Theme:
4. Persisting with Change: Theory and Archaeological Scrutiny
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Post-Earthquake Scenarios in the Classical and Medieval Periods. Archaeoseismology as a Tool for Investigation on an Urban and Architectural Scale
Content:
Ancient times and the Middle Ages records contain many references to natural disasters. Tectonic activity, with its associated geological processes, such as volcanism and earthquakes, has been regarded as drivers of early human evolution (as path makers) and as reasons for both the collapse of the Roman Empire (Vesuvius/Pompeii) and major changes in the modern age (Lisbon, 1755). Also, long-term tectonic processes have significantly transformed our prehistoric landscapes and former humandkind’s well-known worlds that can be related to changing dispersal routes, economy, site patterns and human evolution from the Holocene until the Medieval Ages.
Surviving documents and geological and archaeological evidence are essential in understanding and interpreting the data relating to traces on site, which are often the result of co-calamities. In this context, archaeoseismology provides an interdisciplinary investigation tool to gain field experience and train an interpretative approach based on scientific and humanistic methods, enriching historical seismology. In the current research framework, topics such as resilience and adaptability to seismic events, if analyzed on an urban scale, highlight peculiar aspects and choices (social, economic, architectural, infrastructural, and political) connected to the life of that community. If we focus on a post-earthquake disaster, continuity, and change, characterize the resilience of many ancient and current societies, express themselves in the advancement of building construction techniques, in the choice of migration or permanence in the affected areas, in the policy of aid in a post-disaster and the reuse of construction materials. In this way, it is possible to investigate the risk perception, such as post-disaster reconstruction or abandonment choices.
The session proposal considers projects developed in urban and territorial scale contexts in seismic areas. Investigation methodologies, techniques, and research perspectives are introduced, and focalizing the research results will better define the role of archaeoseismological data.
Keywords:
Resilience, Continuity, Post-disaster, Archaeoseismology, Urban scale, Seismic events
Session associated with MERC:
yes
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Andrea Arrighetti (Italy) 1,2
Co-organisers:
Laura Pecchioli (Germany) 3,4,5
Judith Thomalsky (Germany) 6
Ana Catarina Sousa (Portugal) 7
Affiliations:
1. École normale supérieure - Université PSL of Paris
2. Università degli Studi di Siena
3. Humboldt Universität of Berlin
4. Technische Universität Wien
5. Università degli Studi ROMA TRE
6. German Archaeological Institute, Berlin
7. Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa
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