From Heaven to Earth: climate, natural resources and agricultural engineering in the Sacred Valley of the Incas

Abstract

The Andean region of Peru preserves extraordinary examples of the interaction between agricultural engineering, land use and climate adaptation. Among them, the terraces of Moray and the salt flats of Maras, a few kilometers from Cusco, provide admirable evidence of the advanced knowledge possessed by ancient Andean civilizations about agricultural practices and natural resource management, which enabled local people to optimize production in a mountainous and climatically variable environment. The terraces of Moray, built in a complex of concentric terraces, each characterized by a specific microclimate, constitute a center of experimentation and research for the development of crop varieties adaptable to different altitudes, in an environment extremely varied in temperature and humidity. The Maras salt pans are an ancient salt extraction system consisting of evaporation ponds built on the slope of Mount Qaqawiñay and fed by water from an underground spring. The salt extraction technique in Maras has been perfected for centuries and continues to this day, with local families helping to keep alive a practice that has been passed down through the centuries, meeting local needs and helping to preserve the region's traditional economy and the geological balance of the site.