Hydrology and Terracing in the Monte Pallano area of Abruzzo, Italy

Lucas Brown, Oberlin CollegeFollow

Location

King Building 335

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-28-2017 4:30 PM

End Date

4-28-2017 5:50 PM

Abstract

This project explores the effects that terracing has on the hydrology of the Monte Pallano area of Italy. This area has been inhabited for thousands of years and is the current site of the Sangro Valley Project. Ancient terraces that the Pre-Roman (Samnite) and Roman people created as flat areas to build on and farm are common in the study area. The effects of the terraces on the local hydrology up until now were unknown. In order to discover this, I used two elevation models to create two sets of watersheds. One of the elevation models was acquired from Jamie Countryman (OC ‘12), the other I created using elevation and location data of surveyed terraces. After I delineated watersheds in ArcGIS, I found that six watersheds are different with the terraces included. These findings show that terracing had a significant effect on the local hydrology, especially because the data only accounts for a limited number of terraces. However, my model was limited in that it only accounts for found terraces when there are many still unknown, also the way terraces were created they act more like walls than actual terraces. Additionally, other studies find that terraces would reduce the slope angle leading to increased infiltration and moisture retention as well as decreased erosion allowing for better farming.

Keywords:

GIS, hydrology, archaeology

Notes

Archaeological Studies Senior Project Panel
Session III, Panel 13 - Archaeological | Studies
Moderator: Amy Margaris, Associate Professor of Anthropology

Major

Archaeological Studies; Greek Lanuage & Literature

Advisor(s)

Drew Wilburn, Archaeological Studies

Project Mentor(s)

Amanda Schmidt, Geology

April 2017

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Apr 28th, 4:30 PM Apr 28th, 5:50 PM

Hydrology and Terracing in the Monte Pallano area of Abruzzo, Italy

King Building 335

This project explores the effects that terracing has on the hydrology of the Monte Pallano area of Italy. This area has been inhabited for thousands of years and is the current site of the Sangro Valley Project. Ancient terraces that the Pre-Roman (Samnite) and Roman people created as flat areas to build on and farm are common in the study area. The effects of the terraces on the local hydrology up until now were unknown. In order to discover this, I used two elevation models to create two sets of watersheds. One of the elevation models was acquired from Jamie Countryman (OC ‘12), the other I created using elevation and location data of surveyed terraces. After I delineated watersheds in ArcGIS, I found that six watersheds are different with the terraces included. These findings show that terracing had a significant effect on the local hydrology, especially because the data only accounts for a limited number of terraces. However, my model was limited in that it only accounts for found terraces when there are many still unknown, also the way terraces were created they act more like walls than actual terraces. Additionally, other studies find that terraces would reduce the slope angle leading to increased infiltration and moisture retention as well as decreased erosion allowing for better farming.