during early ceramic times, i.e. after 900 BC), which made possible the cultivation of large areas. Throughout the intermediate period (roughly from 900 BC to the early Chimu at about 1100 AD) the agricultural system both increased in efficiency and narrowed in scope through time?to become dominated by Ilama meat and field crop cultigens such as maize (Pozorski, 1979). The ensuing Chimu period was to witness the efficient state control of the entire economy of the region which made accessible new production areas, introduced new species, established communities specifically to provide specialized goods and services, and created the state redistribution system based on Chan Chan. The chronology of irrigation development along the north coast of Peru has been based heavily on early studies in the Viru valley by Willey (1953), which place the beginnings of canal irrigation in the early part of the early intermediate period (c. 400 BC-0 AD). Willey's interpretation sees the first physical evidence of canal irrigation dating from 0-300 AD, when the systems were regarded as being at maximum development, with a subsequent continuation of use but with some reductions in field areas served with water. He claimed a slight reversal of this trend of contraction in the early Chimu (1100-1300 AD) which saw the introduction of sunken field agriculture close to the coast (Moseley, 1969), but continual contraction and allied rural depopulation during the Chimu period (occasioned by the centralization policy of the Chimu Empire). Willey's chronology and interpretation have been transferred to Zone I;

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WATER RESOURCES IN PRE-HISPANIC PERU

Pocifk Ocean

wya Upper river terraces I Sand deserts and i desert pavements

Sta Cataiina\

Pocifk Ocean

Field boundary Dry river bed WM\ Land over MliJ200m 5 Okm

Fig. 2. The Moche Valley: (a) Topography and distribution of ecologicat zones in the main area of agricultural development (after Farrington, 1974, Fig. 8.1); (b) field systems irrigated by the Vichansao canal, and site of Chan Chan (after Farrington and Park, 1978, Fig. 3)

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157

adjacent coastal areas of northern Peru, but more recent research has brought two changes in understanding. Firstly, as Back (1981, p. 282) stresses, current archaeological research in the Moche Valley and surrounding areas is continuing to extend the data of maximum irrigation-building activity further back in time. Secondly, Farrington (1974) has questioned the alleged contraction of irrigation during Chimu times. He claims evidence which is indicative of massive expansion of the operative field areas, and extensions to the functioning canal networks, whilst admitting that by the Moche-Chimu transition (900-1100 AD) most of the lands on valley-side sites had already been brought into cultivation by the extension of existing canals.

Summary Chronology of Irrigation Developments in the Moche Valley Period: Pre-ceramic Period VI: (2500 - 1800 BC) Initial Period: (1800- 1000 BC) Chavin Period: (1000 - 200 BC) Salinar Phase: (200 BC - 0 AD) Gallinazo/Early Mochica: (0 - c.500 AD) Late Mochica Phase: (c.500- 100 AD) Early Chimu: (1000-1250 AD) Imperial Chimu: (1250 - 1462 AD) Inca: (1462 - 1532 AD) Developments: ? introduction of agriculture into the area; dominated by fishing: limited flood-water farming on floodplain zones. ? continued flood-water farming. ? settlement Iayout suggests advent of canal irrigation: small scale system (short and simple Iayout): agriculture replaces fishing as the basis of the land economy. ? relatively local irrigation systems, confined to narrow mid-valley sections and avoiding extensive floodplain and upper terrace zones of the lower valley. Construction of a major canal on south side of valley, towards Cerro Arena. ? extension of canals: some new schemes (across Pama La Esperanza to north, around Huaca de la Luna to south) ? long canal extensions along both the Moche and Chicama valleys: construction of Mochica alta canal, the large Mampuesto aqueduct, and the large Ascope aqueduct on north side of Chicama valley. ? few extensions to canal network in Moche vallev. ? massive extension of irrigated areas: especially on level Pampas to the north e.g.: extensions on Pampa La Esperanza, and Pampa El Milagro. Extensions also on canal systems in Chicama valley. ? extension of irrigation systems: new field systems laid out on Pampa de Huanchaco; construction of Inter-valley Canal from Chicama valley, and associated storage reservoir.

