Re:
http://hypography.com/forums/terra-p...ot-sherds.html
...and welcome Gaudencio....
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Originally Posted by gaudencio
However it was built, one thing was clear in my head after seeing that picture and the documentary last night: the terracotta was laid flat, in layers, intentionally. So why? Well, it's plausible it does nothing, despite being laid on purpose. Equally, the other theory I read about is possible, that it harbours certain micro organisms. However, I think it more likely that the intent and the effect was mechanical. This is where it gets a bit hypothetical, since I'm no soil scientist, but the obvious problem with soils in areas of extreme weather (including my own soil) is that when it rains all the nutrients get flushed straight out. As is well established, the charcoal counteracts this on a chemical and biological level. I think that the pot sherds may counteract it on a mechanical level.
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I'm with you on the mulch effect. It seems obvious that the shards protects the soil, as you say, mechanically.
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But I don't know about how the layers are constructed. I would think slowly over the years and not all at once.
I've always pictured a surface almost completely covered, like paving, with a mosaic of shards. It'd also make it possible to encourage the drainage to run nearer to the base of plants, before soaking in.
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Originally Posted by gaudencio
Even if they used no-till agriculture, I find it hard to believe that over the course of a growing season - after cropping and 6 months worth of general movement - it could remain flat.
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But they'd be walking around on these all thru the growing season, pushing them flat into the soil... and any sharp points or curves sticking up would be broken off--to create a walkable surface.
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Originally Posted by gaudencio
Moreover, it seems obvious that the top layer in that photo HAS been tilled, due to the random angles of the pieces.
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Maybe this recent activity was not in keeping with the traditional way of tending those "mounds." These days don't the locals harvest the TP, rather than grow stuff on it?
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But I think the prevention of leaching is the most important function of the shards in that harsh driving-rain environment.
hmmm...
Imagining an old, post-harvest, "paved" mound... I'm wondering if all the season's waste biomass (combined with village wastes) might be burned in place, over the old paving.
The old "paving" might protect the soil underneath from sterilization.
The burning pile above would probably just be smoldering ...to produce the char.
Could even have been new shards (and dirt) covering the burning biomass to help maintain a smoldering level.
Could possibly have put clay sheets over the burning biomass, to encourage a smolder (turning the clay into large pottery "lids"). These could later be broken into mulch as the charred mass was crushed down, covering the old layer of shards.
Wet clay sheets... (hmmm)... could be not much more than a clay paste, painted thickly on large leaves--and then layered on top of a burning pile of bio-detritus and human wastes... to encourage smoldering and charring.
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