Ethnographic study

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Hydraulic survey and ethnographic interviews in Monti di Trapani

Arqueoandalusi and the University of Granada have began a new hydraulic survey campaign and ethnographic interviews in the study area of Monti di Trapani (Sicily)

International Mountain Day

MEMOLA project participated in the International Mountain Day celebrations.

On 11 December it carried out an activity related to the recovery of the memory of water in a town called Cáñar in the Alpujarra (Granada-Spain). For them, 11 December served to collaborate with the Community of Irrigators of the town of Cáñar, in recovering the traditional distribution system of irrigation. This system of water management has been key to the proper functioning of the irrigation system of Cáñar for centuries, however, it has been falling into oblivion and disuse since a few decades.

This activity, of an intangible heritage and great importance, is vital for the maintenance of cultural landscape of Alpujarra and for the recovery of traditional mountain agriculture. During the activity the older farmers explained to the younger ones how the distribution of water worked, known locally as the "Office". Every night a distribution was made, during the driest months, and allowed the existing water to be shared in a controlled and fair way. This type of traditional knowledge is at the basis for a sustained dialogue that local communities have established with the mountains for centuries. The disappearance of mountains would have disastrous ecological and anthropological consequences.

Etnographic study in the territory of Calatafimi (Trapani)

The etnographic study in the territory of Calatafimi (Trapani) continues, in order to reconstruct the history of some ancient irrigation systems

Vjosa Valley - Ethnographic study 1st phase

The first phase of the ethnographic and ethno-archaeological study was extended in a series of villages of the Upper Vjosa Valley. A number of interviews were conducted with the elderly people of the valley aiming at collecting information on their past and current ways of life, focusing particularly on their productive and service activities, construction typologies, communication, economy, behaviors, etc. Also, a specific attention was dedicated to the study of the ethnical, cultural and linguistic Vlahos community, a nomadic minority group, which has been historically related to the area. 

Congress on Anthropology AIBR

The MEMOLA project participates in the I International Congress on Anthropology AIBR (Madrid), organizing the expert panel "Culture, Landscape y Community Management: approach from de social sciences to the traditional natural resources use systems", which will gather experts from many spanish universities. 8 july 2015. 2:30 pm. Classroom 13. Faculty of Psichology. Autonomous University of Madrid. 

How to measure rain?

Ramón, grower of Cáñar, teaches us how to measure the amount of rain with a ‪pluviometer‬. This instrument serves to gather and measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a set period of time in ‪Cáñar‬  (Granada).

‪Seminar about Agricultural‬ ‪landscapes‬ of Europe and Mexico

14th of May J.F. Ruiz Ruiz presents "‪Agricultural‬ ‪landscapes‬ of Europe and Mexico: community management of irrigation water from an ‪ethnoecology‬ perspective" in the Centre of Research on ecosystems of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

La limpia de la Acequia Grande de Cáñar

La limpieza de las acequias de riego es una labor que cada año realizan los regantes de Cáñar para asegurar el buen funcionamiento de los riegos durante el verano. El mantenimiento de estas infraestructuras hidráulicas tiene una gran importancia para la actividad agrícola y para la conservación de todo el paisaje cultural de Sierra Nevada. Los regantes se organizan en grupos y se reparten por el sistema de riego para limpiar las acequias madres, las balsas y partidores, que durante el invierno suelen llenarse de lodos y piedras.