South America In the South American
Andes, farmers have used terraces, known as
andenes, for over a thousand years to farm potatoes, maize, and other native crops. Terraced farming was developed by the
Wari culture and other peoples of the south-central Andes before 1000 AD, centuries before they were used by the
Inca, who adopted them. The terraces were built to make the most efficient use of shallow soil and to enable irrigation of crops by allowing runoff to occur through the outlet. The Inca people built on these, developing a system of
canals,
aqueducts, and
puquios to direct water through dry land and increase fertility levels and growth. These terraced farms are found wherever mountain villages have existed in the Andes. They provided the food necessary to support the populations of great Inca cities and religious centres such as
Machu Picchu.
Myanmar In mountainous areas of
Myanmar, terrace farming is known locally as the staircase or ladder farming (in Myanmar:
mm:လှေခါးထစ်တောင်ယာ) and the agriculture technique of that kind is known as
လှေခါးထစ်စိုက်ပျိုးနည်း.
Japan In
Japan, some of the
100 Selected Terraced Rice Fields (in
Japanese:
日本の棚田百選一覧), from
Iwate in the north to
Kagoshima in the south, are slowly disappearing, but volunteers are helping the farmers both to maintain their traditional methods and for sightseeing purposes.
Canary Islands , Canary Islands Terraced fields are common in islands with steep slopes. The
Canary Islands present a complex system of terraces covering the landscape from the coastal irrigated plantations to the dry fields in the highlands. These terraces, which are named
cadenas (chains), are built with stone walls of skillful design, which include attached stairs and channels.
England In
Old English, a terrace was also called a "lynch" (
lynchet). An example of an ancient Lynch Mill is in
Lyme Regis. The water is directed from a river by a duct along a terrace. This set-up was used in steep hilly areas in the UK.
Israel , Israel Ancient terraces are a common feature in the
Jerusalem Mountains, often found in conjunction with ancient rock-cut agricultural structures including quarries, winepresses, olive oil presses, water holes, lime kilns, roads, and
agricultural watchtowers. According to Zvi Ron's estimation, these terraces encompass approximately 56% of the open grounds in the area. Despite their prevalence, there is a lack of consensus among scholars regarding their construction date. Various theories have been proposed, with Zvi Ron suggesting that their origins date back to ancient times, Finkelstein proposing the
Middle Bronze Age, and Feig, Stager, and Harel suggesting the
Iron Age. Archaeologists
Gibson and Edelstein conducted research on terrace systems in the Rephaim valley, proposing that the ones in
Khirbet er-Ras were built during the Iron Age II, whereas those in
Ein Yael were linked to the
Second Temple and
Roman periods. Seligman suggested that while some terraces were established in ancient times, the majority of them are more likely to have originated during the Roman and
Byzantine periods. However, the study's ability to precisely determine the original construction date remains uncertain, as the results could also reflect subsequent agricultural modifications that affected exposure to sunlight. ==Gallery==