Irrigation and Hydraulic Technology Medieval Spain and its Legacy

These essays describe the diffusion of hydraulic institutions and techniques from the Islamic world into medieval Spain and, then, on to the Canaries and to America. Professor Glick's concern is both with technical aspects of water use, such as mills and flow measurement, and with the social basis of the technology; and it is this latter aspect that he would see as the key to success; Given the critical importance of water for agriculture, and also often competing urban and industrial uses, means to ensure equitable distribution and the management of disputes were essential. The mechanisms used to achieve this are analysed in the light of the objectives of local irrigation communities.

Contents: Introduction; Irrigation and hydraulic technology in Islamic Spain: methodological considerations; Arthur Maass y el análisis institucional del regadío en Espan]a; Review of Arthur Maass and Raymond L. Anderson, ’...And the Desert Shall Rejoice’: Conflict, Growth and Justice in Arid Environments.’; Levels and levelers: surveying irrigation canals in medieval Valencia; Medieval irrigation clocks; Noria pots in Spain; Water mills in the medieval Huerta of Valencia; On the conventional typology of hydraulic mills; Hydraulic technology in al-Andalus; Las técnicas hidráulicas antes y después de la conquista; El sentido arqueológico de las instituciones hidráulicas; Irrigation in the 15th-century Huerta of Valencia; Conflict in irrigation communities: one decade in medieval Valencia (1407-16); El término árabe dawla 'turno de riego', en una alquería en las tahas de Berjar y Dalias: Ambroz (Almería); Hydraulics and hydraulic politics in Martorell's Gandía; The Old World background of the irrigation system of San Antonio, Texas; The attempt to adopt the Valencian communal system in British India; Index.