Soil and its Impact on Culture: A Case Study in the Sudanese Sahel.

Keywords: 7th Approximation, Vertisol, Matmurus, Terus, Ancient Technology
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 16

Abstract

Soil is the basis of human survival and adaptations to it occur in a multitude of ways. Soils are created by nature through the processes of the breakup of rocks, climate, living organisms and time. This is referred to as “weathering.” When these different processes combine, a multitude of soil types are produced. Humans have learned to survive, using their soils for food production, building materials, medicine, and art. The focus of this treatise is to examine the relationship the people of the Sudanese Sahel have with their difficult to manage vertisol. This soil shrinks when dry and cracks when wet. It does not hold much water and once wet, seals the ground to any downward percolation of water.