Ridged fields in the desert sands of Peru

Ridged fields in the desert sands of Peru

Project Senior Researcher Inge Schjellerup, Dr. Phil., Ethnographic Collection, The National Museum of Denmark

Prior to the Spanish colonisation of South America, the Indians in the dry desert areas along the Pacific coast had developed an advanced agricultural technology with ridged fields, some of which are still being used to this day in a few places. Detailed archaeological and anthropological examination of these may provide us with new insight into pre-Columbian history of agriculture and be able to introduce new elements into scientific research within comparative studies of similar types of ridged fields known from Micronesia, Africa and Spain.