Source: Summarized from Farrington (1977). Moche Valley chronology. ?-Farrington (1974, 1977) has attempted to marshal together available evidence from the Moche Valley to complete a chronology of irrigation developments in the area, based upon associations between the distributions of major sites (such as cemeteries, shrines and houses) dateable to specific periods (Fig. 3). This association allows an assessment of areas under cultivation (and thus being served by irrigation schemes) at a particular point in time. The chronology is outlined in Table I and can be rationalized into three broad phases of activity: (a) early periods (up to 1000 AD)?lengthening of the canal system, but relatively small scales of operation overall; the canal system could have grown by accretion (rather than by coordinated Jong-term planning), and cooperative effort could have been sufficient; (b) late Mochica (after 1000 ADj?the initiation of a number of new schemes (such as major aqueducts and related field systems) suggests coordinated organization of labour and planning during construction, diagnostic of a centralized authority; and (c) later (Chimu-Inca)-?massive irrigation extensions and initiation of schemes, perhaps in part accretionary but indicative on the whole of major state involvement and control.

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The Inter-Valley Canal.?One of the most elaborate elements in the integrated irrigation canal system of the area is the Inter-Valley Canal, linking the Chicama Valley to the Moche (Fig. 3). The Chicama Valley lies some 35 km to the north of the Moche, across barren desert, and the construction of the tortuous 74 km of irrigation canal, together with a regular field layout in the Vichansao area of the lower Moche Valley, clearly provides evidence of a highly organized planning authority. There are conflicting interpretations of the date of construction of this linking canal?Kus (1974, p. 54), for example, ascribes it to the late Mochica phase of between about 900 and 1080 AD, whereas Farrington (1974, p. 85) prefers a construction date during the period of population expansion after the Inca invasion of 1462 AD. Regardless of the date involved, the Inter-Valley Canal was clearly constructed to supplement irrigation waters derived from the Moche River in the Vichansao area, to the north of Chan Chan. The Chicama River is substantially larger than the Moche and, as such, it has much higher flows for longer periods of time. Water from this more reliable source could thus be used to supplement irrigation at Pampa El Milagro and on the Pampa Cerro de la Virgen. A rectangular storage reservoir was constructed by the junction of the Inter-Valley and the Vichansao Canals, presumably in order to regulate the timing of irrigation to the field areas; but archaeological evidence suggests that it was never fully used over a long period of time. The reservoir measures some 138 x 40 m, and was excavated in stable sand dunes to a depth of 9 m, with a floor at the same elevation as the Vichansao Canal. The perimeter walls were stepped in form, and were stabilized with cobbles set into a mud mortar (Farrington, in press, p. 22). The irrigation canals?design and function The irrigation canal systems of the Moche Valley offer a lasting tribute to the impressive understanding and skills of the hydraulic engineers who built them. The

Sunken fields fields Existing [ {[j| New schemes irrigation [ ^] Fig. 3. Progressive evolution of the irrigated canal system, and expansion of field systems in the lower Moche valley (summarized from Farrington, 1978, Figs 2-7)

