Essay On Ancient Civilization Water

One important resource that all early societies relied on was water. Water is not only necessary for human survival; it also was an important resource. It was vital in agriculture, providing fertile land and essential for plants. Many ancient civilizations created villages and cities around accessible sources of water. As populations grew, villagers came up with new and inventive ways on transporting water to different areas. In ancient civilizations, such as Mesopotamia or ancient Egypt, villagers used canals to collect floodwater and distribute it to crops. In other areas with smaller amounts of rainfall or inaccessible water, the people there had to become inventive. The Maya, Mesoamericans who are indigenous to parts of Central America,

The Andes survived drought after drought along the arid Peruvian coast thru conservative, careful water management. The Inca, high in the Andes were water engineers of genius and triumphant gravity users. Inca engineers would create natural springs by filling valleys with boulders and rocks. This would allow the water from the spring to seep through into a stone trench. They also created tall stone terraces filled with top soil, some 1300 hundred feet tall. These terraces acted like stairways and gave them easier access for maintenance. The Inca’s then used sloped canals and gravity flow to distribute water through public stairway fountains. Water from the fountain can then drain down and be delivered to the next fountain. The Inca understood the necessity for “pure” drink water and did not bath in the fountains. They also had a set of fountains that would collect drained ground water. Unlike the Maya, water shortage was not a problem. By having these clever gravity canals and additional rainfall the Inca had plenty of access to water. Their drainage system, however, was a serious problem. One Inca sight, Machu Picchu, rest on a very steep slope that received a lot of rainfall. To keep it from sliding down the mountain, the Inca used agricultural terraces, which were held in place by stonewalls. These terraces increased farmable land and helped reduce erosion. To drain these terraces, the