terraced agriculture

Posted at Mar 06/2007 01:59PM:
ian: These monuments to human labor and technical achievement is one example of the diversity of lifeways pursued by the peoples of Arabia in response to the varied ecological and environmental conditions which they faced. Not every one was a nomad or engaged in caravan trade.

Posted at Feb 23/2007 10:35AM:
Zoe: Terraced agriculture was used in the highlands of South Arabia (Zafar and the Hadramaut) where there was enough rainfall for dry farming for a planting season or two with little or no irrigation. In these mineral-rich areas, the farmers used animal dung as fertilizer. The terraces are immensely labor intensive both to build and to sustain because they must be carefully shored up and planted to maintain the integrity of the structure. The advantage is that terracing allows for more diversity of crops, especially coffee, cereals, legumes, etc.