Charles R. Ortloff

With many years(45)as an researcher and consultant in engineering for national and international nuclear, chemical, petroleum, medical, ocean engineering, transportation, defense and energy industries (see my web page www.cfdconsultantsinternational.com), the use of sophisticated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) computer software was vital to problem resolution. About 25 years ago, the realization that these software codes could be useful to develop an understanding of the civil engineering knowledge base of hydraulic structures (canals, aqueducts, urban water supply systems, agricultural water supply systems, groundwater supplied agriculture, piping networks, siphons, etc.) of ancient civilizations launched a new line of investigation. Here a modern day engineer had the opportunity to use modern computer tools to analyze the water systems of his ancient water engineering counterparts and bring forward new discoveries and revelations about ancient technology that had been overlooked by classical archaeological studies mainly focussed on art history, religious practice, architecture, ceramics and language aspects of ancient civilizations. By project activity at major archaeological sites in Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Greece, mainland Italy, Sicily, Spain, Cambodia, Bali and Thailand, as well as sites in other European and Asian countries, analysis of Roman, Greek, Nabataean, Mayan, Byzantine, Khmer, Balian and South American Chimu, Inka, Tiwanaku, Wari and preceramic (3000 BCE)Caral civilization's contributions to the hydraulic sciences was documented in detail. Many new discoveries key to the development of hydraulic science, civil engineering practice, surveying techniques and their mathmatical foundations from New and Old World sources are now available in my Oxford press book "Water Engineering in the Ancient World: Archaeological and Climate Perspectives on Societies of Ancient South America, the Middle East and South East Asia." Presently a Research Associate in Anthropology at the University of Chicago, work continues at sites around the world for a "Volume II" to document further discoveries in the historical development of the hydraulic sciences from ancient sources.

With current interest in "Global Warming" and the continuity of our present civilization, several chapters of the book investigate effects of past climate anomalies on ancient civilizations. Chapters of the book tell a previously untold story of climate change related defensive innovations by ancient societies against drought, earthquake and flood events to sustain their civilizations through ecological challenges- where innovation failed and climate change effects overwhelmed innovative capabilities, several civilizations joined the long list of failed empires in the historical record.

The author invites inquiries from the general public on topics related to book subjects as well as inquiries from academic sources on collaborative analysis projects- communication to ortloff5@aol.com is suggested for such inquiries.

In summary,the book provides a new perspective on archaeological studies of the urban and agricultural water supply and distribution systems of major ancient civilizations of South America, the Middle East, and South-East Asia by using modern computer analysis methods to extract the true hydraulic/hydrological knowledge base available to these peoples. The many new revelations about the capabilities and innovations of ancient water engineers re-evaluate what was known and practised in the hydraulic sciences in ancient times. Given our current concerns about global warming and its effect on economic stability, it is fascinating to observe how some ancient civilizations successfully coped with major climate change events by devising defensive agricultural survival strategies, while others, which did not innovate, failed to survive.