﻿420 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  tombstones 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  once 
  a 
  great 
  city 
  was 
  here. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  

   counterpart 
  today 
  of 
  the 
  magnificence 
  of 
  this 
  ancient 
  city. 
  A 
  

   wretched 
  village 
  of 
  mud-wall 
  houses 
  sheltering 
  a 
  few 
  hundred 
  in- 
  

   habitants 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  descendant 
  of 
  this 
  center 
  of 
  Roman 
  power 
  and 
  

   culture. 
  Water 
  erosion 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  wind 
  erosion 
  has 
  been 
  at 
  work 
  on 
  

   the 
  landscape. 
  Gullies 
  have 
  cut 
  through 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  city 
  and 
  

   have 
  exposed 
  the 
  aqueduct 
  which 
  supplied 
  the 
  city 
  with 
  water 
  from 
  

   a 
  great 
  spring 
  some 
  3 
  miles 
  away. 
  

  

  Ruins 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  are 
  as 
  impressive 
  as 
  the 
  ruins 
  of 
  cities. 
  The 
  hills 
  

   have 
  been 
  swept 
  bare 
  of 
  soil, 
  a 
  story 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  read 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  region. 
  The 
  original 
  soil 
  mantle 
  is 
  being 
  washed 
  off 
  the 
  slopes, 
  

   often 
  showing 
  that 
  the 
  upper 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  mantle 
  is 
  being 
  grad- 
  

   ually 
  worked 
  down 
  slope 
  by 
  accelerated 
  run-off 
  from 
  the 
  bared 
  up- 
  

   per 
  slopes. 
  Erosional 
  debris 
  has 
  been 
  deposited 
  on 
  the 
  lower 
  slopes 
  

   and 
  valley 
  plain. 
  Torrential 
  storm 
  waters 
  cut 
  great 
  gullies 
  into 
  the 
  

   alluvial 
  plains. 
  Water 
  tables 
  are 
  lowered 
  and 
  rain 
  waters 
  quickly 
  

   flow 
  off 
  the 
  land 
  leaving 
  it 
  dry 
  and 
  thirsty. 
  The 
  effects 
  of 
  desiccation 
  

   of 
  the 
  land 
  are 
  brought 
  about 
  even 
  if 
  rainfall 
  has 
  not 
  diminished. 
  

  

  Out 
  toward 
  the 
  Sahara, 
  70 
  miles 
  south 
  of 
  Tebessa, 
  were 
  found 
  ruins 
  

   of 
  remarkable 
  works 
  for 
  conserving 
  and 
  spreading 
  storm 
  run-off. 
  

   Check 
  dams 
  were 
  constructed 
  to 
  divert 
  storm 
  waters 
  around 
  the 
  slopes 
  

   and 
  to 
  spread 
  them 
  on 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  terraces, 
  dating 
  back 
  to 
  Roman 
  

   or 
  pre-Roman 
  times. 
  Why 
  these 
  terraces 
  were 
  constructed 
  is 
  not 
  yet 
  

   known. 
  At 
  any 
  rate 
  the 
  French 
  Government 
  is 
  rebuilding 
  the 
  works 
  

   and 
  is 
  spreading 
  storm 
  waters 
  out 
  on 
  these 
  terraces 
  to 
  increase 
  forage 
  

   growth 
  for 
  the 
  herds 
  of 
  the 
  Arab 
  nomads. 
  These 
  works 
  of 
  water 
  

   conservation 
  out 
  so 
  near 
  the 
  Sahara 
  Desert 
  might 
  indicate 
  that 
  cli- 
  

   mate 
  has 
  changed 
  or 
  that 
  all 
  good 
  lands 
  were 
  intensively 
  utilized 
  

   during 
  the 
  Roman 
  epoch. 
  All 
  North 
  Africa, 
  as 
  indicated 
  by 
  such 
  a 
  

   vast 
  display 
  of 
  ruins 
  and 
  works 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  a 
  sparsely 
  settled 
  

   and 
  depressing 
  land, 
  must 
  have 
  had 
  an 
  agriculture 
  of 
  remarkable 
  

   refinement 
  in 
  measures 
  of 
  soil 
  and 
  water 
  conservation. 
  

  

  The 
  striking 
  contrast 
  between 
  the 
  prosperous 
  and 
  populous 
  con- 
  

   dition 
  of 
  North 
  Africa 
  in 
  Roman 
  times 
  and 
  present 
  decadence 
  led 
  

   early 
  students 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  an 
  adverse 
  change 
  of 
  climate 
  was 
  re- 
  

   sponsible 
  for 
  the 
  decline 
  of 
  the 
  granary 
  of 
  Rome. 
  But 
  the 
  researches 
  

   of 
  Gsell 
  (4), 
  Gautier 
  (3) 
  and 
  Leschi 
  (7) 
  discount 
  an 
  adverse 
  change 
  

   in 
  climate 
  since 
  Roman 
  times 
  (6 
  and 
  10). 
  The 
  most 
  telling 
  evidence 
  

   of 
  unchanged 
  climate 
  in 
  the 
  past 
  2,000 
  years 
  is 
  the 
  successful 
  planta- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  olive 
  groves 
  on 
  the 
  sites 
  of 
  ruins 
  of 
  Roman 
  stone 
  olive 
  presses. 
  

   An 
  experimental 
  grove 
  planted 
  at 
  Timgad 
  by 
  Director 
  Godet 
  demon- 
  

   strates 
  that 
  olive 
  orchards 
  would 
  thrive 
  today 
  where 
  soil 
  still 
  remains 
  

   on 
  slopes. 
  The 
  great 
  plantation 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  150,000 
  acres 
  in 
  the 
  

   vicinity 
  of 
  Sfax, 
  Tunisia, 
  which 
  now 
  supports 
  thriving 
  enterprises 
  at 
  

  

  