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159

evolution of the system was initially accretionary and localized. It was subsequently well coordinated and carefully planned (as pointed out earlier). Nevertheless, in all canals phases of the system the surviving evidence points to the same conclusion?the were built, operated and maintained by prehistoric engineers with remarkably sound empirical knowledge of the basic principles of open flow hydraulics and water distribution. In an area of extreme aridity, agricultural development and allied socio-economic change relied very heavily indeed on their capabilities to develop irrigation systems that worked effectively and efficiently, over time spans of many generations. The apparent adaptation of their skill to the environmental problems of the north coast of Peru is fitting testimony to the ingenuity and perception of the canal designers, the skill and organizational prowess of the constructors, and the sensitivity of the operators to the need for recurrent maintenance and frequent supplementation of the canal systems. Knowledge about the form and operation of the Moche irrigation canals is based largely on field mapping observation, ethnohistoric reconstruction, detailed site surveys, and archaeological excavation at selected sites. The canal system.?The canal system was designed to be continuous, and semi-regulated. The aim was to collect water from surface sources (the streams draining from the Andes), which would be allowed to flow continuously by gravity-feed through the canal system to the field areas where the water was required for crop irrigation. With the exception of temporary storage offered within the canals themselves, the water distribution system had no water storage capacity of any significance. The timing of irrigation to suit crop requirements appears to have been controlled by the use of movable sluice gates at the canal intakes, between the main feeder canal and secondary distribution canals, and at the intakes between canal and field system (Fig. 2b). The evidence suggests that water was diverted from the main canals into distribution canals for specific periods; within the field systems, irrigation requirements were probably met by regulation of flows along irrigation channels and furrows. The skills of the hydraulic engineers are clearly evident in the extent to which they could design and construct an irrigation system capable of transporting the right amounts of water, at the appropriate times, to specific field systems laid out along the Moche Valley. Most of the canal system was constructed without an impermeable and stabilizing lining (Fig. 4) across very inhospitably irregular terrain. The engineers task, in simple terms, was thus two-fold?to build a canal system which would meet the crop irrigation requirements (in both time and space) of the field systems of the day; and to ensure that the system was stable over long time scales, i.e. that it would be unlined on the whole, and operate efficiently, without either large-scale scouring or deposition, and require a minimum of maintenance and repair over long periods of time. It is perhaps of interest to highlight some of the basic problems facing the canal engineers, and to point to their adopted solutions. Canal intakes.?Design of the size and location of intakes to the canal systems is of basic importance in determining the magnitude and reliability of the overall amounts of irrigation water initially available in the distribution system. Intake location would be determined largely by the design requirements of the distribution canal system, in terms principally of canal slope and length. Intake size would need to be variable in order to accommodate changes in irrigation water requirements at different points on the crop's growth cycle. Although there is no surviving structural evidence of how the hydraulic engineers confronted this problem, it is presumed (Farrington, in press, p. 15) that temporary cobble and boulder diversion structures, stabilized with wooden stakes, might have been used to deflect a portion of the main feeder stream into the canal intake. Modern hydraulic understanding of the relationships between bed slope, depth of flow, and flow velocity can be used to determine the magnitude of discharge entering the canal intakes given a knowledge of the intake slope, cross-sectional dimensions and material sizes (available from field observations). The Manning flow relationship (Manning, 1891), calculated for data from the Vichansao Canal intake on the River Moche, can be used to demonstrate the way in which flow velocity and discharge increase as flow depth increases at the intake; and allow an estimate to be made of flow depths at which the intake is likely to have functioned for a given irrigation requirement in the field system (Fig. 5).

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WATER RESOURCES IN PRE-HISPANIC PERU

a.Vichansao

Canal El Milagro CanolLevel

(3)

b.Vichansao

Canal El Milagro fuli CMtake _ ' &ftakelevel

(3)

c.lnter

Valley Canal Near Junction

(E)

Canal d.Vichansao Porvenir CapaiJ-evel Uppej^ Lower Canqi_Levei

(1)

Canal e.Vichansao Near Junction Previous left-hand banks

(2)

Lower Canal Level

2m

Silt

, Limit of Excavation

Fig. 4. Stratigraphy of excavated canal cross-sections from some representativesites; showing silt layers, multiple cross-sections and inferred flow depth (after Farrington and Park, 1978, Fig. 2)

Canal morphology?description and evaluation The design problem.?The prehistoric hydraulic engineers were faced with the unenviable challenge of designing unlined canals which would carry the required amounts of water yet remain stable. Similar problems have confronted recent irrigation engineers in many countries, although their task has been made somewhat easier by recent developments in understanding of hydraulic principles in unlined channels. Many of these developments stem from research carried out by Lane (1955) of the

