Water resources management is undoubtedly one of the most prominent topics in global debates at the crossroads of engineering solutions and geopolitical controversies. Akin to its contributions to better understanding climate change and human response in modern times by analyzing these phenomena in ancient contexts, archaeology time and again proves its scientific relevance by weighing in on the many dimensions of negotiating the scarcity or abundance of water in prehistoric times.
In 2022, the Department of Archaeology hosted the conference “Water Supply and Water Management in the Metal Ages” as part of the annual meeting of the Bronze Age Commission of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP), chaired by commission president Dr. Dirk Brandherm from Belfast University, Northern Ireland, and Assoc. Prof. Thomas Zimmermann, corresponding member of the above mentioned UISPP commission. The successive decision of the UISPP Archaeometry Commission to join forces through merging schedules and venues with colleagues from the Bronze Age League was a fruitful and inspiring windfall.
The results of these commission meetings, which brought together a diverse group of distinguished scholars from America, Europe and the Middle East, is now available as a peer-reviewed book titled “Water Supply and Water Management in the Metal Ages,” edited by Dirk Brandherm with Thomas Zimmermann and published by Oxford-based Archaeopress. The book contains articles that expand from Copper Age water management on the Iberian peninsula in the face of a climate crisis to Early Bronze Age drainage systems on the Cycladic islands. The archaeometry section contains cutting-edge research on the scientific analysis of pigments, metals, furnaces and pottery and was written by leading scholars in their fields.
The generosity of Bilkent and Belfast University, together with the Spain-based E2IN2 company, enabled the publication not only as a hardcopy but also as an open-access e-book. The e-book can be downloaded at www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781803279053
