Terrace (earthworks)

2025-09-20T09:58:41Z

2A00:23C6:A074:EF01:3C61:6D65:AC29:12F4: /* See also */

{{Short description|Terrain formed by tiered platforms}}
{{Other uses|Terrace (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Haraz Mountains, Yemen (12633745063).jpg|thumb|Terraced fields in the [[Jabal Haraz]] region of [[Yemen]].]]
[[File:RiceTerracesVietnam.jpg|thumb|Rice terraces in [[Sa Pa]], [[Vietnam]].]]
[[File:Terrace field yunnan china denoised.jpg|thumb|Rice terraces of the [[Hani people]] in [[Yunnan]], [[China]].]]
[[File:Fukuoka-Tsuzura Rice Terrace in an Early Summer-xl.jpg|thumb|Rice terrace in the [[Fukuoka Prefecture]], [[Japan]].]]A '''terrace''' in [[agriculture]] is a flat surface that has been cut into hills or mountains to provide areas for the cultivation for crops, as a method of more effective [[farming]]. Terrace agriculture or cultivation is when these platforms are created successively down the terrain in a pattern that resembles the steps of a staircase. As a type of [[landscaping]], it is called '''terracing'''.

Terraced fields decrease both [[erosion]] and [[surface runoff]], and may be used to support growing crops that require [[irrigation]], such as [[rice]]. The [[Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras]] have been designated as a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]] because of the significance of this technique.<ref>{{cite web | title= World Heritage List | url= https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/722 | work=UNESCO | access-date=2012-09-22}}they are Broad flat steps</ref>

== Uses ==

[[File:Rice-Terrace.theora.ogv|thumb|Farmers working on rice terraces ([[Indonesia]])]]

Terraced [[paddy field]]s are used widely in rice, [[wheat]] and [[barley]] farming in [[East Asia|east]], [[South Asia|south]], [[Western Asia|southwest]], and [[southeast Asia]], as well as the [[Mediterranean Basin]], Africa, and South America. Drier-climate terrace farming is common throughout the Mediterranean Basin, where they are used for [[Vineyard|vineyards]], [[olive]] trees, [[cork oak]], and other crops.{{Cn|date=February 2021}}

==Ancient history==

The [[Jabal Haraz|Yemen Highlands]] are known for their terrace systems which were constructed at the beginning of [[Bronze Age]] in the [[3rd millennium BC]].<ref>{{cite news |title=On Ancient Terraced Hills, Urbanism Sprouted With Crops |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/02/science/on-ancient-terraced-hills-urbanism-sprouted-with-crops.html |work=The New York Times |date=2 September 1997}}</ref> Similar early terrace systems have been documented in the Levant, where archaeological and geomorphological evidence supports terrace farming as early as the 4th millennium BCE, with widespread implementation in the Bronze and Iron Ages across arid environments such as the Negev Desert and Petra region<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Avni |first=Yoav |date=2022-10-14 |title=The Emergence of Terrace Farming in the Arid Zone of the Levant—Past Perspectives and Future Implications |journal=Land |language=en |volume=11 |issue=10 |pages=1798 |doi=10.3390/land11101798 |bibcode=2022Land...11.1798A |doi-access=free |issn=2073-445X}}</ref>.

Terracing is also used for sloping terrain; the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] may have been built on an artificial mountain with stepped terraces, such as those on a [[ziggurat]].{{citation needed|date=February 2011}} At the seaside [[Villa of the Papyri]] in [[Herculaneum]], the villa gardens of [[Julius Caesar]]'s father-in-law were designed in terraces to give pleasant and varied views of the Bay of Naples.{{Cn|date=February 2021}}

