TexasScholarWorks
    • Login
    • Submit
    View Item 
    •   Repository Home
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    • Repository Home
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Groundwater geochemistry and human ecology in the south Aegean : a diachronic investigation of the human–hydrologic relationship from prehistory to the present

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    FLOOD-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf (49.07Mb)
    Date
    2016-08
    Author
    Flood, Jonathan Michael
    Share
     Facebook
     Twitter
     LinkedIn
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    This dissertation identifies and explores recurring patterns in the relationship between humans and hydrology. I explore both sides of the human-hydrologic relationship by highlighting (1) the principal modes used by humans to influence and augment the water cycle, and (2) the influence of water quantity and water chemistry on human affairs. The first theme is explored by charting the evolutionary trajectory of water management technology, beginning with the earliest known intentional manipulations of the water cycle roughly 10,000 years ago and ending with massive hydraulic projects of the present. This exposition reveals that across cultural, environmental, and temporal boundaries water management technology has progressed from simple techniques and devices to complex hydraulic installations in a series of incremental innovations, not in great leaps forward. A better understanding of water management’s origins and characteristic modes of innovation may encourage robust and farsighted hydrologic developments in a future of increased freshwater scarcity. The second theme investigates the influence of water quantity and water chemistry on: (a) settlement location and land-use strategies; (b) site tenure, especially during periods of climatic variability/change; (c) water-ritual and environmental perceptions; and (d) the formation and political ecology of early states. Methods and tools from geomorphology, hydrogeology, and environmental chemistry are used to define the complete physiochemical parameters of water resources in several study watersheds in the Eastern Mediterranean. Human-environmental behaviors captured in the archaeological and historical records were used to identify recurring patterns of human interaction with specific components of hydrologic systems. Several case studies demonstrate remarkable human sensitivity to geochemical differences in the natural environment. Ritual activity around several of these water sources seems to transcend time and cultural background. Conversely, other case studies demonstrate how cultures have repeatedly engineered the environment to manage and mitigate inherently poor or anthropogenically compromised water resources. This dissertation reveals the profound impacts humans have had on hydrologic systems and the way water’s chemical character and physical abundance have influenced human affairs.
    Department
    Geography and the Environment
    Subject
    Geoarchaeology
    Water management
    Water chemistry
    Technological evolution
    Humans and hydrology
    Hydraulic projects history
    Water use history
    Prehistoric water use
    Prehistoric hydraulics
    Water management history
    Water resources history
    Hydrologic systems history
    Human-hydrology relationship
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/2152/47071
    Collections
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      Undercurrents of urban modernism : water, architecture, and landscape in California and the American West 

      Faletti, Rina Cathleen; 0000-0001-7772-0936 (2015-05)
      "Undercurrents of Urban Modernism: Water, Architecture, and Landscape in California and the American West" conducts an art-historical analysis of historic waterworks buildings in order to examine cultural values pertinent ...
    • Thumbnail

      Austin Area Environmental Handbook 

      Austin Department of Environmental Protection (City of Austin, 1987)
    • The education of Frank Waters, 1902-1969 : finding a southwestern literary voice 

      Meyers, Thomas Duncan (2001-08)

    University of Texas at Austin Libraries
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • youtube
    • CONTACT US
    • MAPS & DIRECTIONS
    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
    • Site Policies
    • Web Accessibility Policy
    • Web Privacy Policy
    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin

     

     

    Browse

    Entire RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsDate IssuedAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartmentsThis CollectionDate IssuedAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartments

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Information

    About Contact Policies Getting Started Glossary Help FAQs

    University of Texas at Austin Libraries
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • youtube
    • CONTACT US
    • MAPS & DIRECTIONS
    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
    • Site Policies
    • Web Accessibility Policy
    • Web Privacy Policy
    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin