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1 Mitchell, W. P.. Irrigation farming in the Andes: Evolutionary implications. In R. Halperin and D. Dow (Eds.), Peasant livelihood: Studies in economic anthropology and cultural ecology (pp. 36-59). New York: St. Martin's Press.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 631.7 G530 MIT Record No: H01519)
This paper examines the role of irrigation in the farming and communal life of a village in the Peruvian Andes by examining the organization of irrigation activities. Irrigation here is an adaptation to high altitude agriculture as it is organized in higher and lower zones. Dry and rainy seasons imply different principles of water distribution as well. By modifying the effects of natural ecological conditions, irrigation broadens the range of crops grown at high altitudes. The regulation and celebration of irrigation are significant aspects of the political and ritual life of the community. A dual residential barrio organization structures a dual irrigation system which is, in turn, based on dual drainage systems founded on the natural hydrology of the mountain slope. The information from the contemporary community of Quinua is used to illuminate the water needs of Huari, an important archeological site located there. Mitchell suggests the probability that the patterns of irrigation control found in Quinua represent an ancient Andean structure and discusses the significance of the data for Wittfogel's and Steward's hydraulic hypothesis. The data suggest that irrigation was significant in the local community, but not in the evolution of the larger bureaucratic state in highland Peru.
2 Mitchell, W. P.. 1976. Irrigation and community in the Central Peruvian Highlands. American Anthropologist, 78:25-44.
Ecology ; Irrigation systems ; Irrigation canals ; Irrigated farming ; Water distribution ; Social aspects ; History / Peru / Quinua / Huari
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: P 4510 Record No: H020527)
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