Original design, tribal management and modifications in medieval hydraulic systems in the Balearic Islands (Spain)

Abstract

Abstract Case studies of hydraulic systems in al-Andalus prove them to be inextricably linked with specific forms of local clan procedure of water allocation. On the basis of the past and ongoing research on the irrigation systems of al-Andalus, especially in the Balearic Islands, amounting to just under 200 cases studied, it can be safely said that they were conceived, created and managed by peasant groups without any significant intervention by the state. Consequently the diffusion of plants from the east and the water technologies associated with their cultivation are best understood as a part of peasant knowledge, a technical transmission that took effect outside the Wittfogelian paradigm. In this paper I will try to show that the size of irrigated areas is important and that its modifications are key aspects of the discussion on the peasant management of the hydraulic systems of al-Andalus.