Water History

The primary focus of Water History is the relationship between water and the people who rely on it, particularly how it has been controlled and by whom. Through examining how societies throughout history organised their water supplies, it is, in turn, easier to contextualise the political, social, and economic conditions of past communities. Water History also makes a point of including a range of disciplines, including both humanities-based and scientific research. This allows for a more holistic overview of the topics discussed. To this end, there is often an emphasis on diachronic approaches (e.g. Christaki et al., 2017; see below), examining how one specific area has managed its water supply over a prolonged period. The journal has a wide-ranging geographic and historic interest, from indigenous groups in North America and New Zealand (e.g., 2017, Vol. 9, Issue 1) to Soviet literature concerned with irrigation in the Steppe (e.g., Bichsel 2017: 337-359). There is also a substantial classical focus, including several special issues, with discussions of water management practices across the Ancient Mediterranean as implemented by both Greece and Rome.

Example Quotation

‘Water History seeks to foster cross-disciplinary discussion of ideas, methods, and experience so as to illuminate the complex processes that have shaped water resource use and thus reveal interrelated historical contingencies and precedents. The management of the world’s water supplies remains of critical concern to scholars, policymakers, and resource managers; as such, deepening our understanding of how past human societies used and related to water informs current debates on water management.’

[ Water History | Aims and scope (springer.com) Accessed 24/05/2023 16:15]

Articles of Potential Interest

Wayne F. Lorenz, A. Kate Trusler & Jessica N. Bernstetter Totsch (2022), ‘Ancient Water Management in the Casa Dell’Efebo in Pompeii’, Water History Vol. 14, 211-232.

• Looks at the various methods of water storage, dispersal and usage in one of the largest Pompeiian villas, including cisterns, private water tower, latrines, water features and a complex lead pipe system, paying close attention to the spatial and socioeconomic implications of such a complex system.

Patrik Klingborg & Martin Finné (2018), ‘Modelling the Freshwater Supply of Cisterns in Ancient Greece’, Water History Vol. 10, 113-131.

• Uses case studies in Thessaly and Euboea measuring annual rainfall (particularly seasonal fluctuations) to gauge how useful and efficiently cisterns could store and provide water to individual households.

M. Christaki, G. Stournaras, P.T. Nastos & N. Mamassis (2017), ‘Water Supply Associated with the Development of the City of Athens from the Hellenistic Era until the End of the 19^th Century’, Water History Vol. 9, 389-410.

• Approaches Athens’ water supply through a diachronic lens and the management solutions different occupying powers (e.g., Romans, Frankish, Ottomans) used. There is particularly interesting discussion of how the Romans revitalised the water supply.

Volume 6, Issue 1 (March 2014)

• A special issue centred around Roman canals both in Rome and across the Empire, including the Iberian Peninsula and the Rhine estuary.

Volume 4, Issue 1 (April 2012)

• A special issue which focusses on the Roman and Byzantine empires. Amongst others, this issue includes discussions of legislation concerning public water use in the Roman empire (Christer Bruun, pp. 11-33), water technologies in the Roman Near East (Zena Kamash, pp. 79-93) and irrigation in Late Antique North African agricultural practices (Anna Leone, pp. 119-133).