Successful bid for AHRC grant

Professor Sabine Hyland is a team member on a major AHRC grant that just received funding (£199,581), led by Professor Nick Branch, University of Reading.  The project will improve education, training and awareness of traditional farming practices, including the restoration of ancient agricultural terraces, dams and irrigation systems, in the Pamparomas region of the Central Andes.  Pamparomas and other local villages possess archives of colonial documents that describe their ancient systems of water management, but villagers lack the specialised training necessary to read their colonial manuscripts.  Professor Hyland will travel to Pamparomas to study the archives and meet with villagers to disseminate her findings.  Revitalising traditional agricultural techniques is expected to improve agricultural yields and livestock production.  These archives also contain invaluable information about the relationship of local communities to the Catholic church, and also describe pre-Christian ritual sites.

Pamporamos, Central Andes.  The orange arrow shows the town's location in the basin; the green arrow shows the road into the village.