HIST 100: Engineering The Past

Pictorial Essay

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attached is my pictorial essay. I apologize for the late submission, i have been struggling with a wisdom teeth surgery and have had a whole lot of catching up to do. I figured i might as well submit it to at least try to get some credit pictorial essay
pictures should be in the attached version
Thanks,
Logan Tueller

Ancient American Irrigation Techniques and Their Influence on Modern American Agriculture

Water is the reason we have life on this planet. Water has several main properties which help sustain our planet and life including: cohesion, high heat capacity, universal solvent, polarity. As organisms evolved into more complex, land mobile creatures, access to water was a matter of survival or extinction. Homo sapiens developed the ability to control their access to water by recycling, redirecting and storing water in many innovating ways which allowed them to travel further and explore new places to call home. As Humans crossed over the ice bridge to North America, they settled next to coasts, rivers and lakes so they could have easy access to water. As thousands of years passed, Native Americans settled in what is now the Pacific Northwest and Southwest. I believe that I can prove that ancient human’s ability to develop technology to control water resources in America was so revolutionary that the systems used helped influence most of our modern day irrigation techniques.
Although it is probable that American Indians grew several native plants such as gourds, the first evidence of corn based agriculture in the Southwest dates as far back as 2100 BCE. Primitive corn cobs have been found all around New Mexico and Arizona from the Tucson basin in the Arizona desert. This suggests that the primitive corn they grew was adapted to being grown in hot, dry and short-season climates (Merrill). Corn reached the Southwest via an unknown route from Mexico. One theory is that the corn cultivation was carried northward from central Mexico by migrating farmers. The first cultivation of corn in the Southwest came during a climatic period when precipitation was relatively high. As corn cultivation became a more feasible means of food, communities became larger and moved away from nomadic hunter-gatherers. As these groups grew in size and moved towards a more agricultural based economy, the need to grow larger amounts of crops lead to some innovative ways to control water resources. The image to the left shows an ancient man-made water basin used to capture rainwater runoff and directed it to their small fields, thus enabling them to grow larger crops in areas of dry desert. From these rainwater collection techniques, modern Americans have derived self-sustaining houses with rain collecting systems that have the ability to supply a full house with water for showers, laundry, cooking and even enough water support a small garden. People have converted the community style water basin towards a more household friendly approach that helps make homes in more rural locations self-sufficient when it comes to water resources. As you can see, these ancient Americans had great skill in managing water resources in dry arid conditions. From rain water collection to massive canal systems spreading miles, Native Americans overcame the struggles of accessing water in the deserts in a way that is advanced even by today’s standards.
The Las Capas, near Tucson, is one of the oldest irrigation systems in North America, dating to 1200 BC. The network of canals and small fields, covers more than 100 acres which shows that a sizable community of people with advanced enough organization to complete community wide public works project (archaeology.org). The Las Capas people are considered the forerunners of the Hohokam people who were the most accomplished farmers of the Southwest. The Hohokam lived in the Gila and Salt river valleys of Arizona between the 100 AD and 1450 AD. Their society bloomed about 750 AD most likely stemming from their agricultural success. The Hohokam constructed a vast system of canals to irrigate thousands of acres of cropland from river valleys for as far as 30 km away (Doolittle). At the peak of their culture in the 14th century, the Hohokam may have numbered 40,000 people which shows how effective their irrigation systems were at passively delivering water to fields. In a very similar fashion, modern farmers rely on simple passive watering systems derived and built with similar techniques that the Las Capas people used hundreds of years ago. The arid South-West poses great issues with agriculture but with the use of the Las Capas’ techniques to build and maintain canals, the Arizona Canal system was started in May 1883, only 400 years after the Hohokam. The Arizona Canal is a massive canal system that gave water access to many communities and farmers. The Canals are 7 times larger (around 211 km) than those from the 15th century but covered similar areas and were built to support thousands of people.
From the map above, the prehistoric canals can be seen in the light blue and more modern canals are in white. The location of the canals then versus now seems to be transposed into very similar locations, some even built new canals over top of the old structures left behind from more primitive canals. The ingenuity behind both canal systems shows how the control of water resources was a mandatory need for populations to grow and survive in the drier desert conditions. As you can see, the resemblance between ancient Americans ability to control water and the more current take on how to control water stem from the same common ground dating back as far as 1200 BC. I believe that I have proved that ancient human’s ability to develop technology to control water resources in America was so revolutionary that the systems used helped influence most of our modern day irrigation techniques.