WATER RESOURCES IN PRE-HISPANIC PERU Vichansao Canal Intake 10

161

3-01 8

|2-0

D) i_ D JZ o 2H

025 075 1-0 0-50 1-0 0-50 0-75 0-25 Flow depth (m) Flow depth (m) Fig. 5. Relationship between depth offlow, velocity and dischargefor water entering the Vichansao canal intake from the River Moche

10

United States Bureau of Reclamation in the 1950s. Lane (1955, p. 1235) defined a stable channel as 'an unlined earth channel (a) which carries water, (b) the banks and bed of which are not scoured objectionably by the moving water, and (c) in which objectionable deposits of sediment do not occur'; and these are exactly the same criteria as those facing the Peruvian prehistoric engineers. Peruvian engineers seem to have had considerable Velocity, slope and stability.?The empirical understanding of the principles of water transfer, gained perhaps at the expanse of costly and time-consuming 'research' testing, or perhaps accumulated as a result of generations of hydraulic operators maintaining inappropriately designed water-distribution systems. This understanding clearly appreciated the need to compromise in canal design between a number of variable elements such as canal size, flow velocity, scouring and canal slope, in essentially the same ways as present-day irrigation engineers do (e.g. Israelsen and Hansen, 1962). Scour in an unlined canal can lead to instability or even collapse of the canal structure, so it needs to be carefully controlled. Scour can be reduced by maintaining relatively low velocities of water flow, but low velocity requires large cross-sectional areas (i.e. a large canal) for a given discharge (Q = velocity x cross-sectional area) to be conveyed. Large canals tend to be costly and difficult to excavate, costly to maintain, and they lead to a proportionally greater loss of water in transit from seepage and evaporation. Most irrigation canals are constructed with low slopes to enable transfer of water over as long a distance (thus as wide an area) as possible. For a given cross-sectional size of canal, a low slope encourages low velocity of flow, but low velocities promote the deposition of silt in the canal which requires cleaning out if the canal capacity is not to be progressively reduced through time. Flow velocity in the canal, therefore, has to be high enough to keep silt in suspension as much as possible; but not high enough to promote wholesale scouring of the canal bed and banks. There is thus a critical range of flow velocities which can be accommodated in an unlined canal without net scour or fill, and this range will depend in part on the material of which the canal bed/banks have been constructed (Hjulstrom, 1935). Upper limiting velocities (to prevent scour) inevitably vary between fine sand and cobbles (Table II), but the sinuosity of the canal is also important (limiting velocities for very sinuous canals might be as low as 78 per cent of those reported in Table II (Lane, 1955, p. 1257)).

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Limiting velocities for unlined, stable canals Limiting velocity (mlsec) Value of Material Fine sand (colloidal) Sandy loam (non-colloidal) Siltioam (") Alluvial silts (") Stiff clay (very colloidal) Alluvial silts (colloidal) Fine gravel Coarse gravel Cobbles and shingles Based on data for essentially straight canals after ageing; data from Fortier and Scobey (1926).

