The Wet and the Dry: Irrigation and Agricultural Intensification in Polynesia

Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. A reading / reference copy. Good condition only in a bright and shiny Very Good dust jacket. Condition of the book itself is rated only Good due to waviness in the margin of several pages (BUT NO STAIN) due to dampness. Waviness is in the margin only and almost NO text or illustrations are affected. Sharp corners. NOT a library discard. NOT a remainder. Previous owner's name. Illustrated with a frontispiece and 113 figures. 15 tables. List of chapter notes. Bibliography. Index. Bound in the original bluish-gray cloth, stamped in bright metallic green on the spine. From the dust jacket: "Scholars and researchers have long believed that the ability to irrigate is crucial to the development of civilizations. In this book, archaeologist Patrick Kirch challenges this 'hydraulic hypothesis' and provides a more accurate and detailed account of the role of 'wet' and 'dry' cultivation systems in the development of complex sociopolitical structures. Examining research on cultural adaptation and ecology in Western Polynesia and utilizing extensive data from a variety of important South Pacific sites, Kirch not only reveals how particular systems of production developed within the constraints imposed by environmental conditions, but also explores the tension that arises between contrasting productive systems with differential abilities to produce surplus. He shows that the near total neglect of short-fallow dryland cultivation, as well as arboriculture, or tree-cropping, has seriously distorted the picture that archaeologists and anthropologists have of agricultural intensification and its relation to complex social structure.". First Printing of the First Edition. Hardcover. Good condition/Very Good dust jacket. Illus. by NOT a library discard. 8vo. xxii, 385pp. Great Packaging, Fast Shipping.