Works Cited
Doolittle, William E. “Agriculture in North America on the Eve of Contact: A Reassessment” Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 82(3), 1992, p. 389
Fish, Suzanne K. “Hohokam Impacts on Sonoran Desert Environment” in Imperfect Balance: Landscape Transformations in the PreColumbian Americas ed. by David L. Lentz, New York: Columbia U Press, 2000, p.264
Merrill, William L. et al, “The Diffusion of Maize to the Southwestern United States and its Impact.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Vol. 106, No. 50 (December 15, 2009), pp. 21019-21020
Showalter, Pamela Sands. 2013. “A Thematic Mapper Analysis of the Prehistoric Hohokam Canal System, Phoenix, Arizona”. Journal of Field Archaeology. 20 (1): 77-90
“Top 10 Discoveries of 2009 – Early Irrigators – Tucson, Arizona.” http://www.archaeology.org/1001/topten/arizona.html, accessed 1 April 2016

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Two Perfect Pages
We all know that water does a lot for us, and has for a very long time. What many don’t know is how it all started and how far our water system has come. Although many people do not have a clear understanding of how important it is and it’s taken for granted. There are still big controversies over water rights today, just as there were 100 years ago. Our water system has come a long way. When I say that, I mean the different methods of irrigations, recycling, replenishing, and filtering that we have today. Except we could be putting this resource is a lot of harm just by the way we are using it. We do not realize the amount of water that we are wasting and what it is doing to us. That long hot shower that many have to have effects farmers’ and ranchers’ water rights that put food on their table.
If I could turn back time I would offer some good advice that I learned while reading these articles and gaining a lot of knowledge about the past of water. I would first start by telling Turkey, Iraq, and Syria that by cutting water and resources off from one another, will not solve anything at all. From reading these articles it seemed as though they were too busy fighting with one another over water that they just kept making the situation worse. Some good advice for them would be better management. Stop, think, and manage would have been a lot more useful during these tough times. Management will do wonders when one actually sits down and analyze a situation and take action on it. By recycling their water they would not have had the conflict of sucking their aquifers dry. Aquifers are non-replenish able, that seems very scary. Although with proper action this issue could be reduced.
Turkey went through a long dispute about their river water system a while ago. Tukey, Syria, and Iraq all share the Twin Rivers. Turkey was known for many different things, one of them was their strong military power. They were well known for their forces and equipment which helped aid them in water controversies because often times no one wanted to go face to face with them. Another thing that they were known for was being “water rich” which actually is a false perception on Turkey. It wasn’t until 1953 that Turkey really became water rich, this was because of their new Directorate of State Hydraulic Works. This system of water works helped them so much that they became hated even more than they were before. While other areas used up almost all their water supply, Turkey wouldn’t even use half of their supply. This was possible because of their hydraulic water basins. One can see that if people really go the extra mile to conserve and replenish something. It really can make a huge different. Turkey was taking huge steps into making things easier for them and their citizens, and they accomplished that.
I do think that leaders would view my suggestions of better management, and recycling worth implementing. It’s amazing how much easier and rational things can be when everyone quits fighting and puts their heads together, I understand this was a time of war but they did more than just kill people, they killed their water supply at their own fault.
Some pieces of information that I would need that I did not get while reading these articles would be their global warming and climate conditions during this time. Today this type of information comes in very handy when deciding how they will manage their water. Also things such as rainfall are very important to know. What were their water laws? Who made the decisions and why? Did they have any actual knowledge of the system or were they just born into the position?

https://www.engineeringthepast.com/1586-2/

Two Perfect Pages

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1.2 Bridges

When photographed both the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge are admired for their architecture. While scrolling through images on Flickr it became apparent that the Golden Gate Bridge is admired for its color and how it prominent image within the bay. On this specific website there were no photographs that were taken on the bridge itself, always from a distance. On the other hand, there were many more photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge from a pedestrian’s point of view, as the many different cables on the bridge create very interesting photographs. From looking at the photographs of the two bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge appeared to symbolize a gateway to either the bay or the ocean on the other side. When looking at the Brooklyn Bridge it seemed that the connection of two important cities was the main focus.

The Brooklyn Bridge, having opened in 1883, was very sturdy for its time. Roebling had designed the bridge to be stronger than it needed to be because the science of bridge building had not been figured out yet. I think that if the science had been better during the developing we would not have the iconic bridge, with many cables and huge towers, that we do today. The intricate design is what makes it so remarkable. The bridge was originally designed for vehicles, like carts and carriages, and pedestrians. This bridge has more emphasis on accessibility for pedestrians; the walkway is down the center, with car lanes on the outside. The Golden Gate Bridge has walkways as well, but it is apparent that the bridge was primarily designed for vehicles with many car lanes, and sidewalks on the side.
In comparison to the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge is just as breathtaking but much sleeker. The opening for the Golden Gate was just over 50 years after the Brooklyn Bridge’s, and engineers began to have a greater understanding of ways to build bridges. It was designed to be more flexible, to withstand the wind it would encounter. Had the bridge been built at the same time as the Brooklyn Bridge it is possible that the design would have been bulkier and not as iconic.

Both bridges have had minimal changes through the years, none of them effecting the overall appearance. By both New York City and San Francisco deciding to keep their historical images they are appreciating their city’s past, and our country’s past. Even being on opposite sides of the country, both cities are places of innovation and change, but they know it is important to celebrate history and to be proud of what came first.