Canal size in the Moche Valley is generally quite small (Fig. 4): Farrington (in press, p. 16) reports width in the range 2.7 m and depths of between 0.75 and 2 m. To maintain flow continuity (discharge = velocity x cross-sectional area), the canals have different geometries in low slope areas (low velocity, wider canals, such as the Vichansao Canal across the Pampa El Arenal) to those in areas with steeper slopes (higher velocity, smaller canal size required). Whilst canal slope varies considerably, in sympathy with the topography traversed, slopes in the Moche Canal system as a whole are very low (generally less than 1:500). Over 23.5 km for example, the Vichansao Canal has an average slope of 1:2375 (Farrington, in press, p. 18). Canal construction,?Topographic irregularity demanded that careful attention be paid to establishing a suitable route for each canal segment in the irrigation system and, whilst the canals follow contours wherever possible, there are many places where deep cuts or high embankments and aqueducts were necessary to ensure efficient distribution of the irrigation water to the relevant field areas. Because of this, the canals were cut into a variety of materials. Where possible the canals were simply excavated into the ground surface of the fan on the lower Moche or of the surrounding desert areas. These canals characteristically have a bed of alluvial silt (e.g. Figs 4c, 4d) which in places is stone-lined for added stability; and whilst the canals have unlined banks in many places, certain sections exhibit stone linings, again for stability and to prevent the collapse or undercutting of sandy banks (e.g. Fig. 4a). A second typology of canals is that cut into solid rock?either around the contours of hillsides, or trenched through ridges (to reduce canal length and thus improve efficiency). The Vichansao Canal, for example, is cut through the Cerros de San Ildefonso in a narrow canyon-like trough some 40 m wide at the top and 120 m long. A third group comprises those elevated sections or structures designed to maintain established gradients, both along and across the valley floors which carry ephemeral streams hillslopes/embankments prone to flash floods (aqueducts). Numerous embankments were required to preserve from the excavation was generally piled up to canal gradients across high slopes?spoil form the canal banks, and the steep outer face of the embankments were often stepped and/or stone-faced to improve stability (Farrington, in press, p. 16). Examples of Moro Canal, for example, is raised in embankments in the area are numerous?the to 15 m by embankments. places up Aqueducts were similarly required to extend the water distribution systems across low areas; and these were mostly constructed of solid earth, sand and gravel. Desert flash floods (the El Nino) proved a recurrent environmental problem, and there is abundant evidence in the Moche Valley of reconstructions made necessary by flood damage. The skills of the hydraulic engineers are clearly exhibited in the remnants of the now disused prehistoric aqueducts?the Higher Mochica Canal, for example, crossed the sandy floor of the Quebrada del Leon de Porvenir by means of the Mampuesto aqueduct, which is up to 9 m high and over 600 m long (Farrington, in press, p. 17), though much of its course has since been destroyed.

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the Canal maintenance.?In addition to the problems of initial construction, prehistoric engineers had to contend with recurrent problems of maintenance and cleaning of the canals. It is likely that each operating canal had to be cleaned of both silt and vegetation from time to time; and it is logical to expect that the silt excavated from the canal was simply piled up on the canal banks for strength and added height. Maintenance would also have involved reconstruction of sections of the canal system which had suffered from slumping of bank material into the canal, from slumping of retaining banks on embankments and aqueducts, and from the periodic destruction of aqueducts by flash floods. Evidence from excavated cross-sections also reveals that, on occasion, sections of the canal system (especially those at the extremities of the network) were left dormant, and on abandonment the canals became infilled with blown sand from the adjacent desert and coastal areas; when the canal was to be re-used a new channel was dug into the sand infill (Fig. 4d). Multiple cross-sections are thus found at a number of sites, and the evidence suggests that later-phase channels often used part of the original canal bed, but not necessarily the original canal banks (Fig. 4e). Maintenance also demanded periodic reappraisal of the efficiency and capabilities of the existing water distribution systems, and there is evidence from several locations in the Moche Valley that attempts were made (seemingly very successfully) to improve efficiency in some sections by remodelling the existing canal form. In the case of the Upper Moro canal, evidence of straightening exists between Galindo and Cabolla Muerto where a new canal cutting was dug to reduce the effective canal length there by some 400 m. Canal hydraulics?an empirical assessment of efficiency The surviving evidence of canal morphology, and the implications of this for continuous and semi-regulated distribution of irrigation waters in the Moche Valley, points to a high degree of success amongst the prehistoric hydraulic engineers of different periods in securing sufficient irrigation waters for crop requirements by means of a stable and efficient canal distribution system. The archaeological evidence can be complemented by evidence from an attempt to reconstruct the flow conditions of the canal system using conventional hydraulic principles (Blench, 1957), which confirms the successful planning and operation of the system and underlines the empirical skills of the engineers involved. This success is a remarkable achievement for people who pre-date modern developments in understanding of hydraulics and water transfer by at least four centuries. Reconstruction offlow conditions?The reconstruction (Farrington and Park, 1978; see also Farrington, 1980) is based on estimating flow velocities at various sample points in the canal system, based on the Manning flow relationship (Manning, 1891). This states that mean velocity (v in m/sec) along a channel is related to channel slope (s, in m/m) and hydraulic radius (R, in m) and a coefficient of surface roughness (n, dimensionless) by the function v = R23. sv2)/rc. Hydraulic radius is equal to cross-sectional area divided by wetted perimeter. Field measurements of canal size and slope, with observations on canal bed and bank material, were collected by Farrington at some 40 sites within the Moche irrigation system (Fig. 2); and these can be used to assess flow velocities at the sample sites. Appropriate values of the roughness coefficient (n) for sample sites were selected by comparison with known roughness characteristics of present-day stream channels excavated in sand/clay were given n values of 0.022; those with (Barnes, 1967)?canals cobble beds/banks were given a value of 0.035. for a series of sites along the Vichansao Canal and its Velocity estimates.?Velocities field feeder systems tend to fall within the range 0.2-0.8 m/sec, which is below the limiting velocities for unlined canals dug in sand-sized material (Table II). Of some 38 velocity estimates, 30 fell below 0.80 m/sec and the other observations relate to sites on the canal for Pampa de Huanchaco (Farrington and Park, 1978, p. 261). Whilst the highest estimates exceed 2.0 m/sec (well beyond the limiting velocities even of cobble-lined channels?Table II), these relate to a canal flowing at bankfull stage, which is unlikely to have occurred. Within the cross-sections for this canal, there is

