Table Of ContentThe Hydraulic State
The Hydraulic State explores the hydraulic engineering technology underlying
water system constructions of many of the ancient World Heritage sites in South
America, the Middle East and Asia as used in their urban and agricultural water
supply systems.
Using a range of methods and techniques, some new to archaeology, Ortloff
analyzes various ancient water systems including agricultural field system designs
known in ancient Peruvian and Bolivian Andean societies, water management
at Nabataean Petra, the Roman Pont du Garde water distribution castellum,
the Minoan site of Knossos and the water systems of dynastic (and modern)
China, particularly the Grand Canal and early water systems designed to control
flood episodes. In doing so the book greatly increases our understanding of the
hydraulic/hydrological engineering of ancient societies through the application
of Complexity Theory, Similitude Theory and Computational Fluid Dynamics
(CFD) analysis, as well as traditional archaeological analysis methods.
Serving to highlight the engineering science behind water structures of the
ancient World Heritage sites discussed, this book will be of interest to archaeologists
working on landscape archaeology, urbanism, agriculture and water management.
Charles R. Ortloff is the director of CFD Consultants International and Research
Associate in Anthropology at the University of Chicago.
Routledge Studies in Archaeology
Dwelling
Heidegger, Archaeology, Mortality
Philip Tonner
New Perspectives in Cultural Resource Management
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Cultural and Environmental Change on Rapa Nui
Edited by Sonia Cardinali, Kathleen Ingersoll, Daniel Ingersoll Jr.,
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Making Sense of Monuments
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Michael J. Kolb
Researching the Archaeological Past through Imagined Narratives
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The Hydraulic State
Science and Society in the Ancient World
Charles R. Ortloff
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The Hydraulic State
Science and Society in the Ancient World
Charles R. Ortloff
First published 2021
by Routledge
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© 2021 Charles R. Ortloff
The right of Charles R. Ortloff to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN: 978-0-367-85808-7 (hbk)
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Lolie
with me throughout time
Author biography
At the midpoint of the author’s 50-year research and development career concen-
trating on aerodynamic and hydrodynamics analysis applications for major
national and international corporations and government agencies involved in
defense, nuclear reactor, petroleum, chemical and ocean engineering subject
areas, he developed an interest in the technical accomplishments of ancient
water engineers and the theoretical base underlying their urban and agricultural
water system designs and structures. This led to a second career involving collabo-
ration with university scholars and international archeological institutes which led
to projects and travels to archaeological sites in South America, the Middle East and
Southeast Asia to analyze water system designs by using modern hydraulic engi-
neering methodologies. His 2010 Oxford University Press book Water Engineering
in the Ancient World summarized many new discoveries on this topic; the present
viii Author biography
book expands further on the hydraulic engineering knowledge base discovered
by ancient world engineers. The author is currently Director of CFD Consultants
International and Research Associate in Anthropology at the University of Chi-
cago. His work continues to highlight the use of modern engineering methodolo-
gies in gaining new perspectives on historical and scientific aspects of ancient
societies.
Contents
List of figures xi
List of tables xxi
Acknowledgments xxii
I
Hydraulic engineering in pre-Columbian Peru
and Bolivia 1
1 Origins and development of water science in the Andean
world and societal development according to Modern
Complexity Theory 3
2 Similitude in archaeology: examining agricultural system
science in pre-Columbian Peru and Bolivia 67
3 Hydraulic engineering strategies in ancient Peru and
Bolivia to manage water supplies for agriculture and
urban centers 114
4 Climate change effects on sustainability of ancient
Andean societies 143
5 New discoveries and perspectives on water management
and state structure at ad 300–1100 Tiwanaku’s
Urban Center (Bolivia) 166
6 Inka hydraulic engineering at Tipon 195
7 2600–1800 bc Caral: environmental change at a Late
Archaic Period site in north-central coastal Peru 222
