Ancient Colombians built huge water system without centralized rule, archaeologists say
Communities living in Colombia thousands of years ago achieved an engineering wonder of the world based on cooperation among family groups without top-down government, a new study shows. Archaeologists argue that policymakers in Colombia should now adopt a similar strategy to solve the country's current water management crisis.
Ancient Colombians constructed an enormous water system without centralized authority, according to a new study led by archaeologists from the University of Cambridge. The pre-Hispanic field systems of La Mojana in the Caribbean region cover 500,000 hectares, akin to the size of Grand Canyon National Park. Typically, such an ambitious project would require top-down management, but the study suggests it was built through local cooperation among family groups.
Dr. Jasmine Vieri, the study's lead author, emphasized that the societies responsible were capable of organizing themselves to achieve remarkable feats. The hydraulic systems, in use from the first centuries B.C. until the 11th century A.D., included canals and raised fields that efficiently managed water during heavy rains and droughts.
The researchers used satellite imagery to map a portion of these systems and developed a method to estimate the labor required, concluding that a single system could have been built in less than two months by a workforce of around 800 people. This cooperative approach contrasts with previous assumptions that such projects were managed by powerful rulers.
The researchers argue that the findings offer valuable lessons for modern water management challenges in Colombia, where climate change, intensive farming, and policy failures have exacerbated the crisis. They believe that local communities can adopt sustainable solutions by reconnecting with their heritage and technologies, without the need for state intervention.
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