Archaeological evidence from the Kislovodsk basin in the northern Caucasus indicates the use of terrace agriculture from the beginning of the first millennium BC, associated with the Koban culture, and continuing into the first millennium AD with later adaptations by Alanic communities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Korobov |first1=Dmitry S. |last2=Borisov |first2=Alexander V. |date=December 2013 |title=The origins of terraced field agriculture in the Caucasus: new discoveries in the Kislovodsk basin |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/origins-of-terraced-field-agriculture-in-the-caucasus-new-discoveries-in-the-kislovodsk-basin/07ED7D381F9489D829C6D95263B1323F |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=87 |issue=338 |pages=1086–1103 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00049887 |issn=0003-598X}}</ref> In the Mediterranean region, Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) profiling and dating<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kinnaird |first1=Tim |last2=Bolòs |first2=Jordi |last3=Turner |first3=Alex |last4=Turner |first4=Sam |date=2017-02-01 |title=Optically-stimulated luminescence profiling and dating of historic agricultural terraces in Catalonia (Spain) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440316301662 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=78 |pages=66–77 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2016.11.003 |bibcode=2017JArSc..78...66K |issn=0305-4403}}</ref> has revealed a major intensification of terrace construction during the later Middle Ages (c. AD 1100–1600), indicating a significant investment of labor in landscape modification during this period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Turner |first1=Sam |last2=Kinnaird |first2=Tim |last3=Varinlioğlu |first3=Günder |last4=Şerifoğlu |first4=Tevfik Emre |last5=Koparal |first5=Elif |last6=Demirciler |first6=Volkan |last7=Athanasoulis |first7=Dimitris |last8=Ødegård |first8=Knut |last9=Crow |first9=Jim |last10=Jackson |first10=Mark |last11=Bolòs |first11=Jordi |last12=Sánchez-Pardo |first12=José Carlos |last13=Carrer |first13=Francesco |last14=Sanderson |first14=David |last15=Turner |first15=Alex |date=June 2021 |title=Agricultural terraces in the Mediterranean: medieval intensification revealed by OSL profiling and dating |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/agricultural-terraces-in-the-mediterranean-medieval-intensification-revealed-by-osl-profiling-and-dating/09BCE89F525C6B18047ADF05400C6C47 |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=95 |issue=381 |pages=773–790 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2020.187 |issn=0003-598X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brandolini |first1=Filippo |last2=Kinnaird |first2=Tim C. |last3=Srivastava |first3=Aayush |last4=Costanzo |first4=Stefano |last5=Compostella |first5=Chiara |last6=Turner |first6=Sam |date=2025-07-10 |title=Geoarchaeology reveals development of terrace farming in the Northern Apennines during the Medieval Climate Anomaly |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=24989 |doi=10.1038/s41598-025-08396-2 |pmid=40640315 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=12246183}}</ref>

Intensive terrace farming is believed to have been practiced before the early 15th century AD in [[West Africa]].<ref name="MatsWidgren2009">{{cite news | last=Widgren | first=Mats | title=Mapping precolonial African agricultural systems | year=2009 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255653306|page=5}}</ref><ref name="Genest Muller-Kosack 2003">{{cite journal | last1=Genest | first1=Serge | last2=Muller-Kosack | first2=Gerhard | title=The Way of the Beer: Ritual Re-Enactment of History among the Mafa, Terrace Farmers of the Mandara Mountains (North Cameroon) | journal=Africa: Journal of the International African Institute | volume=73 | issue=4 | pages=642–643 | year=2003 | issn=0001-9720 | doi=10.2307/3556793 | jstor=3556793 | url=http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/files/2368/The_Way_of_the_Beer.pdf }}</ref> Terraces were used by many groups, notably the [[Mafa]],<ref name="Zaal2016">{{cite book|author=Fred Zaal|title=Sustainable Land Management in the Tropics: Explaining the Miracle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIbeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT145|date=1 April 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-04776-6|pages=145–}}</ref> [[Ngas language|Ngas]], [[Gwoza]],<ref name="Gwimbe 2014 pp. 45–61">{{cite book | last=Gwimbe | first=Samuel Barde | title=African Indigenous Knowledge and the Disciplines | chapter=Ancient Terraces on Highland Fringes South of the Chad Basin | publisher=SensePublishers | location=Rotterdam | year=2014 | isbn=978-94-6209-770-4 | doi=10.1007/978-94-6209-770-4_6 | pages=45–61}}</ref> and the [[Dogon people|Dogon]].<ref name="AsanteMazama2008">{{cite book|author1=Molefi Kete Asante|author2=Ama Mazama|title=Encyclopedia of African Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uMv0CAAAQBAJ&pg=PT328|date=26 November 2008|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-5063-1786-1|page=328}}</ref>

==Recent history==
It was long held that steep mountain landscapes are not conducive to, or do not even permit, agricultural mechanization. In the 1970s in the European [[Alps]], [[pasture]] farms began mechanizing the management of alpine pastures and harvesting of forage grasses through use of single axle [[two-wheel tractor]]s (2WTs) and very low center of gravity articulated steering 4-wheel tractors. Their designs by various European manufacturers were initially quite simple but effective, allowing them to cross slopes approaching 20%. In the 2000s new designs of wheels and tires, tracks, etc, and incorporation of electronics for better and safer control, allowed these machines to operate on slopes greater than 20% with various implements such as reaper-harvesters, rakes, balers, and transport trailers.{{Cn|date=February 2021}}

