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The earliest water technologies are likely to have been simple ditches or cuts made to irrigate fields. In the Near East, irrigation likely began soon after agriculture began to be developed.<ref> For examples and discussions of early irrigation systems, see: Mashkour, Marjan, Andrew M. Bauer, Tony J. Wilkinson, Nicholas Kouchoukos, and Abbas Alizadeh. 2004. “Human-Environment Interactions on the Upper Khuzestan Plains, Southwest Iran. Recent Investigations.” ''Paléorient 30 '' (1): 69–88. doi:10.3406/paleo.2004.4773.</ref> Most likely these types of irrigation canals would be too small or small in scale to leave any major archaeological remains. Evidence of terrace agriculture from the Neolithic, however, suggests that water captured from higher ground was beginning to be transferred to lower areas, including possibly using canals to move water (Figure 1). In China, similar Neolithic evidence has been found, showing that early villages had sometimes a relatively complex network of canals near village fields, where even field systems have been partially preserved. <ref>For an example of irrigation systems in Neolithic China, see: Hu, Linchao, Zhihong Chao, Min Gu, Fuchun Li, Lina Chen, Bending Liu, Xia Li, et al. 2013. “Evidence for a Neolithic Age Fire-Irrigation Paddy Cultivation System in the Lower Yangtze River Delta, China.” ''Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (1): 72–78. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.04.021.</ref>

Wells would have been also constructed for early villages. In particular, many early villages were located on hills or higher ground, which allowed them to be better drained and avoid flooding in the wet seasons. <ref> For an example of an early Neolithic well-based village and system, see: Garfinkel, Yosef, Ariel Vered, and Ofer Bar-Yosef. 2006. “The Domestication of Water: The Neolithic Well at Sha’ar Hagolan, Jordan Valley, Israel.” ''Antiquity 80 '' (309): 686–96.</ref> However, this created the problem of easily accessing water. This led to the development of wells, as water underneath these hilly areas could be easily accessed.

By the 4th and 3rd millennium BC, more complex societies developed with larger settlements. In particular in southern Mesopotamia (southern Iraq), where we see the first cities form. <ref> For information about 4th millennium BC canals and irrigation in southern Mesopotamia, see: Wilkinson, T. J. 2003. ''Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East''. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pg. 89.</ref> However, the region is very dry and depended heavily on two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. Irrigation began to become more complex, with longer channels and managed by groups of people at different points, including controlling sluices that would release water to different areas. This development is similar to the Indus region along the Indian and Pakistani border, where the Indus river became important in dry regions as major cities developed. Similar types of canals to those of southern Mesopotamia seem to have developed, leading to also large cities by the 3rd millennium BC. <ref> For more information on irrigation in the Indus region, see: McIntosh, Jane. 2008. ''The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives. '' ABC-CLIO’s Understanding Ancient Civilizations Series. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, pg. 115 </ref> What is critical for these early systems is that they forced societies to better organize labor for construction and maintenance, which helped to encourage more complex organization and state formation. In essence, canals and irrigation likely had a major role in the development of some early, complex state societies developing in Mesopotamia and the Indus region.

In Arabia, already new forms of water capturing technologies may have developed. This includes surface channels and dams to capture water from the highlands and bring the water down to lowland region. Some have suggested that already underground channels, called falaj/qanats, were already developed, but this is not universally accepted.<ref> For information on early Arabian irrigation and types of features, see: al-Jahwari, Nasser Said. 2009. “The Agricultural Basis of Umm an-Nar Society in the Northern Oman Peninsula (2500-2000 BC).” ''Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 20 '' (2): 122–33.</ref>

Probably one of the most important developments to enable more advanced water technologies was the development and use of iron. In fact, the increasing sophistication of mathematics and engineering by the 1st millennium BC, along with iron technology, enabled the next major phase of development for irrigation technologies to occur. With the use of iron, rock could be excavated more easily. This facilitated the development of more sub-surface irrigation features, including tunnels and qanat systems (Figure 2), which were essentially tunnels with access holes that brought water from highland regions to lowland areas. These qanats also required a large amount of engineering, as channels had to be cut across mountains or difficult hilly areas, while channels were sometimes even cut from different areas and were met some place in the middle. Surface channels cut into mountain rock were now also developed, which allowed the capture of water from elevated regions. These technologies appear to have developed perhaps in Anatolia, Iran, or Arabia, although the origins are not completely clear. <ref>For more information on these Iron Age developments, see: Solomon, Steven. 2011. ''Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization''. New York: Harper Perennial.</ref> In fact, what is significant about qanat systems is they enable the Iranian plateau to be densely populated, setting up the foundation of what would become a series of Iranian-based dynasties that occupied highland regions, such as the Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sasanians. In essence, water technologies altered the path of history, as it enabled a region once sparsely populated to become more central for large states and develop more dense populations. <ref> For more information on the role of qanats in developing settled societies and empires, see: Christensen, Peter, and Steven Sampson. 2016. ''Decline of Iranshahr: Irrigation and Environment in the Middle East, 500 BC-AD 1500''. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press.</ref>

[[Category:Archaeology]] [[Category:Ancient History]]