New book: Irrigation in Early States: New Directions

The new book Irrigation in Early States: New Directions from The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. The table of contents and formal book page can be found here: https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/OIS/ois13.pdf

The book, edited by Stephanie Rost is the outcome of a conference with the same totle bringing together scholars from across the globe, south and north America, Africa and Southeast Asia for an elaborate and detailed understanding of the complexity of irrigation and links to past urban and state societies. Challenging old assumption about “irrigation dependent civilisations” and evolutionary interpretations,  the book showcases the range of diverse arrangements of water and how it combined with many other factors to shape societies differently across the world. The cross-cultural approach opens up for a new understanding of irrigation and water management.

Contributions come from IHOPE scholars who are part of the Global Theme Water for Life https://ihopenet.org/water-for-life/. See the individual contributions in the book!