In Asian sub-tropical countries, a similar process has begun with the introduction of smaller, lower-tech and much lower-priced 2WTs in the 4-9 horsepower range that can be safely operated in the small, narrow terraces, and are light enough to be lifted and lowered from one terrace to the next. What is different from the Alpine use is that these 2WTs are being used for tillage and crop establishment of [[maize]], wheat, and [[potato]] crops, and with their small 60-70cm-wide rotovators and special cage wheels are puddling the terraces for transplanted and broadcast rice. Farmers are also using the engines as stationary power sources for powering [[Water pump|water pumps]] and [[Threshing machine|threshers]]. Even more recently farmers are experimenting with use of small [[reaper]]-harvester attachments. In Nepal, the low costs of these mostly Chinese-made machines and the increased productivity they produce<ref>Paudel, G.P., A. McDonald, D.B. Rahut, D.B KC, and S. Justice 2019 Scale-appropriate mechanization impacts on productivity among smallholders: Evidence from rice systems in the mid-hills of Nepal. Land Use Policy 85(2019):104-113.</ref> have meant that this scale-appropriate machinery is spreading across Nepal's [[Himalayas|Himalaya Mountains]] and likely into the other countries of the Himalaya and [[Hindu Kush]].{{Cn|date=February 2021}}

== In specific areas ==

=== South America ===
[[File:Inca terrace-en.png|thumb|Diagram showing Inca terrace engineering for agriculture.]]In the South American [[Andes]], farmers have used terraces, known as ''[[anden]]es,'' for over a thousand years to farm potatoes, maize, and other native crops. Terraced farming was developed by the [[Wari culture]] and other peoples of the south-central Andes before 1000 AD, centuries before they were used by the [[Inca Empire | Inca]], who adopted them. The terraces were built to make the most efficient use of shallow soil and to enable irrigation of crops by allowing runoff to occur through the outlet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/terrace-cultivation|title=Terrace cultivation | agriculture|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>

The Inca people built on these, developing a system of [[canal]]s, [[aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueducts]], and [[puquios]] to direct water through dry land and increase fertility levels and growth.<ref>{{cite web | title= Farming Like the Incas | url= http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/farming-like-the-incas-70263217/?no-ist | work=Smithsonian Magazine | access-date=2015-09-20}}</ref> These terraced farms are found wherever mountain villages have existed in the Andes. They provided the food necessary to support the populations of great Inca cities and religious centres such as [[Machu Picchu]].{{Cn|date=February 2021}}

=== Myanmar ===
In mountainous areas of [[Myanmar]], terrace farming is known locally as the staircase or ladder farming (in Myanmar: [[mm:‌လှေခါးထစ်‌တောင်ယာ]]) ‌and the agriculture technique of that kind is known as [[လှေခါးထစ်စိုက်ပျိုးနည်း]].

=== Japan ===
In [[Japan]], some of the ''100 Selected Terraced Rice Fields'' (in [[Japanese language|Japanese]]: [[:ja:棚田#日本の棚田百選一覧|日本の棚田百選一覧]]), from [[Iwate, Japan|Iwate]] in the north to [[Kagoshima, Japan|Kagoshima]] in the south, are slowly disappearing, but volunteers are helping the farmers both to maintain their traditional methods and for sightseeing purposes.<ref>[https://www.nippon.com/en/images/i00027/ An Agricultural Wonder: Japan’s Vanishing Terraced Rice Fields (Photos)] (Nippon.com) </ref>

=== Canary Islands ===
[[File:Volcanic Landscapes of La Gomera 14.jpg|thumb|Terraced fields in [[La Gomera]], Canary Islands]]
Terraced fields are common in islands with steep slopes. The [[Canary Islands]] present a complex system of terraces covering the landscape from the coastal irrigated plantations to the dry fields in the highlands. These terraces, which are named ''cadenas'' (chains), are built with stone walls of skillful design, which include attached stairs and channels.<ref>Martín, Lidia & González Morales, A & Ojeda, Antonio A.. (2016). Towards a new valuation of cultural terraced landscapes: The heritage of terraces in the Canary Islands (Spain). 26. 499-512. 10.19233/ASHS.2016.31.</ref>

=== England ===
In [[Old English]], a terrace was also called a "lynch" ([[lynchet]]). An example of an ancient Lynch Mill is in [[Lyme Regis]]. The water is directed from a river by a duct along a terrace. This set-up was used in steep hilly areas in the UK.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Whittington|first=G.|date=1967-01-01|title=Towards a Terminology for Strip Lynchets|jstor=40273237|journal=The Agricultural History Review|volume=15|issue=2|pages=103–107}}</ref>

