ABSTRACT
Most dryland irrigation systems, including most of those documented in this volume, are in less developed world contexts or relate to prehistoric or historic episodes before the development of modern technology. In this chapter we document an instance of an extant traditional dryland irrigation system (termed bisse) in Switzerland-one of the most developed and technologically sophisticated countries in Europe. Although dryland irrigation systems are widespread in the semi-arid regions of the northern and central parts of the Mediterranean basin, these are comparatively little documented (Hunt and Gilbertson, 1998; Jones and Hunt, 1994; Jones et al., 1998; and see Chapter 18). In the Valais canton, Switzerland, the bisse system has a history that spans at least a millennium, and at the beginning of the twenty-first century is a vital component of the advanced Swiss economy. This chapter examines the factors underlying the longevity of this system. It takes a historical perspective and deals mostly with the social and cultural structures that have developed to control access to the water and which, incidentally, account for much of the success of this system. These, typically, are difficult to recover from the archaeological record.