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marked by a berm recurrent evidence of a multiple form of channel-within-channel, within the main canal form. Velocity estimates based on the bermed channel are in the range 1.0-1.9 m/sec which just lie within limiting velocities for cobble lined canals (Table II). It is suggested that the prehistoric engineers were acquainted with the problems of transporting water by canal down steep slopes, and chose deliberately to construct a wider channel initially. Within this trough, it is thought that the operative channel size would have been cut by process of self-formation: i.e. the flowing water would cut and fill within the main channel so as to create a channel of the appropriate dimensions. Such a process of self-formation was successfully employed by British irrigation engineers on the Indian sub-continent during the early part of the present century (Blench, 1957). Most of the velocity estimates fall in the range 0.5-0.7 m/sec, at which silt can be transported quite efficiently. At lower velocities (e.g. when the sample canal cross sections would have carried flow of less than bankfull) deposition would occur, yielding thick silt deposits. At many of the excavated sites there is evidence of one or more series of well developed, superimposed silt layers lining the bed and banks (e.g. Fig. 4d, 4e). The evidence from the velocity estimates is thus striking testimony to the ability of the prehistoric engineers to design irrigation canals which did not suffer from excessive scour or fill over long periods. The calculations can be utilized further in estimating likely discharges carried along the canal segments where the sample sites are located. continuity equation (discharge = velocity x crossDischarge estimates.?The sectional area) can be used to predict discharge at the sample sites from the field measurements. For example, the Vichansao intake from the River Moche is 3 m wide, 1.1m deep, and has a slope of 1:80. This gives a velocity estimate of 3.05 m/sec, and corresponding discharge of 10.06 m3/sec when the intake is assumed to be flowing at full capacity (Fig. 5). If it flows at 50 cm depth, velocity is estimated as 2.1 m/sec and discharge as 3.16 m3/sec. Excavations at a series of sites yield discharge estimates at bankfull in the order of 2.5 m3/sec; sites near the junction of the Vichansao and the Inter-Valley Canal yield estimates in the range 1.7-2.48 m3/sec; and estimates for sites at El Milagro I (Fig. 2b) are all around 1.75 m3/sec. Other excavations at El Milagro II (Fig. 2b) produce estimates of about 1 m3/sec; and bermed channel sections on Pampa de Huanchaco (Fig. 2b) give estimates of around 0.5 m3/sec. These discharge predictions are not in themselves particularly meaningful statistics, and they only assume real value when compared with estimates of irrigation water requirements in the corresponding field areas. Calculations by Farrington and Park (1978) of water requirements at various sections of the Vichansao Canal (assuming a continuous 10-day cycle of irrigation in each field area) for maize, the chief prehistoric food crop of the Moche Valley, compare very favourably indeed with the canal discharge estimates. Predicted water require? ments for the main phase of cultivation in the valley (during the Imperial Chimu period) demand the diversion of an average discharge of 3.79 m3/sec from the River Moche into the Vichansao Canal intake. This could be provided with a water depth of 57.5 cm at the intake which is 52 per cent of the maximum intake depth (Fig. 5). The close association between discharge estimates from excavations and predicted canal discharges based on field requirements leads to several striking conclusions (Farrington and Park, 1978, p. 267). Clearly the prehistoric engineers had considerable awareness of the field requirements for the cultivation of maize. They also understood, and could compensate for, conveyance and field losses of irrigation water. The evidence also suggests that many segments of canal were designed and constructed with impressive precision to carry the required amounts of water. In a number of locations the Chimu and Inca engineers encountered problems in constructing stable canals on slopes in excess of 1:100. As a very effective solution, they appear to have built a canal intentionally too large, sent down the discharge required for field irrigation, and then left the canal system to develop a stable bermed canal within the larger one by process of self-formation. further confirmation of the success of the Canal bends and flow conditions.?Yet prehistoric engineers in designing a stable and efficient canal system is offered in the study of canal bends along the Vichansao Canal. Modern research in alluvial rivers has

