This database provides a dynamic map of ancient water technologies and is built in collaboration with the cluster of excellence TOPOI, dedicated to the subject of water management in antiquity
The database deals with a broad timespan from Hellenistic (323 BC-31 BC) to Late Roman period (27 BC-393 AD), known as classical antiquity and the main time frame is Imperial Roman era (27 BC-284 AD). The majority of the ancient water technologies which are mapped are; the saqiya, the shaduf, the bucket-chain, the Archimedean screw, the force-pump, the chain-pump, and different types of the waterwheels together with some less common devices.
The database is classifying ancient water technologies due to their type, area of usage, their age, and geological area. These technologies were generally in use as water lifting devices, dewatering equipment for mines or raising water for agricultural lands or as for waterwheels, used for water power. This mapping of water technologies project is part of the objective of our team by means of investigating the process of diffusion history of ancient water technologies depending on palaeoenvironmental conditions and in relation with the specific technical property of the individual devices.