The Pamparomás region located in Peru's Andes is known for its rugged terrain, beautiful landscapes, and rich cultural heritage. Despite its natural beauty, Pamparomás faces several challenges, including poverty, limited infrastructure, and environmental degradation. When archaeologist Dr. Kevin Lane, conducted field research in the region, he came across the remains of pre-Hispanic dams that were once built to provide water for people’s livelihoods and fell into disrepair after the arrival of the conquistadors and the decline of the indigenous population. Supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Lane worked with local stakeholders to rehabilitate one of these ancient dams. We asked him about this unusual but potentially pioneering project.
"A millennia-old solution to seismic damage"
L.I.S.A.: Dr. Lane, you were originally funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation for a project on archaeological research into human and animal mobility in the ancient Andes. What was your original research interest and how did the idea of rebuilding a dam in the Andes come about?
Dr. Lane: I first travelled to South America in the mid-1990’s and I was astounded at the breadth and variety of landscapes and peoples, especially in the Andes. This inspired my initial research to concentrate on the lifeways of highland peoples and how they adapted the landscape to their needs. In particular, that of agropastoralists and how they harnessed the altitudinal resources of the region from the coast across watersheds to the unglaciated peaks of the Cordillera Negra, the central montane Huaylas inter-valley and onwards to the glaciered Cordillera Blanca.
Focusing on the Cordillera Negra, I was struck by how pre-Inca populations at a community level had sought to capture and preserve the seasonal rainfalls through recourse to the construction of elaborate systems of hydraulic management including dams, check or silt-dams, reservoirs, canals, and terraces. Such structural works generated community resilience and provided water security against a backdrop of changing climatic conditions brought about by the warmer Medieval Climate Anomaly (c. AD 950 – 1250) and the colder Little Ice Age (c. AD 1300-1850) and with-it considerable fluctuations in water availability.
A detailed survey of all this installed hydraulic capacity revealed over 15 dams in the topmost area of one watershed. Many of these had been destroyed by modern cement and steel micro-dam constructions, a modern go-to solution for water scarcity in the Andes. Nevertheless, modern micro-dams, while fulfilling many of the functions of their ancient counterparts, bring problems with them such as expense, over-reliance on non-local expertise and a functional lifespan of only 50 years (cut in many cases to less than this due to seismic activity and lack of maintenance). By way of comparison, ancient dam rehabilitation is a community-led, low-carbon, low-cost and low maintenance alternative. Ancient dam restoration also has a quick turnaround, the Gerda Henkel funded project took less than two years to plan and execute. Furthermore, being built of stone and clay they are a millennia-old solution to seismic damage.