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165

revealed a close association between bankfull discharge and the size of meanders in the river (Fig. 6a), diagnostic of a stable balance between the two (Dury. 1965). The relationship between meander wavelength and discharge can be used to highlight locations of instability, which occur where prevailing discharges are too high for a given meander size. In this circumstance, meander migration and channel adjustment will occur in the alluvial river. In an irrigation canal the adjustment would involve attack and subsequent collapse at the outside of the bend or bends in question, and would probably result in erosion of the canal retaining bank. The meander wavelengths of a sample of 50 successive bends along a central portion of the Vichansao Canal were measured from available air photographs. The wavelengths ranged from about 100 m, to just over 450 m (Fig. 6b). The relationship (Fig. 6a) suggests that for a discharge of 10 m3/sec (i.e. the maximum possible discharge in the Vichansao Canal, determined from the size of the intake), the stable meander would have a wavelength of at least 170 m. Only eight of the 50 sample bends have sizes of less than 170 m; and only three of these have wavelengths as small as 100 m. Thus very few bends along the canal would exhibit potential instability, confirming the apparent skills of the prehistoric engineers in successful canal design.

100

200 Meander

400 300 500 Wavelength (m)

200 300 Wavelength

400 (m)

500

Fig. 6. Canal bends and stability: (a) Relationship between meander wavelength and dischargefor alluvial river systems (after Dury, 1965); (b) the range of wavelengthsfor a sample of bends along the Vichansao canal

Summary and conclusions The evidence of prehistoric irrigation systems in the Moche Valley of coastal northern Peru throws considerable insight into the skills of the hydraulic engineers who constructed them, particularly between about 0 AD and the end of the Inca period (1532 AD). The engineers appear to have been highly successful in the design, construction and maintenance of stable irrigation canals which covered considerable distances, flowed on the whole without extensive lining, and operated over long periods of time without net scour or net fill. Their capabilities in creating a canal system initially by accretion and latterly by conscious planning, which effectively and efficiently provided the right amounts of irrigation water to appropriate field systems at appropriate times of the year, are well demonstrated. In addition, the evidence points towards a high degree of control and coordination of labour involved in constructing and maintaining the canal and field systems. Whether this link between socio-political development and the evolution of the irrigation systems is sufficiently close to offer confirmation of the oriental despotism hypothesis offered by Wittfogel (1957) is

