Sustainability
out of the past: How archaeology can save the planet
I am looking for funds to
complete a book on sustainability in the past.
I have been working in
Archaeology for 27 years, and I specialise in ancient agriculture. I am halfway
through writing my book, entitled, ‘How Archaeology can Save the Planet:
Sustainability out of the past’; I have a publisher, but my
workload is such that I have no time to finish it. I am looking to raise $15,000, which would enable me to take time out to
complete my book and see it through to publication. I would then like to go on
to create a television series based on the book, with the help of a filmmaker
friend, but that is another project!
You can read papers I have
published on the topic here:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249007184_Sustainability_out_of_the_past_how_archaeology_can_save_the_planet
and here:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272307886_Productive_Landscapes_a_Global_Perspective_on_Sustainable_Agriculture
And you can see me discussing
archaeology on the History Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tJnxs8pNtQ
The plan for my book is as
follows:
There have been many books
written about what we can learn from the failures of the past, but I want to
take a more optimistic view, focussing on what we have to learn from past
successes. This book will be about sustainable agriculture in the past, and the
engineering works that supported it, but it also looks to the future. Ancient
technologies are what engineers define as ‘intermediate’, which means that they
are simple, low in cost and they depend on local materials. Significantly, they
don’t require fossil fuels. There is now broad agreement among many
governments, non-government organisations, engineers and agronomists, as well
as the United Nations, that intermediate technologies are often the most
appropriate way forward in developing countries. The New Green Revolution is
looking to traditional knowledge, rather than to technology, to solve problems
of decreasing yields and environmental impoverishment.
This subject is controversial and
I have been accused of suggesting ‘pie in the sky’ ideas, but the
re-introductions I’m suggesting are already being carried out in countries all
over the world. Water harvesting and other dryland systems are being re-introduced
in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan,
Libya, Morocco, Pakistan,
Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Afghanistan
and Oman.
Other early technologies are being put back to work in Peru, Bolivia,
India, Bangladesh, Niger,
Burkina Faso
and many more. I would like to raise awareness of the fact that we already have
the technology to make sweeping changes to the way that we grow food and manage
the environment; we could be producing more food per hectare, and we could be
doing it more sustainably.
As the climate changes, it is
imperative that we come up with new ways of managing our environment. Deserts
are spreading, wetlands will increase as the sea level rises, and we need to
find ways to cope with an increasing population. There is a lot that we in the
West can learn from the past and from developing countries where people still
practice traditional agriculture. I am not advocating a wholesale return to
past technologies, nor am I suggesting the adoption of early technology in
place of modern engineering and agriculture. What I am suggesting is that we
combine some aspects of early technology with new systems and inventions, to
create a healthier, more sustainable and environmentally richer planet.