Peru’s ancient irrigation systems succeeded in turning deserts into farms because of the culture − without it, the systems failed
- Written by Ari Caramanica, Assistant Professor of Archaeology, Vanderbilt University
A pre-Hispanic canal funnels water from mountains to farm fields.Ari CaramanicaSeeing the north coast of Peru for the first time, you would be hard-pressed to believe it’s one of the driest deserts in the world.
Parts of the region receive less than an inch of rain in an entire year. Yet, water and greenery are everywhere. This is the...