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unclear. Certainly the association between the pattern of evolution of the hydraulic society and irrigation agriculture in this coastal area of north Peru is striking. The pre-Hispanic Peruvian hydraulic engineers have left a lasting epitaph to their skills in the now largely abandoned irrigation canal systems of the Moche Valley. An of the sequence attack on the problem of reconstructing inter-disciplinary socio-economic, political and irrigation engineering changes in the area could shed considerable light on the ways in which enlightened water resource management was successfully employed to turn one of the most arid regions of the world into the most powerful state in South America in pre-Incaic times. A ckno wledgements I owe my former colleague Ian Farrington, currently of the Department of Prehistory at the Australian National University, a lasting debt for awakening my interest in hydrological aspects of the Moche Valley irrigation schemes. This paper is a modified version of a presentation I made at the Fifth Symposium of the IGU Commission on Environmental Problems held in Mexico between 19 and 29 October 1981, and I am extremely grateful to both the British Academy and the University of Lancaster for financial support to enable me to attend that Symposium. I am indebted also to Angela Cooper (for checking my grammar and logic), Dawn Phazey (for typing the paper) and Anne Jackson (for drawing the diagrams).

References Back, W. 1981: Hydromythology and Ethnohydrology in the New World. Water Resources Research 17: 257-88. Barnes,H. H. 1967 Roughness characteristics of naturalchannels. UnitedStates GeologicalSurvey Water Supply Paper 1849. Blench, T. 1957 Regime Behaviour of Canals and Streams. London: Butterworth. Dury, G. H. 1965 Theoretical implications of underfit streams. US Geol. Sur. Professional Paper 452C Farrington, I. S. 1974 Irrigation and settlement pattern; preliminary research results from the north coast of Peru. In T. E. Downing and M. Gibson (editors) Irrigation s Impact on Society, pp. 83-94. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press. Farrington, I. S. 1977 Land use, irrigation and society on the north coast of Peru in the prehispanic era. Zeitschrift fur Bewasserungswirtschaft 12: 157-86. Farrington, I. S. 1980 The archaeology of irrigation canals, with special reference to Peru. World Archaeology 11: 287-305. Farrington, I. S. in press: Prehistoric canal technology in the Moche Valley. In P. Netherley (editor) Irrigation Prehispanica en la Costa Norte. in the Farrington, I. S. and Park, C. C. 1978 Hydraulic engineering and irrigation agriculture Moche Valley, Peru: c. AD 1250-1532. J. of Archaeol. Sci. 5: 255-68. Fortier, S. and Scobey, F. C. 1926 Permissible canal velocities. Trans. Amer. Soc. Civ. Engrs 89: 940-56. Hjulstrom, F. 1935 Studies of the morphological activity of rivers as illustrated by the River Fyns. Bull. ofthe Geol. Inst., University of Uppsala 25: 221-527. Israelsen, O. W. and Hansen, V. E. 1962 Irrigation Principles and Practices. New York: Wiley (3rdedition). Keatinge, R. W. and Day, K. C. 1973 Socioeconomic organization of the Moche Valley, Peru, during the Chimu occupation of Chan Chan. /. ofAnthr. Res. 29: 275-95. Kosok, P. 1965 Life, Land and Water in Ancient Peru. New York: Long Island University Press. Kus, J. S. 1974 Irrigation and urbanization in pre-Hispanic Peru; the Moche Valley. Yearbook Assoc. Pacific Coast Geogr. 36: 45-56. Lane, E. W. 1955 The design of stable channels. Trans. Amer. Soc. ofCiv. Engrs 120: 1234-79. Inst. of Civ. Manning, R. 1891 On the flow of water in open channels and pipes. Trans. ofthe Engrs Ireland 20: 161-207. 34: Moseley, M. E. 1969 Assessing the archaeological significance of mahamaes. Amer. Antiquity 485-97. Pozorski, S. G. 1979 Prehistoric diet and subsistence of the Moche Valley, Peru. World Archaeology 11: 163-84. of American Willey, G. R. 1953 Prehistoric Settlement Pattern in the Viru Valley, Peru. Bureau Ethnology 115, Washington D.C. Wittfogel, K. 1957 Oriental Despotism. New Haven: Yale University Press.