=== Israel ===
[[File:Sunny_Side_Up_Terraces_in_Ein_Karem_(2)_(7689751886).jpg|thumb|Terraces near [[Ein Karem]], Israel]]
Ancient terraces are a common feature in the [[Hebron Mountains|Jerusalem Mountains]], often found in conjunction with ancient rock-cut agricultural structures including quarries, winepresses, olive oil presses, water holes, lime kilns, roads, and [[Watchtower (agricultural)|agricultural watchtowers]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Rubin |first=Rehav (Buni) |title=Stories Told by the Mountains: Cultural Landscape Through Time |publisher=Resling |year=2018 |pages=176–184 |language=he}}</ref> According to Zvi Ron's estimation, these terraces encompass approximately 56% of the open grounds in the area.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ron |first=Zvi |title=יהודה ושומרון: פרקים בגיאוגרפיה ישובית, מוקדש לזכרו של אברהם יעקב ברור |publisher=כנען |year=1977 |location=Jerusalem |pages=210–229 |language=he |trans-title=Judea and Samaria: studies in settlement geography, in memory of Dr. Avraham Brawer |chapter=התפוצה של המדרגות החקלאיות בהרי ירושלים}}</ref>

Despite their prevalence, there is a lack of consensus among scholars regarding their construction date. Various theories have been proposed, with Zvi Ron suggesting that their origins date back to ancient times, Finkelstein proposing the [[Bronze Age|Middle Bronze Age]], and Feig, Stager, and Harel suggesting the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|Iron Age]]. Archaeologists [[Shimon Gibson|Gibson]] and Edelstein conducted research on terrace systems in the Rephaim valley, proposing that the ones in ''Khirbet er-Ras'' were built during the Iron Age II, whereas those in ''[[Ein Yael]]'' were linked to the [[Second Temple period|Second Temple]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] periods. Seligman suggested that while some terraces were established in ancient times, the majority of them are more likely to have originated during the Roman and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] periods.<ref name=":0" /> A 2014 research study on terraces near [[Ramat Rachel]], using [[Luminescence dating|Optically Stimulated Luminescence]] (OSL), yielded dates ranging from the [[Hellenistic period]] to [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] and [[Ottoman Syria|Ottoman]] times. The majority of the samples fell within the latter periods.<ref>U. Davidovich et al., "Archeological Investigations and OSL Dating of Terraces at Ramat Rahel, Israel", ''Journal of Field Archaeology'' 37, 3 (2012): 192-208</ref> However, the study's ability to precisely determine the original construction date remains uncertain, as the results could also reflect subsequent agricultural modifications that affected exposure to sunlight.<ref name=":0" />

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Cultivation terraces, Walkerburn (geograph 2232191).jpg|Cultivation terraces, [[Walkerburn]]
File:Ruộng bậc thang Bản Phùng 1 - NKS.jpg|Rice terraces in [[Hoang Su Phi]], [[Ha Giang]], [[Vietnam]].
File:Tetang terraced fields.jpg|Tetang Village terraced fields, [[Mustang District]]
File:Samar terraced fields.jpg|Terraced fields in the [[Upper Mustang]] region of [[Nepal]]
File:Kabal Swat valley.JPG|Terraced field in Kabal [[Swat valley]], [[Pakistan]].
File:Pisac006.jpg|Terraced farmland in Peru, adopted by the Inca.
File:Terraced hay field - NARA - 286147.jpg|Terraced hay fields in the [[Upper Mississippi River]] basin during the 1930s.
File:1 bali rice terrace 2011.jpg|Rice terrace in [[Bali]]
File:1 bali jatiluwih rice terrace panorama.jpg|Jatiluwih rice terrace in [[Bali]], Indonesia.
File:Batad Rice Terraces after the rain.JPG|The [[Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras|Batad Rice Terraces]] in [[Ifugao]], Philippines.
File:Banaue Rice Terrace Close Up (2).JPG|The [[Banaue Rice Terraces]] in [[Ifugao]], Philippines.
File:Rice cultivation Nepal Lower Himalayas.jpg|Rice cultivation, Lower Himalayas, [[Nepal]].
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Anden]]
* [[Honghe Hani Rice Terraces]]
** [[Yuanyang County, Yunnan]]
* [[Banaue Rice Terraces]]
* [[Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras]]
* [[Satoyama]]
* [[Terrace garden]]
* [[Terraced wall]]
* [[Lynchet]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Agricultural terraces}}
*[http://www.touropia.com/incredible-terrace-fields/ Terrace Fields around the World]
{{Geotechnical engineering}}
{{Agriculture footer}}
{{Darjeeling}}
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[[Category:Agricultural terraces| ]]
[[Category:Agricultural terminology]]
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[[Category:Artificial landforms]]

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Terrace (earthworks)