Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Fire and brimstone: how volcanoes work
- 2 Eruption styles, hazards and ecosystem impacts
- 3 Volcanoes and global climate change
- 4 Forensic volcanology
- 5 Relics, myths and chronicles
- 6 Killer plumes
- 7 Human origins
- 8 The ash giant/sulphur dwarf
- 9 European volcanism in prehistory
- 10 The rise of Teotihuacán
- 11 Dark Ages: dark nature?
- 12 The haze famine
- 13 The last great subsistence crisis in the Western world
- 14 Volcanic catastrophe risk
- Appendix A Large eruptions
- Appendix B Further reading and data sources
- References
- Index
9 - European volcanism in prehistory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Fire and brimstone: how volcanoes work
- 2 Eruption styles, hazards and ecosystem impacts
- 3 Volcanoes and global climate change
- 4 Forensic volcanology
- 5 Relics, myths and chronicles
- 6 Killer plumes
- 7 Human origins
- 8 The ash giant/sulphur dwarf
- 9 European volcanism in prehistory
- 10 The rise of Teotihuacán
- 11 Dark Ages: dark nature?
- 12 The haze famine
- 13 The last great subsistence crisis in the Western world
- 14 Volcanic catastrophe risk
- Appendix A Large eruptions
- Appendix B Further reading and data sources
- References
- Index
Summary
… we cannot sideline catastrophic environmental change in our reconstructions of prehistoric culture history.
F. Riede, Journal of Archaeological Science (2008) [152]Most of us tend not to think of Germany as a country prone to acts of volcanic violence. And yet, about 12,900 years ago, it witnessed a powerful pyroclastic eruption on the scale of Pinatubo's in 1991, right in the heart of the Rhineland.
On the other hand, we are well accustomed to volcanic activity in the Campanian province around Naples. There have, nevertheless, been some events very much greater than the infamous 79 CE convulsion of Vesuvius that sealed the fates of Herculaneum and Pompeii. In particular, approximately 39,300 years ago, the Campi Flegrei (Phlegrean Fields) volcanic system ruptured, disgorging up to 80 times more magma than its neighbour in the year 79.
Lastly, the eastern Mediterranean, too, is home to numerous dormant volcanoes. The best-known is Santorini, whose Bronze Age eruption has been linked to the demise of one of Europe's first great civilisations – the Minoans – and even to the Atlantis legend. This chapter focuses on these three exceptional European volcanic eruptions and considers the evidence for the nature and extent of their human impacts.
THE CAMPANIAN ERUPTION AND THE HUMAN REVOLUTION IN PALAEOLITHIC EUROPE
The Campanian province of southern Italy is today considered one of the regions of the world at highest risk from volcanic activity. Its volcanoes include the Campi Flegrei, Vesuvius and the island of Ischia (Figure 9.1).
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- Eruptions that Shook the World , pp. 208 - 239Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011