THE ENGARUKA RUINS

 

Engaruka is a 14th -century irrigation and settlement ruins complex located east of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. 

These extensive ruins present massive and elaborate stone terrace platforms, stone circles, dams, fields, furrows, and cairns, among other features that bear evidence of late iron Age agricultural engineering and social cohesion in the African interior.

About 20 square kilometers of farmland were supported by this irrigation system, and the area’s fertility was systematically enhanced using stall-fed cattle manure, which was also utilized to minimize soil degradation.

Midway through the 18th century, Engaruka was abandoned for unknown reasons. 

Many questions remain unanswered regarding the area, such as the identity of the founders, how they developed their farming system, and why they left. 

The residents were most likely progenitors of today’s Iraqw people, who practically use similarly intricate irrigation techniques. 

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