University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst University Librarians Publication Series University Libraries 2020 Seascapes and Fresh Water Management in Rural Greece: The Case of the Mani Peninsula, 1261–1821 CE Rebecca M. Seifried University of Massachusetts Amherst,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/librarian_pubs Recommended Citation Seifried, Rebecca M., "Seascapes and Fresh Water Management in Rural Greece: The Case of the Mani Peninsula, 1261–1821 CE" (2020). Levant. 87. https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2020.1789316 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Libraries at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in University Librarians Publication Series by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Seascapes and Fresh Water Management in Rural Greece: The Case of the Mani Peninsula, 1261–1821 CE Rebecca M. Seifried University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries, Amherst, MA, USA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4372-2164, email:
[email protected] Abstract The Mani peninsula is a semi-arid landscape with few natural sources of fresh water, yet it supported a dense population during the Late Byzantine and Ottoman periods. This paper reviews the archaeological and historical evidence for water- management practices in Mani, concentrating on its domestic-scale hydraulic infrastructure (cisterns and saltpans) and the ports and harbours along its coasts. The data point to a critical shift in household-level social organization at the turn of the 18th century, underscoring the fact that people living in supposedly ‘peripheral’ regions like Mani nevertheless engaged in far-reaching networks of contact and exchange.