INVENTORY OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION

PHOTOGRAPHICAL  AND  TYPOLOGICAL  INVENTORY

A4 - POOLS -DITCHES -AND -DRAINAGE -SYSTEMS
Water is the most precious resource of nomadic people who constantly move from one place to another. They must know, therefore, the places where water can be found in nature or drawn by means of the devices built by the nomads themselves. Above, a Saharan Tuareg near a guelta. Below, a young nomad from the Dahalac isles in the Red Sea who is drinking the fresh water produced by catching the sea evaporation in the artificial basins.
The cave of Pertosa (Cilento), used for its pools of water and as a holy place since Palaeolithic times.
Eritrea, oxen drinking from a ditch. The linear water structures are the most useful to the pastoral practices of watering and washing the herds of cattle.
The Neolithic village of Murgia Timone, cavities carved out of the limestone for water harvesting and other agropastoral activities. The cavities in the first figure are connected with each other forming a water decantation and filtration device. The micro-cistern on the right (see the second figure) fills up with rain water and acts as a drinking trough for the animals; the graffito of lyre-shaped horns and a cross mark the place and make it sacred. The device in the last figure is a further example of a cavity for water collection and decantation.
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POOLS DITCHES AND DRAINAGE SYSTEMS
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INVENTORY OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION