DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS by Amanda Laoupi

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND

TEENS

Dr AMANDA LAOUPI

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

AMANDA LAOUPI Disaster Archaeology for Kids and Teens

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

This book is for you, my dad. For your example, your strength, your integrity and support. Your love lives always in meâ&#x20AC;¦

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK

Before starting

Introduction

1. Words and Terms to Know

2. History of Disasters Sciences

3. Detecting archaeodisasters

4. Volcanic eruptions 5. Earthquakes 6. Tsunami

71 83

7. Hydrogeolocical Hazards = Earth + Water

8. Cyclones, Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Storms = Air + Water

110

9. Flooding and other water-induced hazards = Too much water

116

10. Famines = No food

129

11. Human-induced Hazards = Put the blame on us 12. Climatic Changes

137

147

13. Biohazards = When we get sick

157

14. Space Hazards = When Sky becomes dangerous

171 5

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

15. Mass Extinctions = Almost nothing left

211

16. The effects of archaeodisasters on human evolution and civilization 245 17. Who wrote about disasters in the past?

338

18. Fires from the Sky: Gods, Myths and Symbols

366

19. The End of the World 20. People and Feelings

400 430

21. Heritage and Catastrophes 22. Lessons Learned

457 466

23. Just a few more details 24. Short Bibliography

470 481

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

BEFORE STARTING Well, why has this book been written? For various reasons… Kids and teenagers always belong to the most vulnerable population, so, when disasters happen, the tragic events are perceived in a more stressful and anxiety-provoking way; they feel helpless and terrified… Psychologists and paediatricians propose that kids would be firstly familiarised with catastrophes that did not happen in their area and their life, along with emergency plans and emergency kits, in order to be shielded from the extreme painful aftermath reactions. The protection an adult can offer to the youngsters in times of disaster, can have many forms: kid-friendly terms, simple and clear answers to their questions, keeping things age-appropriate, offering of security sense, avoiding panic (because they tend to mirror behaviours and emotions) or false reassurance, and teaching them the optimist over despair. Adults should, also, include all the members of the family / the class / the neighbourhood/ the local community, in disaster preparedness plans, try to keep the normal daily routine, learn them the prioritization of needs and feelings, enhance the dialogue with them, let them know that there will be people who will work for their salvation and well-being, let them cope with their “losses”, but look for signs of stress too, and, finally, monitor their use of media. This book comes to cover many of the afore-mentioned points for older children (final middle grade / starting from the age of 11 or 12) and teenagers (13 to 19). Elders (siblings, parents, grandparents, teachers) can contribute to the reading and questions of the youngsters aged from 11 to 14. Older teenagers will enjoy the book and make their own search in the web or at school. Generally speaking, the ages, and the grades are different from country to country. Many countries, for example, name the children older than 12 years, as young adults (till the age of 18), or name as young adults people older than 18 and younger than 30.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

The author chooses the “traditional” idea of :older children (around 12) – teenagers (13-19) – young adults (20-30) – adults. Young adults and any adult could, also, enjoy the book, because it is written in a vivid, simplified and understandable way, enriched by a variety of images with extended illustration. Of course, the ultimate satisfaction for the author would be the reading of the book by readers of all ages… The core idea was to give the youngsters a simultaneously pleasant and educational option for their free time; to develop their mental capacities (memory, judgement, power of observation); to stimulate their curiosity, their fantasy, alertness and will, useful properties especially in times of crisis; to make them feel secure and strong knowing that humans have survived the most dreadful catastrophes, and yet having created marvellous achievements; to understand the deep meaning of Nature and its mechanisms, its periodicity and polarity; to cultivate their spirit of humanism, collaboration, team work, compassion, humility; to give them an even possibility / opportunity to know this interdisciplinary information if they cannot travel or reach a plethora of books; to make them not only survivors but thrivers during life’s long and often unpredictable twists. … But, truth to tell, to satisfy, also, author’s inner wish for communication with the younger generations, in an attempt to bridge the gap between the echoes of the past and a brighter future for the kids of the world, to transmit the knowledge so hardly collected, laboured and delivered to us today, based on multidisciplinary evidence through the ages… Surely, it is a very fascinating, challenging and mind-blowing journey into our past under a different perspective. Kids and teens, fasten your belts, the journey begins…

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

INTRODUCTION Sixteen kids around the globe, sitting in front of their computers, are eager to communicate with their friends because they share the same interests, fears, hopes and dreams. They follow the news and they know what happens in the world... They are disappointed with the management of crises by the adults. They can understand that Humanity makes the same mistake repeatedly, with wars, atrocities, destruction of beautiful landscapes and local communities… But, natural disasters could be prevented or be more wisely and fairly managed. They know that there are scientific terms such as crises, catastrophes, disasters, collapse, preparedness, response and recovery, used in the media. Even more, the have read that there is Disaster Archaeology, too. Especially, they want to learn what Disaster Archaeology is, how ancient societies managed to survive huge catastrophes, how ancient people adapted to crises and created new ways of living and thinking and expressing, how we – the modern people – know about all this information, and how we can learn for this immense ancient wisdom. They want to help their communities, their communities, the environment where they live and the planet Earth for the generations to come. They understand very well that only knowledge of the past, along with the awareness of the present, can forge a sustainable, more just and peaceful new world, which they dream of living in… Let us introduce them: The girls Aamani (Hindu) meaning the Spring Aimi (Japanese) = meaning Love Beauty Freya (Northwestern Europe) meaning the Lady Lanuola (Samoa, Pacific) = meaning Living Colour Lavinia (Latin) the Etruscan princess in the Roman mythology Ofrah (West Africa) = meaning the Moon 9

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Tahra (Celts) = meaning the Earth Tica (Quechua, Incas) = meaning the Flower The boys Altan (Mongol) = meaning the Golden-red Dawn Asher (Semitic) = meaning the Happy One Chenoa (Native American) = meaning the White Dove (Peace) Demyan (Russia) = meaning the Tamer Jiao-Long (China) = meaning the Dragon Langa (Zulu) = meaning the Sun Salih (Arab) = meaning the Pure Yileen (Aborigines â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Australia) = meaning a Dream They all want to know more about their ancestors, their traditions and history, how they copied with disasters in the past, what they believed in and dreamed of... And they want to share this knowledge with their friends and communities.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

1. WORDS and TERMS to KNOW Disasters just happen and have always been so, from the beginning of the human presence on Earth… They could hurt people, cause damage, and, in modern times, can cut off utilities, such as water, telephones, or electricity. It seems that Nature sometimes provides "too much of a good thing”, such fire, water or wind. Today, children in many areas of the world are fortunate, because they have the opportunity to have emergency plans, specific safety rules, whole teams of professionals to rely on in times of crises, apart from their family, neighbours and volunteers, school and local and state infrastructures, as well. But, in many places of the world today, and in older times, the societies and their beliefs, the means available (no cell phones, no solid medical treatment specified in catastrophes, no emergency rooms in hospitals, no satellites, no instant warnings and saving plans, no rescuing expeditions in time), and the distances between communities (which blocked early warning, getting information and helping on time), made such situations more complicated and aggravated. Disasters can be distinguished between natural ones and humaninduced ones. The Natural Disasters are violent events that occur in the environment (for example, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami, avalanches, droughts, floods, wildfires, meteorites and asteroid impacts, etc), outside the control of humans and usually beyond their capacity to predict them (basically by the ancient societies). Human-induced Disasters have been triggered or caused by the human action (for example, environmental pollution, deforestation, soil erosion due to over exploitation of natural sources, wars, and technological accidents) and they are not the object of this book. Both they cause loss, death, injuries, pain and devastation and they can alter the physiognomy of states, cultures, behaviours, landscapes and historic decisions. Today, humans can predict, control and mitigate disasters firstly by studying the ones that have already happened in the past. Scientists, after being “detectives” and “reporters” of past events, can then inform and help local communities, and humanity in general, to even prevent catastrophes 11

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

or reduce significantly their impact on people. Here comes the important and crucial role of Disaster Archaeology. As you can imagine, the term consists of two words, meaning that this scientific field is included in archaeological studies, since it is focused on the presence of humans on our planet from the beginning (around 5 million years ago) till the 19th century Current Era, when scientists have agree that archaeology â&#x20AC;&#x153;stopsâ&#x20AC;? and recent history begins with the Industrial Era. It covers all the cultures of the world, all the continents and geographical areas and all the periods/ages/eras between those two time limits. The methodology used is the one used by archaeology, plus the methodologies used by other sciences (earth sciences, astronomy, biology, anthropology, medicine, sociology, psychology, etc) analogous to the study of the modern environment. More details later, when we will explain how scientists today can detect past disasters and archaeological secrets. The term, also, includes the meaning of disasters; you will learn, later, which those disasters can be; you would be surprised by the variety of them.

In 2005, a Greek archaeologist and environmentalist, who had studied disasters, past and present, conceived the idea of an autonomous, interdisciplinary (= when many scientific specialties cooperate and share their results) scientific field, that could cover the history of disasters during the presence of humans on Earth. The author of this book, Dr Amanda Laoupi, proposed the field of Disaster Archaeology and the term archaeodisasters in order to distinguish them from the disasters that happened before five million years ago on Earth (during the boundary of 12

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Pliocene/Pleistocene, when hominids appeared). The disasters that took place before that era are called paleodisasters, and the events that happened after the 19th century Current Era till now are called Disasters. The human past cannot be separated from the environment ancient people lived in. Our ancestors lived and thrived although their daily lives were mostly unpredictable, chaotic, changeable. But their minds had always been fascinated by the beauty, the intensity and the variety of natural phenomena. They managed not only to survive, but also to create new achievements (civilizations), and even to challenge the frontiers of Natureâ&#x20AC;Ś Thus, with this book we will learn how disasters interplayed with the body, the mind, and the soul of our ancestors. You will become, too, detectives and investigators of information, of data and evidence that lead us today to conclusions about: when (time, frequency, periodicity), where (local events, bigger impact or global environmental effects / cataclysmic events), and how (hidden patterns, structure) catastrophes happened. And, which were their effect on various cultures of the world (biological, ecological, environmental, socio-economic, political, technological, geographical, and cultural results). Of course, Disaster Archaeology is not an easy job to do. The majority of the unlucky victims of archaeodisasters, either died during or after the disasters, or they did not describe to us (and usually with no detail or with modern terminology) the events. The landscapes they lived in, have tremendously changed since then, thus the archaeological evidence may be scattered, complicated, not existent anymore, or still hidden for the future archaeologists. In many places of the world, may not be there the ability of using modern technologies to detect the evidence, or for political reasons (for example, wars) the evidence can be inaccessible or destroyed. You have also to remember that when we speak about disasters, we cannot always calculate and describe exactly the phenomena and their impact. Some scientific fields like seismology can calculate exactly the phenomena of ancient earthquakes with measurements, examples and statistical analyses. But, when we talk about psychology, arts and sociology, the human phenomena cannot be described in every detail or being put in strict calculations. Today, with the media and the new technologies you would have heard, probably, also, other terms and words related to disasters. 13

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

The Natural Phenomena include earthquakes, typhoons, torrential rainfalls, volcanic eruptions, â&#x20AC;&#x153;exo-terrestrialâ&#x20AC;? phenomena, like meteorites and super nova explosions, and they are considered as environmental activity (processes, events) that occurs in Nature, independently of the human presence on Earth.

Hazards are unexpected or uncontrolled/inevitable natural events of unusual magnitude that threaten the life and activities of humans and have some special characteristics: (1) they reform the natural and cultural landscapes; (2) they intensify degradation processes, especially when human factors play a prominent role, and (3) they may provoke a broad spectrum of losses within human society. Other factors and human-induced hazardous events (for example, wars, famine, desertification, pollution and contamination) are, also, included in this category. Especially, as Conflict Hazards may be considered the wars, the acts of terrorism, civil unrests, riots and revolutions. Thus, a natural phenomenon can turn into a hazard when it is related to humans. Then we say that we have an Exposure to Hazards, meaning that a subject (human being, property, infrastructures or the environment per se) 14

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

is susceptible to the impacts of a hazard; in other words, all kind of ‘items’/values (human lives, material goods, services, social structures, development rates) that are more exposed / vulnerable to hazards. Modern scientists study the: (1) Hazard Probability, meaning the estimated likelihood of a hazard possibly occurring in a particular area, and (2) the Risk, meaning the measure of the exposure of a subject (human being, property, infrastructure, or the environment) to suffering harm or loss, given its vulnerability. In other words, they estimate the expected losses (lives, injuries, property damage and economic activity), due to a particular hazard for a given area and reference period. Moreover, they study the Vulnerability, meaning the situation derived from a number of parameters (natural, environmental, socioeconomic, cultural, technological), which transform and influence the response of human societies to hazards, or degree of loss resulting from a potentially damaging phenomenon. Furthermore, you should know that there are “levels” or kinds of catastrophes because their intensity and impact vary tremendously. When we do not know exactly if a hazard is probable to occur or the size of its impact, we talk about Uncertainty. We talk about an Emergency, when we have a more serious situation than an incident, but less serious than a disaster. When an unintended damaging event or an industrial mishap happens, then we talk about an Accident.

When we experience a short period of extreme danger or acute emergency, we talk about a Crisis, which can be escalated or returning to normal afterwards. In parallel, a crisis exists if a community of people (organization, town, or a nation) perceives an urgent threat to its core values or life-sustaining functions, which must be dealt with under conditions of uncertainty. 15

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Just remember that, in both crises and disasters, we deal with unexpected, undesirable, unimaginable, and often unmanageable situations. But a disaster occurs when a crisis escalates to a devastating ending. Finally, when unusually severe (extreme) disasters happen, with irreversible impacts in the economy, the social life and/or the environment, we talk about Catastrophes. Often, modern scientists separate disasters from catastrophes, according to some main features: (1) catastrophes have extremely large physical and social impacts, (2) our response requires federating initiative and proactive mobilization, (3) massive challenges may exceed those envisaged in pre-existing plans, (4) the emergency response system may be paralysed either at local or state level, (5) the public is extensively involved in long-term response, and (6) the effects are cascading and long-term. When “a massive or extreme catastrophic disaster extends over time and space”, then we talk about a Calamity, for example the lethal epidemic of plague (the Black Death) that nearly devastated the worldwide human population in the Middle Ages. But, let us return to our main term, disaster. With disasters, there is always widespread destruction and distress in the economy, the social life and the environment, a serious disruption in the functioning of community or society. They include widespread human, material, environmental or economic losses and impacts, that exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own. Disasters cause catastrophic events with a lot of casualties, injuries and deaths and destruction of human property, and disturb the stability of the ecosystems. Thus, “disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability". A natural hazard will never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, for example a strong earthquake in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed, because simply the events are not considered as hazards or disasters without human involvement. The degree of potential loss can also depend on the nature of the hazard itself, ranging from a single lightning strike, which threatens a very small area, to impact events, which have the potential to end civilizations. The word disaster etymologically entered the English language from a French word (désastre), which in turn was a derivation from two Latin words, dis (against) and astrum (stars), hence, ‘the stars are evil’... Thus, in 16

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

its early usage, the word had reference to unfavourable or negative effects, usually of a personal nature, resulting from a star or planet. On the other hand, the synonym of disaster is catastrophe, which has also a contrary meaning in musical terminology (= the return to a point of rest and axial equilibrium of a type of string after it has ceased to vibrate). In human history, though, long-duration events can happen and they be environmental and cultural at the same time (when societies can not cope with disasters or extreme changes and â&#x20AC;&#x153;disappearâ&#x20AC;?). Then, we talk about Disaster-induced Collapse of Human Ecosystems, for example, the transitional period between the Bronze Age and the Historic Times in Eastern Mediterranean or the collapse of Maya civilization in Mesoamerica. Other forms of serious disasters can be the Pollution, meaning he presence of pollutants (substances, noise, radiation, etc) in the environment in such a quantity, concentration or duration that may cause harm on human health, on the proliferation of living organisms and on the equilibrium of ecosystems, making the environment unfit for human uses. Its main forms are air, water and soil, noise and light, littering, thermal and radioactive pollution. Some of these existed since antiquity, for example, the cases of Greek, Roman and Chinese metal production.

Each form of pollution that is characterized by the presence of pathogenic micro-organisms in the environment, or other indicators that imply the probability of the presence of such micro-organisms is called Contamination. It causes undesirable and dangerous change in the natural, the chemical and the biological properties of air, soil, subsoil, and the water, which can influence and threaten the health, the survival and the operations of all forms of life.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

On the other hand, the anthropogenic pollution or any other change in the environment, which is likely to impact: a. the ecological balance, b. the quality of life and the health of residents, c. the historical and cultural heritage, and d. the aesthetic values, can be considered as Degradation. It is the negative impact of pollution on the ecological equilibrium, the quality of life, and the salvage of cultural heritage and the aesthetic values of human communities. Intense events of short nature but with long-term impact (for example, wildfires, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes), can be considered as Ecological Disturbances. Gradual events with long term impact (for example, drought spells, Ebola epidemics) can be considered as Ecological Perturbations. Finally, Ecological or Environmental Stress happens when physical, chemical, and biological constraints impact on the productivity of species and on the development of ecosystems. The triggering mechanisms are called Stressors, and they can be either natural environmental factors (for example, competition of the species, herbivores, predation, parasitism, and disease), or human-induced (for example, pollution and radiation). Some environmental stressors exert a relatively local influence, while others are regional or global in their impact. Generally, stressors are challenges to the integrity of ecosystems and to the quality of the environment. Species and ecosystems have some capacity to tolerate changes in the intensity of environmental stressors (resistance), but there are limits to this attribute, which represent thresholds of tolerance. There are also, the Ecological Shocks. Droughts and hurricanes are severe environmental shocks that change both natural and human ecosystems. But, when we are dealing with History, Environment and Disasters, one concept should be always in the back of our mind: the Change. Changes are the normality of Life itself, of our bodies, of Universe, of human cultures. They can be either periodical phenomena with moderate character or sudden, violent, and highly dangerous events, that transform the natural ecosystems, rebuild the landscapes and forge new dynamics in human societies. They influence the demographic stability, the socioeconomic equilibrium, the cultural trends and many investment strategies.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

As a natural phenomenon, change can be: (1) cyclical, encompassing the rhythmically repeated events (for example, seasons of the year, day and night, tide), (2) progressive, when the process lasts for many centuries exceeding the lifespan of man and a few generations ahead (for example, the formation of ice sheets or the erosion of the coasts) and (3) irregular or chaotic (for example, storms, volcanic eruptions, spread of epidemics, wandering of geomagnetic poles and magnetic field reversals). The periodicities in the Cosmos include Milankovitch cycles (Eccentricity, Obliquity and Precession of the Earth's orbit) and many phenomena such as equinoxes and solstices, length of the year, lunar and solar eclipses, lunar standstills, motion of inferior and superior planets, risings and settings, appearance of comets and super novae explosions, meteor showers and fire balls (bolides), sun spot cycles and coronal mass ejections, galactic core explosions, auroras and intense plasma phenomena, etc. As a cultural phenomenon, change can be distinguished into three levels: (1) the adaptive adjustments (for example, the phases during Classical Period in ancient Greek history), (2) the adaptive modification (for example, the boundary between Classical and Hellenistic Era) and (3) the adaptive transformation (for example, the starting point of Industrial Epoch in Western societies).

Our planet is considered as a very big environmental unit which includes a huge variety of Ecosystems that are the totalities of abiotic and biotic elements and parameters within the environment which exist in a given geographical area. Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems and they can be natural or human (= when people live in them). Recent interdisciplinary studies include another term which unifies the living reality of biological and social systems, the socio-ecological system (SES). 19

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

A SES is defined as a system that includes societal (human) and ecological (biophysical) subsystems in mutual interaction; it can be specified from the local community and its surrounding environment, to the global system constituted by the Ecosphere and humankind as a whole (the ‘Anthroposphere’). Another term that you are using very often is the environment. It can be also distinguished into further terms. The Real Environment that can be the: (1) Geographical (the physical and biological landscape within which humans live and act), (2) Operational (the space that can provide food and other sources for the survival of the humans) and (3) Modified (the area which shows the visible ‘fingerprints’ of human action). Moreover, the Perceived Environment includes the parts of Geographical and Operational Environment, visible or not, that human society knows about and makes decisions about. A more complicated term very often used is the Landscape, too. Each place / area is a vivid, living entity, because it is transformed by human presence and perception. Thus, each and every landscape has its own identity, character and patterns of expression, its own language, the collective unconsciousness / memory of people passing by or settling in them, multiple coexisting cultures, traditions, customs and habits, varying environmental settings (climate, geomorphology, flora and fauna), visual, acoustic, savoury, smelling and tangible impressions and memories, as well as events, accidents and changing names. Landscapes are created out of peoples’ understanding and engagement with the world around them, constantly shaped and reshaped, always multivocal. Thus, landscapes include movements, relationships, memories and histories through space and time. Modern archaeologists try to understand the landscapes of the past. Both landscapes of the past and a huge variety of modern landscapes should be protected. They are considered Cultural Heritage. The Natural Landscapes that are protected include natural features (physical or biological formations), geological and physiographical formations, natural sites and protected natural areas (marine parks, national parks, aesthetic forests, protected monuments of nature, game reserves and hunting reserves, eco-development areas), along with the four types of biodiversity (genetic, species, habitat, landscape).

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

The Cultural Landscapes include places, features, objects, memories and perceptions related either to natural or man-made environments, ranging from these that are lost or ‘mythical’ , to those with numerous surviving features. Some are living landscapes, but their usage has altered them considerably, while others are largely unchanged. Sometimes, ‘fossil landscapes’ (for example, the area of Pompei in Italy, shipwrecks on the sea floor of the Black Sea) are unusually well preserved due to various environmental conditions or geological/physical processes. There are also the monuments, the caves of archaeological interest, groups of buildings, the archaeological sites (open air areas, subterranean, submarine or coastal), mobile objects, archival material, scientific works, paleontological and paleoanthropological remains, thevindustrial sites and the landscapes of memory (for example, languages, oral traditions, sacred and mythical landscapes), museums and collections, and the archaeological remnants underneath the surface of earth or water, usually being transformed into geological features (for example, buried sites under river courses, cultivated lands, estuaries, layers of various sediments, etc).

Archaeological Landscapes can be ‘frozen’ in time (for example, the fossil landscapes of Akrotiri in the Greek island of Santorin, Aegean Sea) and may reflect the cultural ‘universe’ of a human group during a specific period. Finally, during the 1990’s new terms have been emerged referring to landscapes and disasters. The landscapes that include the existing and potential sources of natural and human-induced threats/hazards, are called Hazardscapes (practically all the landscapes of the planet), the landscapes that portray potential damage/risks, are called Riskscapes, and the landscapes that demonstrate the actual damage from disasters, are called Disasterscapes. 21

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

And if you ask: â&#x20AC;&#x153;what do modern people with disasters, how can they mitigate their impact?â&#x20AC;? So, there are few other terms that describe these processes. When we survey of real or potential disaster, by estimating the actual or expected damages and by making recommendations for prevention, preparedness and response, we make a Risk Assessment. When we take measures and actions planned, involving adjustments in the infrastructure and/or the existing legislature, in addition to arrangements among the relevant institutions, we make a Proactive Management. When we coordinate actions during acute emergency or we apply unplanned strategies to respond effectively to the challenges arising when a disaster strikes, we make Crisis Management. When we try to estimate statistically the occurrence of a future event, we make a Forecast (many disciplines use also the term prediction). When we try to inform efficiently those potentially affected by the hazard, or to dictate the actions to be taken in order to reduce the risk and respond effectively to the impending danger, we make an Early Warning. Furthermore, scientists think of disaster phenomena that affect humans, like cycles, where a specific pattern of actions should be taken. When we take measures and activities in order to ensure effective response to the potential impacts of a hazard, we make Preparedness Plans. When we take measures and activities in order to avoid the potential impacts of a natural hazard, we make Prevention Plans. When we take measures in advance of a disaster, in order to decrease or eliminate its impact on society and on environment, we make Mitigation Plans.

When we do activities and programs designed to address the immediate and short-term effects of the onset of an emergency or disaster, 22

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we have a Response. When we do long-term activities and programs beyond the initial crisis period of an emergency or disaster designed to return all systems to normal status, or to reconstitute these systems to a new condition that is less vulnerable, we make a Recovery. In a more longterm base, when our actions and decisions â&#x20AC;&#x153;meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needsâ&#x20AC;?, we enhance a Sustainable Development. Especially in the case of intense climatic changes and their impact on human societies, humans should do a Transformational Adaptation, meaning that major shifts are required, that the changes could be radical challenging the current status quo, that, at a personal and emotional level, the required changes may be painful, scary and exhausting, that effective leadership is required, and that the timing of interventions is crucial, as well as the plans applied. And, which interventions scientists do in terms of catastrophes and heritage? The vulnerability of cultural heritage to natural and human-induced hazards is a scientific field which shares several characteristics with Disaster Archaeology. Terms like integrated conservation and protection management, preservation, consolidation, anastylosis, reconstruction, and restoration, reflect the repeated human attempts, since antiquity, to protect and exploit the cultural landscapes of the past. The constitutional frameworks around the globe, international meetings and local committees work on the protection of cultural heritage today. When we make a mild form of intervention (prevention and protection) that is limited to interventions on the surface, without degrading the form and the structure of the monument, we talk about Conservation - Preservation. Scientists may do preventive, periodical or regular maintenance, repairs, fixing works, strengthening processes or restoration. When we make drastic intervention in the monuments that involves their construction anew or significant additions and reconstruction, with a disproportionate percentage of new materials relative to the salvaged parts, we talk about Reconstruction. It is applied in cases of severe destruction (for example after wars, fire and earthquakes) or for educational/teaching reasons for defining the social profile of Archaeology.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

When we make specialised intervention in order to preserve the natural substance of the monuments, as well as to bring out their general cultural and innate characteristics, we talk about Restoration.

Of course, there are more complicated procedures (and their terminology). They include: (1) the integration of monuments not only in the natural and the historical environment, but also in the general city- and urban-planning, (2) the dynamic participation of all involved institutions, services and citizens, the planning of the economic development and various interventions (Integrated Conservation), and (3) the execution and implementation of developmental programs that take into account a lot of parameters (environmental, educational, cultural, urban planning, city planning) and all members involved, like local government, state, revenue services, archaeologists, citizens and associations (Integrated Protection/Conservation and Management). When we apply all the above-mentioned processes, we talk about Protection of the cultural heritage that includes the establishment of legislative measures and ensures the economic resources for the promotion of the desirable objectives. All these interventions now are under the umbrella of Heritage Management (a concept established in the 1980â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s), according to which the monuments are â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wealth-producing resourcesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (cultural resources). The citizens experience these resources via means of educational and recreational processes. Since we are studying Disaster Archaeology, it would be interesting to say few words, too, for four other scientific fields of Archaeology, related to those issues. 24

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Environmental Archaeology is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the natural, built and socio-economic environments of the past within the integrated approach of human ecosystems (flora, fauna, human beings, minerals, water, land, air, etc.; buildings, housing, communication systems, water supply, etc.; human activities, education, health, arts and culture, economic activities, heritage, lifestyles in general). It is based on archaeological remains known as ecofacts / biofacts, artifacts, and mentifacts / psychofacts / sociofacts). Ecofact is any organic material found at an archaeological site that carries archaeological significance, such as animal bones, charcoal, plants, and pollen. Artifact is any object made by a human being, typically one of cultural or historical interest, such as pottery, clay tablets, tools, weapons, ornaments and figurines, clothing, housing, and land uses (what a culture uses). Mentifacts are the central, enduring elements of a culture expressing its values and beliefs, including language, religion, and folklore (what a culture believes). Sociofacts are the institutions and links between individuals and groups that unite a culture, including family structure and political, educational and religious institutions (what a culture does). Thus, Environmental Archaeology is concentrating its interests on the collection of various types of information to reconstruct the natural and cultural landscapes of the past, that were â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;usedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and modified by humans. Landscape Archaeology on the other hand, is a multidisciplinary approach to the study of culture, it is sometimes referred to as the Archaeology of the cultural landscape, studying the ways in which people in the past constructed and used the environment around them. It gives an explicit emphasis on the study of the relationships between material culture, human alteration of land/cultural modifications to landscape, and the natural environment. It also studies how landscapes were used to create and reinforce social inequality, and to announce one's social status to the community at large. Rescue Archaeology (sometimes called Preventive or Salvage Archaeology in Middle East; extensive Research Archaeology in many European countries like Germany) includes the archaeological surveys and excavations carried out in areas threatened by- or revealed byconstruction or other development. It is always undertaken at speed, for example, during the building of dams where sites of interest might exist in the flood plain, in highway projects, during a major construction, or even 25

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before the onset of war operations. Urban areas with many overlaid years of habitation are often candidates, too, for this specialization of archaeology. Finally, Public Archaeology (called, also, Community Archaeology mainly in UK), connects the Academic Archaeology to people outside of the profession, via the Internet, or books, television programs, lectures, pamphlets, museum displays, archaeology fairs, or by opening excavations to the public. Often, PA encourages the preservation of archaeological ruins and, less commonly, continues government support of excavation and preservation studies associated with construction projects. Much of PA is conducted by museums, historical societies and professional archaeology associations.

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2. HISTORY OF DISASTER STUDIES Disasters are an important and favourite topic not only for the modern societies. Philosophers, historians, environmentalists existed in antiquity, too, and they were trying to study such phenomena and their impact in the societies of the past. Especially, in the ancient Greek thought, the famous philosophers Plato, his pupil Aristotle, and his pupil, the ecologist Theophrastus studied the ideas of Chaos / Order and Nature / Culture in a very systematic way. Aristotle and Theophrastus were the founders of Human Ecology, as we know it today. Today, modern scientific fields are based on their systematic approach. The terminology and the Greek language they used were an excellent tool to describe and analyse the physical and human world. Thus, they opened the doorway to new concepts, challenges and perspectives in disaster sciences. Remember, also, the geographical and environmental reality of Greek landscapes: the Mediterranean world is composed of thousand physically differentiated micro-regions, where local ecologies and human communities are many, and various natural risks and catastrophes coexist in the same area.

Plato â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Aristotle - Theophrastus

Human existence holds the central place in the urban ecosystems (poleis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; states) of ancient Greece. The ideals of democracy, spiritual freedom and scientific progress were forged in the physical and cultural 27

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landscapes of the Eastern Mediterranean, so richly varied and contradictory. Terms and concepts widely used today (for example, Carrying Capacity and Population Pressure, Life-cycle analysis, Sustainable Development, Urban Metabolism, Entropy, Chaos, System Limits, Urban Flows, and the concept of Niche and Hierarchy, Adaptive Capacity, Coping Capacity, Vulnerability, Disaster and Collapse) have been used thousand of years before present. The term system was used in ancient Greek language at least 2500 years Before Current Era. Firstly Democritus (ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher of the 5th century Before Current Era, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the Universe) referred to human societies as cultural systems. Later on, Aristotle analyzed the concept of system deeper. Furthermore, the laws of Biogeography, Ecology, Bioclimatology, Meteorobiology, Historical-Geographical Pathology and other modern scientific fields already existed in the texts of: (1) Hesiod (ancient Greek poet of 8th / 7th century Before Current Era), (2) Herodotus (ancient Greek historian of the 5th century Before Current Era) and (3) the Hippocratic School (the medical School of the Greek island of Kos, where Hippocrates 5th/ 4th century Before Current Era - the "father" of rational medicine, worked on before the founding of the Asclepieion; all the modern world know the famous Hippocratic Oath, all doctors and infirmaries have it in display).

Hesiod- Democritus - Hippocrates

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Before them, the famous Greek poet Homer (his place and date of birth are still disputed) in his famous poets Iliad and Odyssey, described various Mycenaean city-states, which were autonomous physical, socioeconomic and cultural entities dispersed within the Greek landscape, with their city-centre, the rural and peri-urban space, the acropolis and the sanctuaries, the established political alliances and the commercial networks. The Homeric terms (polis, acropolis, asty, agora, gaia, aroura), widely used today in many languages of the modern world, were gradually differentiated. There was born the idea of Hierarchy which is reflected in the human activities (productive, administrational, social, religious, martial), as well as in the functionality of the spaces.

Homer – Cleisthenes (the father of Athenian Democracy)

Finally, Cleisthenes of Athens (Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens in 508/7 BC 6th century Before Current Era, the “father of Democracy”) had wisely chosen the boundaries of geographical sub-lands in Attica, to represent socio-economic units too, because fragmentation, complexity and variety are the characteristics of those landscapes. During the Classical period of ancient Greek civilization (5th and 4th centuries Before Current Era) Plato wrote his ideas on Urban Management, environmental crises and the famous disaster myth of Atlantis. Aristotle wrote his thoughts on social metabolism, disaster management and an Atlas of human ecosystems. Theophrastus studied in detail the ecosystems and their natural equilibrium, him, contributing greatly, too, to an early scientific approach to Disaster Studies, as we acknowledge it today. 29

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We have always to remember that human exposure to environmental threats is not evenly distributed (not all people or areas are equally in danger or equally damaged at the same time). Some locations, such as high latitudes, floodplains, riverbanks, marshy areas, small islands and coastal areas, may pose more risk than others. Humans used or modified their environments with activities such as deforestation, increasing paved areas covered with buildings and roads, and river canalization. Thus, they affected their areas. And, as populations increased and there was more competition for land and resources, areas of higher potential risk were extended. The terms Vulnerability, Resilience and Adaptive Capacity, as we have already learned earlier, were present, in their Greek form, in ancient Greek thought thousands of years before today. A system (for example, a city, a human community, an ecosystem) may be very vulnerable to a certain risk, but if it is not exposed to it, there is not disaster. The ancient writers recognized the importance of environmental and cultural parameters in the longevity and prosperity of the cities. Hesiod, Aristotle, Plato, Xenophon, and other ancient authors studied urban management, too. They made a serious attempt to categorize the causes of natural and man-induced changes, both in the environment and human societies. Moreover, as we have already told, the ancient Greeks were fully aware of the crucial role of natural phenomena and humaninduced hazards that may cause perturbations in the equilibrium of ecosystems and the life of the cities. Thucydides (Athenian historian and general) referred to a severe drought spell and described the notorious Athenian plague during the Peloponnesian War in the 5th century Before Current Era. Xenophon (ancient Greek philosopher, historian, soldier, mercenary, and student of Socrates (5th / 4th century Before Current Era) used the example of snowfall ratio between unpopulated and populated areas to show that settled areas underwent climatic changes due to the human presence and action. Aristotle notified the dynamics of natural subsystems (weather, water, soil and subsoil, plant and animal communities) which exercise strong influence on human societies. He also observed the severity of several geological phenomena such as soil liquefaction and high sedimentation rates. 30

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Theophrastus wrote on the various causes of soil erosion and described the effects of deforestation on landscapes by using the example of the island of Crete. Finally, Strabo (Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire (1st century Before Current Era to 1st century Current Era) referred to an observation made by Eratosthenes (Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist, 3rd / 2nd century Before Current Era), who understood the irreversible results of forest over-exploitation on the island of Cyprus.

Thucydides - Xenophon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Strabo - Eratosthenes

The positive response to hazardous phenomena may vary considerably. During the aftermath of a catastrophe or an environmental change, technological innovations are illustrated, for example: â&#x2013;Ş intensive agricultural patterns associated with the end of the climatic Younger Dryas crisis (we will talk about this, later, in Climate section: approximately, 10 900 to 9700 Before Current Era, there was a return to glacial conditions which temporarily reversed the gradual climatic warming after the Last Glacial Maximum that started around 18 000 Before Current Era 31

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▪ trade of obsidian (hard, dark, glass-like volcanic rock formed by the rapid solidification of lava without crystallization) associated with volcanic areas, ▪ the appearance of metallurgy associated in areas that had been affected by impacts of meteorites ▪ the discovery of new lands (the Iron Age Cold Epoch and the Homeric Minimum that drove the ancient Greek colonization during the 9th to 7th centuries Before Current Era) ▪ the adoption of new subsistence strategies and more efficient techniques (new hydraulic technologies in arid climates or after episodes of drought). In few words, crises used to stimulate rather than devastate the cultural traits of a society. The emplacement of nutrient-rich volcanic tephras and alluvial soils counterbalanced the lethal impact of volcanic eruptions, or the spread of malaria in marshy areas, or the dislocation of cities caused by coastal geological phenomena (for example the ancient Mediterranean harbours, Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Ephesus or the fertile marshy areas like Marathon in Attica). Some human groups are extremely adaptable in the face of disasters, being more tolerant of environmental perturbations than others. The ancient poleis-states were remarkably resilient. The basic mechanisms behind this phenomenon may be the diversification and redistribution of both populations and resources, and the phenomenon of “wandering cities”. In Asia Minor, the harbour of Myous, in the early 5th Before Current Era, was an active nautical centre with a capacity of 200 ships. Alluviation (the geological phenomenon of sediment or gravel accumulating) in the Great Maeander river geological formation had transformed it into a marsh by the 1st century Current Era. Then, local inhabitants moved to Miletus and adapted completely to this new environmental and social framework. Generally speaking, ancient societies (nomadic, pastoral, agricultural, nautical, industrial, other, mixed) may have chosen diverse methods and ways of proactive planning, mitigation and adaptation: (1) they established a suitable administrative and legislative framework in order to protect the environment and the population from hazards, (2) they improved their management policies, (3) they invested on long term values (for example, the equilibrium of ecosystems, the quality of life, human lives versus economic profit, prevention through education), (4) they increased storage capacity and keeping a stable transportation network, (5) they enhanced 32

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adaptability to the evolution of landscapes over time, (6) they presented alternative scenarios for the day after, (7) they acquired a profound knowledge of the mechanisms of Nature and the potential of local environments, (8) they tightened the bonds between the stronger and weaker members of the society, (9) they protected the targets the most easily affected by hazards, (10) they overcame political, religious, phyletic or other restrictions when facing hazards, (11) they adopted new technologies, ideas or ways of help to overcome a disaster, and (12) they showed a more flexible and adaptable profile toward crises. Plato and Aristotle analysed the ideas of an environmental crisis and an environmental disaster policy in their works. When they speak about the ‘ideal polis or state’, and their sustainability (autarkeia), their main concern is to present models of environmental crisis management (like we do today with the simulations, the different scenarios of expected events, or the measures to prevent or mitigate the future disaster). These answers to “what if?” questions, they are models of disaster management and naturally always proactive in their essence, building the basis for the modern Environmental Sociology. The ancient philosophers, also, pointed out that the root of any environmental or social crisis has a spiritual basis; the modern, truly holistic environmental policies recognize this, too. Even today, we need not only to study the physical and biological sciences, but we also need to explore the humanistic, psychological and sacred sciences as well, when we deal with disasters. After the Industrial Revolution and its scientific and technological breakthroughs (= the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840 Current Era), the scientific community and many independent researchers included the analysis of (ancient) disasters in their agenda. Until the 19th century Current Era, the dominant scientific beliefs in Europe were founded on the biblical narratives of Creation and the universal Deluge, apart from other ancient deluge myths, that have been discovered since then.

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Famous Earth Scientists: Georges Cuvier – Charles Lyell – James Hutton – Charles Darwin

Catastrophism gradually became the undoubted paradigm of Geology in the post-Enlightenment and post-French-Revolution era. According to that theory, the Earth had largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. The catastrophists of the early 19th century believed that God was directly involved in determining the history of Earth; some of the theories about Catastrophism in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as in antiquity, related to religion. Thus, catastrophic events were sometimes considered miraculous rather than natural phenomena and processes. The leading scientific researcher of Catastrophism in the early 19th century was the French anatomist and palaeontologist Georges Cuvier, who wanted to explain the patterns of extinction and faunal succession that were observed in the fossil record. He also believed that Earth was several million years old. Louis Agassiz, who had briefly been one of Cuvier's students, proposed the Glaciation Theory or The Ice Age Theory. In fact, the Swiss palaeontologist, glaciologist and geologist Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was the first who, in 1837, scientifically proposed that the Earth had been subjected to a past ice age, in his book Étude sur les glaciers (Study of Glaciers) dated to 1840. Charpentier and Venetz disapproved of the ideas of Agassiz, who extended their own work claiming that most continents were once covered by glaciers. The theory was one of the milestones in environmental studies. After 1830, a British lawyer-turned-geologist, Charles Lyell proposed the Doctrine of Uniformity, suggesting that Earth's geologic processes acted in the same manner and with the same intensity in the past as they do in the present. The fossils found in discrete rock layers reinforced the idea that scientists could divide the geological history of Earth into ages marked by catastrophic changes.

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Another breakthrough was the theory of Variations in the orbit of our planet, also known as Milankovitch Cycles, named after the Serbian geophysicist and astronomer Milutin Milanković, who worked on it during the First World War. But it was only in 1976 when the idea was scientifically verified. Consequently, the Milankovitch cycles are a set of cyclic variations in characteristics of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. Each cycle has a different length, so at sometimes their effects reinforce each other and at other times they (partially) cancel each other out. Milankovitch studied changes in the orbital Eccentricity (Earth’s orbit between nearly circular to mean eccentric), Obliquity (the angle of the Earth's axial tilt or obliquity of the Ecliptic varying with respect to the plane of the Earth's orbit, between a tilt of 22.1° and 24.5° and back again), and Precession of the Earth's movements (the trend in the direction of the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the fixed stars, due to the tidal forces exerted by the Sun and the Moon on the solid Earth). Moreover, there are also other forces that influence on the motion of Earth.

Milutin Milankovitch – Immanuel Velikovsky

In the 1950s, the Russian-born American independent scholar, a psychoanalyst, and a friend of Albert Einstein, Velikovsky has been rightly called 'the father of modern, global, cosmic Catastrophism'. Immanuel Velikovsky advanced Catastrophism in several controversial popular books, as he was reinterpreting the events of ancient history. For example, he speculated that the planet Venus is a former ‘comet’, which was ejected from Jupiter, then made two catastrophic close passes by Earth, 52 years apart, and later interacted with the planet Mars, which then had a series of 35

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near collisions with Earth which ended in 687 Before Current Era, before settling into its current orbit. Velikovsky used this to explain the biblical plagues of Egypt, the biblical reference to the "Sun standing still" for a day and the sinking of Atlantis. Scientists once rejected Velikovsky's theories, often quite passionately, although today they are widely re-discussed. Additionally, the Immanuel Velikovsky Encyclopaedia is about the author, Immanuel Velikovsky, and the controversy that has resulted from his works. This collective work does not judge whether Velikovsky or his critics were right or wrong, but when documenting something, the author tries to do it with sources. Many modern researchers have acknowledged that Velikovsky made predictions that have turned out to be correct (available at: http://www.velikovsky.info/Main_Page). Neocatastrophism tries to explain the sudden extinctions in the palaeontological record, caused by high magnitude, low frequency events. Over the past 30 years, however, a scientifically based Catastrophism has gained wide acceptance due to the famous publication of a historic paper by Luis and Walter Alvarez in 1980 (Luis Alvarez Impact Event Hypothesis). The scientists suggested that 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) asteroid struck Earth 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period. The impact wiped out about 70% of all species, including the dinosaurs, leaving behind the socalled Kâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;T boundary.

Luis Walter and Walter Alvarez

In 1990, 180 kilometres (110 mi) candidate crater marking the impact was identified at Chicxulub in the YucatĂĄn Peninsula of Mexico. Since then, the debate about the extinction of the dinosaurs and other mass extinction 36

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events has centred on whether the extinction mechanism was the asteroid impact, widespread volcanism (which occurred about the same time), or some other mechanism or combination of them. Most of the mechanisms suggested are catastrophic in nature. Worth mentioning is also The Society for Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS), a UK-based, non-profit-making organization with a worldwide membership, which includes laymen and academics alike. It was formed in 1974 in response to the growing interest in global cosmic catastrophes, initiated earlier by the publication of Immanuel Velikovsky's book, Worlds in Collision. Its scientists investigate the role that cosmic catastrophes may have played globally in ancient times; how myths, recorded by cultures the world over, can help us discover what happened. Thus, a new generation of catastrophists arose who have continued to encourage investigation. Plus, they exchange ideas in all fields opened by Velikovsky's theories of global cosmic catastrophism, between various other disciplines, making cosmic catastrophism truly interdisciplinary and inclusive. Such disciplines and subjects include: Archaeology, Stratigraphy, Psychology, Biology, Archaeoastronomy, Linguistics, Astrophysics, Geomagnetism, Religion, Mythology, Astronomy, Evolution, Palaeontology, various scientific dating methods and biblical studies to name a few. Arthistory, ice-core dating, Earth reversals (or axis shifts), electricity in the Universe, and the effect of catastrophes of any kind on Earth's climate, are also addressed, along with the effect of past climate-change on chronology. Moreover, the Dutch geologist JohĂĄn Bert (Han) Kloosterman (1931 2016) was the founder-publisher of Catastrophist Geology (1976-1978). Since 2003 and until 2009, he has been investigating Earth reversal myths, finding more than sixty worldwide. His focus in recent years had been the Usselo Horizon (2015), which marks the boundary line of the Younger Dryas event (http://cosmictusk.com/). In parallel, American academician Charles Hutchins Hapgood (1958, 1962 and 1966) suggested the Pole Shift Theory (not to be confused with Plate Tectonics and Geomagnetic Reversals). The Earth's axis has shifted numerous times during geological history. A 15Â° pole shift took place around 9600 Before Current Era, a time during which a part of the Antarctic was ice-free; thus, an ice-age civilization could have mapped the coast at that point in time.

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Johan B. Kloosterman - Charles Hutchins Hapgood

After Hapgood, several other authors have also proposed that sudden slippages of the Earth's crust caused wild climate fluctuations in the past, with devastating biological consequences, due to: (1) a high-velocity asteroid or comet which hit Earth at such an angle that the lithosphere moved independent of the mantle, (2) a high-velocity asteroid or comet which hit Earth at such an angle that the entire planet shifted its axis, (3) an unusually magnetic celestial object which passed close enough to Earth to temporarily reorient the magnetic field, then “dragging” the lithosphere about a new axis of rotation, or (4) perturbations of the topography of the core-mantle boundary. Moreover, other researchers proposed a scientifically acceptable mechanism for the onset of rapid crustal slippage. According to them, this phenomenon took place 534 million years ago, roughly coincident with the Cambrian Explosion of new life forms. Thus, the resulting climate changes and environmental havoc could have been triggered the rapid evolution of Life. A geological team in Princeton and Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France (2006), proved a 140-year-old theory regarding the way the Earth might restore its own balance if an unequal distribution of weight ever developed in its interior or on its surface (True Polar Wander). They claimed, too, that our planet did experience a significant pole rebalancing circa 800 million years ago; then, the North Pole shifted more than 50°(approximately about the distance between the equator and Alaska) in less than twenty million years. 38

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Meanwhile, from 1971 onwards, the American geophysicist W. Jason Morgan worked on the further development of the Plume Theory of Tuzo Wilson, according to which hotspots are upwellings in the Earth's mantle, with temperatures that are 400° higher than the mantle and of slightly different chemical composition. In contrast with the tectonic plates, plumes do not move for millions of years, for example, the anti-diametrical / antipodal plumes under Africa and Pacific Ocean have existed at the same place for 250 million years. Recent research confirms the initial theory. The Australian physicist Wallace Thornhill worked on the Electric Universe (http://www.holoscience.com/preface.php), and, together with American author and inveterate promoter of neo-Velikovskian ideas, David Talbott, have created the website The Thunderbolts Project (http://www.thunderbolts.info/home.htm). There, interdisciplinary scientists and researchers disclose new possibilities existing in Universe, such as Plasma and electricity in space, failure of gravity-only cosmology, myths of dark matter, dark energy, black holes, neutron stars, and other mathematical constructs, the electric model of stars, predictions and confirmations of the electric comet. Talbott claims, with complete assurance, that the planets Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter travelled very close to Earth within human memory.

Wal Thornhill – David Talbott - Marinus Anthony Van der Sluijs

In parallel, the multidisciplinary independent researcher from Holland, Marinus Anthony Van der Sluijs introduced Plasma Mythology (http://mythopedia.info/index.html). According to his statement, “Space is not a vacuum punctuated by isolated bodies on perpetually stable courses, as defined by the Law of Gravity. Since the beginning of the Space Age, it has gradually been discovered that space consists for 99.99% of plasma and 39

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is threaded with electric filaments and magnetic fields spanning over many orders of magnitudeâ&#x20AC;?. The Plasma Universe (http://www.plasma-universe.com/PlasmaUniverse.com) is a term coined by Nobel Laureate Swedish Hannes AlfvĂŠn (1908-1995) to highlight the importance of plasma throughout the Universe. This new paradigm is known as Plasma Cosmology. Plasma is a partially ionised gas regarded as the 'fourth state of matter', that responds with great sensitivity to changes in its magnetic fields and becomes visible to the human eye when it is pervaded by a sufficiently strong electrical current. The solid rock, the oceans and the lower regions of the Earth's atmosphere belong to the minute segment of the Cosmos that is not in the plasma state. Yet the Earth itself is bathed in an electromagnetic environment. This consists of the magnetic shell that shields the planet from the enveloping solar wind and other external features impinging on it, such as Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and, far less frequently, cometary intruders into the inner solar system. In addition, plasma penetrates and controls a range of terrestrial phenomena, such as the aurorae, lightning, fire, tornadoes and lava flows. Another prominent scientist and researcher, Dr. Paul LaViolette was the first to predict that high intensity volleys of cosmic ray particles travel directly to our planet from distant sources in our Galaxy, a phenomenon now confirmed by scientific data. He was also the first to discover high concentrations of cosmic dust in Ice Age polar ice, indicating the occurrence of a global cosmic catastrophe in ancient times. Based on this work, he made predictions about the entry of interstellar dust into the solar system, ten years before its confirmation in 1993 by data from the Ulysses spacecraft, and by radar observations from New Zealand. He also originated the Glacier Wave Flood Theory that not only provides a reasonable scientific explanation for widespread continental floods, but also presents a credible explanation for the sudden freezing of the arctic mammoths and demise of the Pleistocene mammals. Moreover, he developed a novel theory that links geomagnetic flips to the past occurrence of immense solar flare storm outbursts. He was also the first to discover that certain ancient creation myths and esoteric lores metaphorically encode an advanced science of Cosmogenesis.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Paul LaViolette. Alfred de Grazia with the author Dr Amanda Laoupi during the Q-conference, Athens 2011

According to Quantavolution Theory proposed by Professor Alfred de Grazia in his initial statement (The Encyclopaedia of Quantavolution and Catastrophe): “… the individual person must learn about catastrophes of the world - past, present, and future - from the testimony of the rocks, the skies, the fossils, the carvings, the ruins, and then from recorded history and logical thought. The theory of Quantavolution deals with the behaviour of substances of the real world so far as one can sense them. It proposes that change in nature and life occur largely as the result of catastrophic events; the events originate in the skies, which contain forces that are immeasurably greater than any in man or Earth and that are especially electrical…” In 1979, Sheets and Grayson drew attention to the potential cultural effects of the natural hazards (for example, volcanic tephra, earthquakedamaged walls, etc.) apparent in many archaeological excavations. Later on, a plethora of studies stressed the impacts of past natural disasters on ancient societies. Most of them were authored by - or inspired by natural scientists, astronomers and other researchers, not by archaeologists, as was correctly highlighted by Torrence and Grattan (2002), who used the term Archaeology of Disasters to stress the role of the impact of volcanism in ancient societies. They, also, planted the seeds for a more interdisciplinary approach to disasters, either referring to past or to modern societies. The term Archaeology of Disaster is found in Byrne’s work (1996/1997), too, but it was related to the indigenous historical landscapes / sites populated with traces of pre-contact 'authentic' Aboriginal presence in Australia.

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Meanwhile, Japanese scientist Satoru Shimoyama first referred to the term Disaster Archaeology in 1997. In 1999, he presented the Ibusuku– site as the first recognized archaeological disaster site in Japanese Archaeology. Moreover, he refers to the exact term, in his paper “Volcanic disasters and archaeological sites in Southern Kyushu, Japan”, in order to analyze the interconnections between the archaeological analysis (especially between ecofacts and artifacts in disasters, as they are mingled in archaeological sites) and volcanism in Japanese prehistory. Within the same perspective of disasters being social phenomena too, he also highlights the importance of disaster studies in his paper “Basic characteristics of disasters”. Additionally, another term has been introduced in the international scientific community, Archaeology of Destruction, in its deliberate ambiguity and loose presentation by the editor Lila Rakoczy in Britain (2008). In 2007, Richard Gould’s book on Disaster Archaeology was also published, within the perspective of Forensic Anthropology, giving examples (case studies) from recent, in majority, crisis and disaster events. There is, also, another term, archaeological disasters, which refers to modern era dilemmas that professionals (for example, field archaeologists, heritage consultants, technicians, constructors) deal with, when they are involved in excavations or the damage to archaeological heritage due to conflicts, wars, even environmental disasters (for example, oil spills). The term relates to cultural resource management and ethics in Archaeology. But, the term Archaeology of Natural Disasters was initially used by the author Dr Amanda Laoupi, to connote a scientific discipline (2005), for the first time worldwide, as established at the Centre for the Assessment of Natural Hazards and Proactive Planning – National Technical University of Athens (CANaH – NTUA). The author, by the same year started to use the term Disaster Archaeology, too, a term which had finally been chosen to embrace the whole unique spectrum of sub-disciplines, methodologies and techniques dealing with archaeodisasters under its umbrella. Since then, it is widely used, explained and analyzed by the author, and accepted by the international scientific community, in post-graduate seminars and lectures, in conferences and workshops, in European Research Programs, and online.

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Especially on the web, Disaster Archaeology, as a unique interdisciplinary scientific field, has its own presence (https://archaeodisasters.blogspot.com/). Furthermore, nine online interdisciplinary projects have been launched: https://artarchaeo.blogspot.com/ https://linguacatastrophica.blogspot.com/ https://evidenceofarchaeodisasters.blogspot.com/ https://cosmosandhumans.blogspot.com/ https://archaeodisastersandhumanpsyche.blogspot.com/ http://archaeodisastersandnewtechnologies.blogspot.com/ https://timebridgingskyandearth.blogspot.com/ https://archaeodisasterandspiritualtourism.blogspot.com/ https://dismanag.blogspot.com/. The author has, also, introduced three new terms, the term Archaeodisaster, to specify the disasters in archaeological time (paleodisasters refer to the phenomena prior to human presence on Earth; disasters refer to the post-industrial Era), Disaster Mythology (to unify the broad spectrum of worldwide myths, legends and traditions that directly or indirectly referred to archaeodisasters), and Disaster Astrology, to specify the technique of analyzing and interpreting past catastrophic events based on astrological charts and simulations. Since then, various scientists from all the fields that examine archaeodisasters have been coining new terms, in order to describe the magnitude and severity of many past events or future trends and scenarios. These terms include the hyper-canes, the mega-landslides, the megatsunami and mega- earthquakes, the mega-impacts, the super-volcanoes and mega-eruptions. Furthermore, the Anthropocene, a term coined by ecologist Eugene Stoermer and popularized by Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen, is a recent and informal geologic chronological term. It tries to identify the evidence and extent of human activities that have had a significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems. In 2008, a proposal was presented to the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London, to make the Anthropocene a formal unit of geological time; many scientists are now using the term. 43

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Eugene F. Stoermer - Paul Crutzen

The Anthropocene has no precise starting date, but based on atmospheric evidence may be considered to start with the Industrial Revolution (late 18th century), although other scientists link it to earlier events, such as the rise of agriculture, or even earlier, as 14 000 to 15 000 years Before Current Era. Other scientists proposed that the term should include earlier human presence on Earth, dated to the Middle/Upper Pleistocene. The amazing archaeological finds at the Messak Settafet escarpment, a vast 'carpet' of stone-age tools made by Hominins in the middle of the Sahara Desert (it is considered the earliest demonstrated example of the scars of human activity across an entire landscape) made them think of it. Other researchers frame the term in 1610 Current Era, when the collision between New and Old World started to be felt, or even in the 20th century, specifically in 1964, when radioactive debris originated from nuclear weapons.

Lynn Margulis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Peter Douglas Ward 44

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The Gaia hypothesis (also known as Gaia theory or Gaia principle), formulated by the chemist James Lovelock and co-developed by the microbiologist Lynn Margulis in the 1970s, who proposed that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet. Although it was received with hostility by the scientific community, it is now studied in the disciplines of Geophysiology and Earth System Science, some of its principles being adopted by Biogeochemistry, Systems Ecology, and other fields. Later on, it was turned into a vague philosophy and ecological movement. According to the Medea Hypothesis, proposed by the paleontologist Peter Ward, and named after the mythological Medea, who killed her own children, multicellular life, understood as a superorganism, is suicidal; thus, microbial-triggered mass extinctions are attempts to return the Earth to the microbial dominated state. Past "suicide attempts" include: methane poisoning (3.5 billion years ago), the oxygen catastrophe (2.7 billion years ago), the Snowball Earth, twice (2.3 billion years ago and 790â&#x20AC;&#x201C;630 million years ago), and at least five generally thought hydrogen sulfide-induced mass extinctions (such as the Great Dying, 251.4 million years ago). But the most intriguing hypothesis is the one of Panspermia, the term itself being first mentioned by the ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras. Later on, in the 19th century Current Era, it was used again by several scientists. The British amateur astronomer William Huggins discovered, in the 1860â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, that stars and nebulae were made of many of the same chemical elements found on Earth. The physicist Charles Townes and his small team, in 1968, detected first ammonia molecules in gas clouds near the centre of the Galaxy, then water molecules in the great star factory of the Orion Nebula. Gradually, radio astronomers tuned their telescopes to find more than one hundred and twenty molecules including ammonia, formaldehyde, benzene, acetone, alcohols, acetic acid, and more complex organic molecules in interstellar space (pre-biotic chemistry), and lab-based experiments have shown that these molecules can, under the right conditions, form the precursors to complex bio-molecules necessary for life.

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Anaxagoras â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A statue of Sir Fred Hoyle at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe at the University of Buckingham

Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe went further by contending that life forms continue to enter the Earth's atmosphere, and may be responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and the genetic novelty necessary for macroevolution. The whole concept suggests not only that life originated only once and subsequently spread through the entire Universe, but instead that once started, it may be able to spread to other environments suitable for replication. So, even our planet itself might be just one subpopulation within a widely dispersed interstellar metapopulation. The related but distinct idea of Exogenesis is a more limited hypothesis that proposes life on Earth was transferred from elsewhere in the Universe. Today, the Stardust Revolution highlights the biological heritage of Space on Earth, as it sees the night sky not as sterile and alien but rich with the building blocks of life, and the stars not simply as generators of light but also as pre-biotic stardust (Berkowitz, 2012). Modern research has shown that organic compounds are relatively common in space, especially in the outer solar system where volatiles are not evaporated by solar heating (Chang, 2009). Comets are encrusted with outer layers of dark material, thought to be a tar-like substance composed of complex organic material formed from simple carbon compounds after reactions initiated mostly by irradiation by ultraviolet light. It is supposed that a rain of material from comets could have repeatedly brought significant quantities of such complex organic molecules to Earth. Other sources of complex molecules include, also, extra-terrestrial stellar or interstellar material. For example, from spectral analyses, organic molecules are known to be present in comets and meteorites. 46

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The link between Comets and Panspermia was investigated further with a NASA Launch performed by NASA beginning in 2004, entitled "The Stardust Mission". The Ion Propulsion spacecraft was loaded with machinery to bring back lab samples from the tail of a comet. The published document from NASA entitled "NASA Researchers Make First Discovery of Life's Building Blocks in Comet” can be found online (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release= 2009-126). In addition, scientists have found a potential building block for life in a Martian meteorite recovered from Antarctica. Parts of the rock show rich concentration in the chemical element Boron, which played a key role in the development of ribonucleic acid, or RNA, according to biochemists (Stephenson, et al., 2013). Disaster Archaeology supports the afore-mentioned research results and embraces the concept of Panspermia that is widely found in the belief systems of ancient civilizations. As Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe (1986) have proposed, not only life originated from outer Space in the distant past, but, also, terrestrial evolution continues to be driven by the input of extra-terrestrial genetic material. Furthermore, they suggested that various historical pandemics were caused by bacteria or viruses delivered by comets. Nowadays, many other scientists examine seriously the likelihood that various plagues of the past times have been started when bacteria and viruses from outer space invaders (plasma, g-rays, comets, and meteors) reached the Earth atmosphere (Mike Baillie, Gunnar Karlsson, Graham Twigg and others). Similarly, a growing number of scientists assert that catastrophic encounters of Earth with such phenomena have played a major role on the shaping and equilibrium of our planet (geology, climate). Furthermore, the symbolic language of ancient people reveals today plagues, upheavals and natural bio-disasters, as neglected or hidden parameters of environmental, socio-economic and cultural changes. The chaotic violent forces of Space phenomena and their mechanisms with their primordial strength (burning heat, the phenomenon of ‘nuclear winter’, darkness, catastrophic accompanying phenomena like earthquakes or landslides and tsunami) gave birth to deities, creatures and heroes who formed famous mythological cycles, narrations and traditions all over the world. These devastating impacts of such phenomena were interconnected

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with the ‘gifts of Life’ (birth of gods, of arts, of skills and technologies, such as metallurgy etc). Instinctively, but not surprisingly, humans always conceived the skies as their primordial ‘home’, feeling like ‘stardust children’. It is written in our DNA, human life and Universe, we are one.

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3. DETECTING ARCHAEODISASTERS As we have already learnt, Disaster Archaeology makes use of many scientific fields, in order to study and interpret archaeodisasters, and their impact on ancient cultures. In fact, it is a multidisciplinary enterprise, since it firstly tries to reconstruct the full spectrum of each vanished society, its economy, commerce, political organization, religious beliefs, and mythology; then, it combines the existing evidence with complex information retrieved by other sciences, because the environment of the past is equally important when we study ancient catastrophic events. Some of the scientific fields involved are named here. You can ask your parents and teachers and you can search for them in the web, if you want to learn more about one or few of them: Geoarchaeology, Volcanology, Archaeoseismology, Glaciology, Archaeoastronomy, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoceanography, Palaeohydrology, Paleontology, Palaeoanthropology, Palaeodemography, Palaeopathology, Palaeoecology, Archaeozoology, Archaeobotany, Palaeogeography, Palaeomagnetism, Tree-ring Dating), Social/Behavioural Archaeology, Landscape and Environmental Archaeology, Astroarchaeology and Astromythology, Geomythology, Archaeometry, Study of ancient technologies, Study of communication systems (for example, languages, commercial routes, alliances and wars, religions and economies), Study of ancient sources of information (for example, analysis of written texts, artistic representations, ceremonies and rites, beliefs and oral traditions). These fields offer undoubted and valuable help, but the final evaluation of information remains a strictly archaeoenvironmental concern. Disaster archaeologist gathers data from all these fields and puts them in order by using a methodology. She / He finds the area of interest, the coordinates, the environment (both natural and cultural, past and present) and the period needed for the study. Having a long and detailed catalogue of all possible hazards and potential risks (for example, knowing how much vulnerable the community was living at the foothills of a volcano), she / he tries to approach the issue holistically. To evaluate vulnerability is a hard job to do: which is the Carrying Capacity of the area (how much Nature and humans can resist to disaster 49

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or better and longer adjust successfully after it)? Where is the stress focused (ecological, cultural, and biological)? Which is the level of risk in this area and community (environmental, ecological, technological, anthropological/biological, cultural, economic, and political)? For example, the number of people exposed to danger, the existence of social or other groups of people vulnerable to specific hazard, the physical/mental conditions of humans, the possibility of quick recovery and the parameters that block it, the alternatives and the choices are some of the criteria; they may be further analysed in a systematic way. If there is sufficient evidence, disaster archaeologist can identify the escalated and measurable results during the post shock, in order words she / he can evaluate visible or invisible results, direct or indirect results, short term or long-term results, permanent, transient or periodical results. Disaster archaeologist also knows that people and communities react in a very different way to each hazard. It happens today and it was happening always in human history… Perhaps they have / had the possibility to know and understand the existing hazard, to avoid the risk, to control the risk, to reduce the consequences of the hazard, to reduce the likelihood of its occurrence, to transfer the risk, fully or partially. So, she / he searches for the ‘lifecycle’ of hazards, that includes several phases, dynamically interrelated: Prevention - Preparedness – Response Mitigation - Recovery. Even if the first two phases weren’t present in the hazard assessment of some ancient societies, they still had to deal with the rest of the crucial stages. And, there is more… disaster archaeologist should follow a “protocol” in the study of the data collected. The gathered information should initially be grouped in one of the four main kinds of evidence: geological - physical, paleontological/biochemical, astrophysical/geochemical and archaeognostic (archaeological, philological, historic, artistic and mythological). Here you will have some examples, of course the catalogue is not exhaustive, to facilitate you in your journey back to the past and your wish to be detectives of the archaeoenvironments, for a while. The first three groups are strictly studied by their relevant scientific disciplines, which provide Disaster Archaeology with the requested conclusions or suggestions. Marker means indicator (= “thing” that indicates the state or level of something, index, signal, standard, norm, criterion). 50

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Geological/Physical Markers ◗ Sudden uplifted geotectonic formations and submerged landmasses after sea level fluctuations (as you know well, in the past, the climate of our planet was not the same as today, and the seas were at lower or higher level than today) ◗ Eskers (= peculiar uniform shapes of stratified sand and gravels, frequently several kilometres long, that are remnant of past glaciations; they are quite similar to railway embankments)

◗ Fossilized fauna (living organisms) and flora (plants) from different climatic zones and geographic areas within isolated geological strata (for example, lignite, charcoal, pit-coal) ◗ Buried river channels/beds that indicate a different course of the river in the past ◗ Wind-blown dunes ◗ Evidence of palaeoseismic activity (due to ancient violent earthquakes), for example in stalagmites (= the rocky prongs that shoot up from cave floors); seismic faults are the best indicators

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◗ Buried fields with fulgurites (from the Latin word fulgur, meaning lightning) that indicate mega-lightnings happened in the past (= natural tubes, clumps, or masses of sintered, vitrified, and/or fused soil, sand, rock, organic debris and other sediments that can form when lightning discharges into ground)

◗ Buried fields with tempestites (= storm deposits, fossilized indicators of violent winds and mega- or cosmic cyclones in the past)

◗ Thick layers of volcanic ejecta (= material ejected from a violent volcanic eruption in the past)

◗ Evidence of tsunami that happened in the past ▪ Boulders (rock fragments with size greater than 25.6 centimeters in diameter; smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles) that are too 52

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large for transportation by storm waves dislocated high above the surf and far inland ▪ Shells and molluscs of different species incorporated into the finer deposits in areas which lay high above sea level (frequently on mountain hills and crests today).

Paleontological/Biochemical Markers ◗ Thick layers of organic material within oceanic sediments

◗ High levels of the chemical elements Al26 (Aluminium) and Be10 (Beryllium) in marine sediments or ice cores; they are related to intense cosmic activity hitting Earth in the past (= they are called “cosmogenic or cosmogenous”) ◗ Smaller ratio of the chemical element Be10/Be9 in ice that shows intense solar magnetic field in the past (and less cosmic radiance on Earth) ◗ Abnormal distribution of grains of unequal size within the marine sediments cores (= coring is a geological method on taking samples from soil, ocean floor, mud, ice, trees, even from human-made materials or human bones, by drilling with special drills into the substance) ◗ Evidence of fluctuations in the salinity (= the dissolved salt content of a water body) of oceanic waters. The percentage of chemical elements in saltwater is not always the same. Below we can see an analysis of the usual seawater composition by Hanna Instruments

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◗ Evidence of fluctuations in Oxygen/Sulphur/Iron isotopes of oceanic waters ◗ Evidence of anoxia/hypoxia of waters (= when the bottom waters in deep seas, coasts or river deltas have not the necessary or expected levels of dissolved oxygen). It is a serious visible consequence of human origin in ecosystems today. A 2008 study counted 405 “dead zones” worldwide. But it is a periodic phenomenon, also, occurring in various places, for example in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and in the Peruvian and Namibian shelves and coasts (where upwell of warmer waters happen annually). During the Paleozoic, the seas of our planet suffered from anoxia episodes. Those events coincided with mass extinction and, in fact, contributed to them. They were natural mechanisms related to the slowing of oceanic circulation, to climatic warming, and to elevated levels of greenhouse gases (during “super-greenhouse events” after extreme volcanic outgassing)

◗ Abnormal distribution of trapped air bubbles/gas hydrates within permeable marine sediments or ice that were formed in the past.

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A sliver of Antarctic ice revealing the myriad enclosed tiny bubbles of air. Air bubbles trapped in ice, hundreds or even thousands of years ago, provide vital information about past levels of greenhouse gases and oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. Image Credit: CSIRO. CC BY 3.0 Image Source: Wikipedia.

Astrophysical/Geochemical Markers ◗ Tektites/microtektites in sediments (= small, gravel-size glassy objects found in numbers over certain areas of Earth's surface, believed to have been formed as molten debris in meteorite impacts and scattered widely through the air; black, green, brown or grey in color)

◗ Shock fractures in rocks ◗ Detection of high levels of radioactivity in ancient materials/remains ◗ Shocked quartz (not found in volcanic environments)

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◗ Foamed black glass not of volcanic origin ◗ Extended layers of black soil (= black layers with ash, charcoal and carbonized remains) that may indicate massive firestorms in the past ◗ Extended layers of red ash (red phosphorus, iron oxides) ◗ Extended layers of white ash (white phosphorus) ◗ Extended layers of green–yellowish material (sulphur) ◗ Archaeological strata with vitrified materials within (= converted materials into glass or a glass-like substance, typically by exposure to heat) ◗ Extended vitreous layers of soil ◗ Soil layers containing glass-like carbon spherules ◗ Biochemical evidence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (= organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen in multiple aromatic rings where the electrons are delocalized; they are produced when coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, and tobacco are burned); their name means that they have a sweet or pleasant odour ◗ Existence of nano-diamonds within soil layers or artefacts (they are possible come from meteorites of dwarf carbon-stars origin, for example, a giant crystalline diamond star in the constellation Centaurus at 50 light years distance from Earth); they have been formed by pressure 20,000 times more dense than Earth's atmosphere

◗ Biochemical evidence of noble gases: a group of chemical elements with similar properties; under standard conditions, they are all odorless, 56

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colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemical reactivity; the six noble gases that occur naturally are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and the radioactive radon (Rn); They are formed by cosmic ray exposure /meteorites/volcanic activity/geotectonic activity ◗ Detection of cosmogenic ammonia, mercury and formaldehyde (= substances formed in interstellar and extra galactic areas) ◗ Evidence of red snow/red rain ◗ Disturbances in the development of tree rings ◗ Destruction layers with asphaltic material ◗ Abnormalities observed in the palaeomagnetic data ◗ Volcanic inclusions in ceramic clays, ice cores and sediments ◗ Existence of L-sugars (ribose sugars are the backbone of RNA) and L-DNA/ amino acids (= left-turning and mirror image version of natural DNA, as opposed to the naturally occurring right-turning version called D-DNA; they are not the same though). The earthen process of racemization (when the one form turns into its chiral form until the whole becomes inactive in a percentage D/L 1:1), helps scientists to detect the age of ancient genetic material, both archaeological and paleontological. The L-forms are indices of extra-terrestrial life; the phenomenon is known as chirality and it can be found in interstellar space, meteorites and neutron stars. We can understand it better with the following image showing the amino acid chirality of hands (from http://www.nai.arc.nasa.gov/)

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Archaeological Markers ◗ Sudden and inexplicable disturbance of the archaeological chronostratigraphy (= branch of stratigraphy that studies the age of rock strata in relation to time, found in archaeological excavations) ◗ Existence of marine materials within the settlement (sea weeds, mud, malacological material) ◗ Existence of unburied or hastily buried dead bodies ◗ Existence of skeletal materials showing evidence of violent death in situ (= in their original place) ◗ Palaeopathological data (for example, symptoms related to radio-activity or rapid increase of specific diseases after a disaster event) ◗ Simultaneous destruction of settlements on the same latitude around the world (= a geographic coordinate that specifies the North–South position of a point on the Earth's surface; it is an angle which ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90° -North or South- at the poles)

Hattusa(s), the famous capital city of the Hittite Empire, in the Late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey

◗ Existence of dispersed destroyed architectural items or other objects (mud, wood, tiles, and ceramics)/artefacts within the settlement ◗ Sudden abandonment of ancient settlements

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Dargavs, the city of the dead (necropolis dated back to the century Current Era). Near the settlement of Dagravs, Republic of North Ossetia – Alania, Russia. According to the local traditions, when there would be plagues that wiped out entire families, some sick villagers, with no one to bury them, would go into their family crypts and await their death. Locals, today, almost never go there, because there is a tale that any man who dared to walk in, would never come out alive 12th

◗ No evidence of life in a previously densely populated areas

Caral, a large settlement in the Supe Valley, near Supe, Barranca Province, Peru (some 200 km or 120 mi north of Lima). It is the most ancient city of the Americas, and a well-studied site of the Norte Chico civilization

◗ Adaptation Culture: behaviours that prove the adaptation to disaster; they are reflected on archaeological traces - Sudden and inexplicable change from sedentism to nomadism (different lifestyle) - Gradual reduction of living space within the settlement - Gradual reduction or absence of community ‘investments’ on construction works - Appearance of ‘crisis’ architecture (for example, handy constructions, repairs, changes of luxurious rooms into warehouses and stalls, more reconstructions and repairs of ruined areas) - Increase in the construction of protective walls in parallel with reduction in the ‘escape passages’ (for example, doors, streets within the settlement) 59

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- Sudden changes in the water supply system

Great Zimbabwe, a medieval city (royal palace) in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe, Africa. It was the capital of the kingdom of Zimbabwe during the country's Late Iron Age (11th -15th century Current Era)

â&#x2014;&#x2014; Crisis Cult - Sudden turn into concentralization (economic, social, political levels) - Sudden changes in trade routes

Ani, a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia

- Sudden preference in local goods and materials - Sudden technological changes - Sudden changes in political alliances, or in wars, conflicts and invasions

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Sukhothai, a small city in Lower Northern Thailand (427 km or 265 mi north of Bangkok), and the Capital of the Province of this name, most famous for the ruins of the ancient city Sukhothai ("the dawn of happiness")

- Massive movements of people (for example, the tribes migrated from the Asian steppes to Western Europe after the 4th century Current Era = Migration Period) - Abandonment of open-air cults in the periphery and preference for indoor or ‘city’ cults - Sudden crisis in ancient religious beliefs and traditions - Magical behaviours to control a disaster * Abhorrence for the red colour * Worship of Earth * Ceremonies to purify wells * Obsession with certain ceremonies and “termination rituals” (for example, trepanation of skulls) * Universal symbols of disasters and hazardous phenomena (for example, comets as dragons) * Celebration of ill-omened days * Burial of luxurious or religious items in hidden hoards - Historical sources and oral traditions (legends, myths) * Written testimonies for disasters * Artistic representations of events * Traditions for the disappearance or appearance of land masses * Wrath of gods * Ceremonies to appease the wrath of the gods (for example, the largest known sacrifice of hundreds of children by the Chimú people in Peru around 1500 Current Era)

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* Movement of ancestors to other lands, epic journeys and colonisations, heroic deeds * Divine fires from Heaven, Cataclysms, darkness, plagues, giants, and monsters Destruction layers may preserve evidence of human occupation and artefacts from subsequent damage and be unearthed almost intact. Towns like Akrotiri (Cycladic island of Santorin), Pompeii and Herculaneum (Italian peninsula), were rapidly engulfed in voluminous tephras and pyroclastic ejecta. Respectively, other key examples are the shipwrecks laid in anaerobic (= absence of free oxygen) environments, for example, on the floor of the Black Sea. Moreover, anoxic or toxic conditions in sediments of lakes, peat formations and buried environments, such as tar pits (asphalt deposits), permafrost soils (at or below the freezing point of water - 0 °C / 32 °F - for two or more years) and salt quarries (for example, in Chile and Siberia) preserve intact much archaeological and palaeontological evidence. Testimonies from ancient writers may be proved excellent sources of information. Observations, comments, descriptions and any other form of indirect information may help in the dating, evaluation or even identification of past events. ‘Archaeodisaster reporters’ described volcanic eruptions (for example, the Plinian eruption of Vesuvius of 79 Current Era and the preKrakatau eruption of 535 Current Era), epidemics (for example, the Athenian plague during the first years of the Peloponnesian Wars or the Justinian plague of the 6th century Current Era, the Black Death or syphilis expansion over Europe), earthquakes, soil liquefaction, tsunami and landslides, and extra-terrestrial events and impacts (for example, the Supernova explosion of 1054 Current Era or other significant sky events described by the Chinese archaeoastronomers). Respectively, indigenous people and foreign travellers made observations and descriptions (for example, the impact of the hydroclimatic phenomenon El Niňo on the ecosystems in southwestern America).

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Grape cultivation, winemaking, and commerce in ancient Egypt c. 1500 BC. Image Credit: The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Annual or regularly registered inventories of products and goods (for example, cultivation of crops and production of wine in Pharaonic Egypt or in southern France during the Middle Ages) may reflect the climatic and environmental conditions in the archaeoenvironments. Finally, birth and death archives kept by local organized communities, may serve as palaeodemographical indices, which can tell us about the average age of death or the causes of death, highlighting many neglected social parameters. Oral traditions and mythological cycles from all over the world provide, also, great information concerning past disasters. The Indian legends of North America, the tales of Aborigines in the Southern Hemisphere, the secrets of the shamans in African and Indian tribes and, especially, the circum-Mediterranean mythology challenge modern researchers. The Mayan prophecies and the Aztec cosmology, the myth of Atlantis, the northwestern European sagas (for example, the Edda), the Sibylline Oracles, the epic narrations (for example, the Homeric Epos in Greece, Mahabharata and other philological remnants of the civilization along the Indus valley), histories about gods, heroes and legendary journeys (for example, Aristaios as benefactor of the first inhabitants of the Cyclades, Argonautic Expedition, Hercules’ deeds, Titanomachy and Gigantomachy, Hephaistos’ fall from heaven, Noah’s and Deucalion’s 63

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Floods, Phaethon) reflect the times when Sky, Earth and Water were in upheaval. Furthermore, there is always the universal ‘language’ of disasters. Various ceremonies, specific colours (for example, red and black as symbols of dark powers), numbers and rituals, ill-omened days in ancient calendars, new forms of worship or disorder in religious structures, adoption of curious symbols (for example, dragons, serpents, dogs, swastika and birds as symbols of comets), deities with chthonic character (Seth, Hecate) are archetypal images of the collective unconscious. Finally, the artistic representations offer a wide range of information, from coins to frescoes and from rock art to paintings and book sketches. But for all these we will talk later in another chapter. We should also not forget that there are many traces of catastrophic events found in the archaeological record, directly or indirectly. Unburied corpses or offhand burials, items and architectural structures thrown down and dispersed, evidence of severe fire, flood or tsunami, or sudden technological changes can “speak” and tell stories of ancient catastrophes. In parallel, the natural ecosystems provide scientists with quite helpful information. The events, all over the world and during all ages, that were periodically or chaotically repeated, are imprinted on a series of elements, structures and markers that share a common approach. This is called Stratigraphy. The order in which rock (and other material) strata or layers are deposited, helps scientists to date past events, formations, and fossil organisms. Geology and Archaeology use it. It examines the order and position of layers in the timescale. This method is applied to a huge variety of scientific fields and there are many examples of it: Physical Stratigraphy, Lithostratigraphy, Chronostratigraphy, Biostratigraphy/Ecostratigraphy, Chemostratigraphy/Geochemical Stratigraphy, Seismic Stratigraphy, Cyclostratigraphy, Tephrostratigraphy, Bog Stratigraphy, and Magnetostratigraphy. If you want, ask your teacher for more detailed explanation of these terms.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Chalk layers in Cyprus island, showing sedimentary layering. Image Credit: MeanStreets. Public Domain. Image source: English Wikipedia

Thus, disaster archaeologist uses the existing archaeological data, all the above-mentioned data provided by other disciplines, plus the data from Taphonomy. Taphonomy is the study of the processes (such as burial, decay, and preservation) that affect human, animal and plant remains as they become fossilized. They can range from whole skeletons of dinosaurs to the ripple marks of an ancient shore, or even DNA remnants (do you remember Jurassic Park sequel?).

Tyrannosauripus pillmorei, probable Tyrannosaurus footprint from w:Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico. Image Credit: Rufous-crowned Sparrow - Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia.

A third perspective and method is Accretion (growth or increase by the gradual accumulation of additional layers or material, due to geological, biochemical and other processes), for example, the formation of annual ice65

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layers, various lake deposits and geological formations, tree-rings, coral bands, and speleothems. When the climate conditions are appropriate (dense snowfall for prolonged times and cold summers during which snow does not melt or melts superficially), the fallen snow accumulates (builds up) yearly, formatting ice layers that can be thousands of years old. The lower layers are older than the upper ones. The Greenland and Antarctica ice-sheets are famous for providing paleoclimatologists with a wide range of data (climatic conditions of the past, impacts /meteorites, volcanic eruptions, radioactive elements, biochemical analyses of the atmosphere, etc). Consequently, scientists today can reconstruct not only the paleoenvironments of our planet, but also the archaeoenvironments (after the presence of humans on Earth). In 2016, cores were retrieved from the Allan Hills in Antarctica, in an area where old ice could be found near the surface. The cores were dated by potassium-argon dating and not by traditional ice core dating. The oldest core was found to include ice from 2.7 million years agoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;by far the oldest ice yet dated from a core.

Taking core samples from the surface of Taku Glacier in Alaska. There is increasingly dense firn between surface snow and blue glacier ice (ice in an intermediate stage between snow and glacial ice; it has the appearance of wet sugar; the more recent snow layers of a glacier). Image Credit: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1216/f/images/firn1.gif. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Moreover, ice cores have been drilled at locations away from the poles, for example, in the Himalayas and the Andes. Some of these cores dated back to the last glacial period, being important records of El NiĂąo events and of monsoon seasons in south Asia. Cores have also been drilled

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on Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), in the Alps (Europe) and in Indonesia, New Zealand, Iceland, Scandinavia, Canada, and the USA. Dendrochronology is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed, in order to analyze atmospheric conditions during different periods in history. Thus, the timing of events and rates of change in the environment (most prominently climate) can be determined. The method can be also applied to various works of art and architecture (even to determine their originality and date of construction), such as old panel paintings on wood, buildings, etc. It is used in radiocarbon dating to calibrate radiocarbon ages, too.

Pinus taeda Cross section showing annual rings, Cheraw, South Carolina. Image Credit: Pollinator. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Just remember that the ancient Greek botanist Theophrastus (around 371-287 Before Current Era) first mentioned that the wood of trees has rings. Later on, In his Trattato della Pittura (Treatise on Painting), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519 Current Era) was the first person to mention that trees form rings annually and that their thickness is determined by the conditions under which they grew. Since then, scientists managed to correlate the annual tree rings with episodes of droughts, severe winters, and even the cycles of sunspot activity (by the astronomer A. E. Douglass who founded the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona in 1937). Nowadays, climatologists can use a fully cross-matched chronology for oak and pine in central Europe that extends back 12 460 years, as well as an oak chronology that goes back 7429 years in Ireland and 6939 years in England. Another fully anchored chronology that extends back 8500 years 67

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exists for the bristlecone pine in the Southwest USA (White Mountains in California). Corals are marine invertebrates. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. They secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. The important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans are included in them.

Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems. Image Credit: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/reef0484.htm. Reef0484. The Coral Kingdom Collection. Photographed by Linda Wande, in Tarawa, Kiribati (Micronesia, Central Pacific Ocean). Public Domain. Image source: Wikipedia.

Corals add seasonal layers, which appear as bands in their hard calcium-carbonate shells. Since corals respond to small changes in temperature, rainfall, ocean salinity, nutrient availability, and water clarity in a matter of months, they are a uniquely sensitive and valuable climate record (for example, cooler waters = thicker bands; on the contrary, waters clouded with sediments due to heavy rains or floods inland = slower growth of bands). When scientists take a small core from the coral to analyze its formed bands, they can figure out the climate in the Tropics; this is very important because much of Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weather is controlled by conditions in the Tropics. But, unfortunately, even if the climate record left in coral reefs is detailed, it is also limited. Why is that? Because coral reefs donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist everywhere in the world, as well as they are living things that die, 68

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preserving a record of a few hundred years; then, an older coral from the reef must be found to stretch the record further back. Thus, scientists can place the coral reef record in the timeframe recorded by other climate proxies (in the study of past climates by paleoclimatology, they are preserved physical characteristics of the past that stand in for direct meteorological measurement, like tree rings, ice layers, etc) once they know when the reef lived.

Fossilized Solitary rugose coral (Grewingkia) in three views; Ordovician, southeastern Indiana, USA. Image Credit: Wilson44691 - Own work. Public Domain. Image source: Wikipedia.

Speleothems (from two ancient Greek words meaning cave deposits) commonly known as cave formations, are secondary mineral deposits formed typically in limestone or dolostone solutional caves, by flowing, dripping, or seeping water.

The “Witch’s Finger” in the Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Image Credit: http://www.nps.gov/cave/photos_pub_domain.htm. National Park Service, photo by Peter Jones. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia 69

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Although they have been identified three hundred and nineteen variations of cave mineral deposits, the most common of them are stalagmites (the "ground-up" counterparts of stalactites, often blunt mounds) and stalactites (pointed pendants hanging from the cave ceiling, from which they grow). Speleothems are studied as climate proxies because they are used as archives for several climate variables, due to their location within cave environments and patterns of growth. They can provide clues to past precipitation, temperature, and vegetation changes over the last 500 000 years.

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4. VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS Although an erupting volcano is one of Nature's most spectacular and breathtaking events, it is also a tremendously powerful and destructive process. As you have learned in your school, the Earth’s crust - the top surface less than 32.19 km (20 mi) thick - sits on top of a layer of molten rock and gas called magma, and it is made of huge pieces called tectonic plates fitting together like a puzzle. Nevertheless, heat and pressure from the Earth's core make the plates move slowly against each other, forming cracks in the crust. The mountains located on a crack in the crust, are the volcanoes opening into the pool of magma beneath it. Whenever heat from deep inside the earth creates enough pressure, magma and gases push up through the opening and erupt from the volcano. Then, ash, steam, rocks, and molten lava come into the air. The molten or liquid rock inside a volcano is called magma. Magma flowing out of a volcano during an eruption is called lava. Lava is very hot, sometimes more than 2000° Fahrenheit (over 1000° Celsius), and it turns into volcanic rock when it cools. Since volcanoes are mainly mountains, they possibly have snow, ice and sometimes glaciers on their slopes. Thus, the heat from the erupting volcano can melt the snow and ice that mixes with rocks and ash creating a huge, dangerous mudflow called a lahar. Unfortunately, Lahars move far too fast for anyone in their path to outrun them; they usually flow down valleys and riverbeds and populated areas or towns causing thousands of victims. Even more, some erupting volcanoes produce a mixture of extremely hot gases and rock called a pyroclastic flow, that look like giant dirty clouds sweeping down the sides of the volcano and destroying everything in their path. They can move faster than almost 650 km (400 mi) per hour. These flows travel many miles away from the volcano and can even travel over water. With their heat, they can melt snow and ice and create a lahar. In order to be considered active, a volcano must have erupted within the last few thousand years. On the Earth today there are around five hundred and sixty active volcanoes. Each week, fifteen to twenty of these 71

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volcanoes will erupt. Each year, two or three volcanoes erupt that were previously thought to be dead. Some volcanoes last for hundreds of thousands of years, while others are born, and die within a matter of only a few decades. While old volcanoes are constantly dying, new volcanoes are being created. Not all volcanic activity takes place in volcanoes. In fact, more lava has reached the surface of the Earth through fissures in the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crust, than through volcanoes. These fissures slowly create massive landforms spanning hundreds of thousands of square miles, without ever creating a volcano. Volcanologists have categorized the types of volcanoes, the types of volcanic eruptions and their magnitude, using specific characteristics and a uniform climax. The types of volcanoes are mid-ocean ridges /underwater or submarine volcanoes, subglacial volcanoes, mud domes or mud volcanoes, flood basalts (lava plateau), monogenetic fields, cinder cone volcanoes, lava domes, stratovolcanoes or composite volcanoes, shield volcanoes, and rhyolite caldera volcanoes.

Image source: https://www.britannica.com/science/volcano/Six-types-oferuptions

The volcanoes can also be active (those that erupt regularly, with a lifespan from months to million years), extinct (those that have not erupted during historical times) or dormant / inactive and reactivated (those that have erupted during historical times and now are quiet).

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The types of eruptions are: hydrothermal, phreatic, phreatomagmatic, lava (flows, fountains and domes), Strombolian and Hawaiian, Vulcanian, Subplinian and Plinian. Volcanic Explosivity Index (also known as VEI climax) is a relative measure of the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions. It was devised by Chris Newhall of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Stephen Self at the University of Hawaii in 1982.

VEI and ejecta volume correlation. Image Source: chris čŤ&#x2013; - Originally from http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Products/Pglossary/vei.html. Public Domain. Image source: Wikipedia

There also are lists of natural disasters by death toll or the Dispersal Index (also known as D, defined by George P.L. Walker in 1973; it defines the surface area covered by an ash or tephra fall under specific numeric parameters). Let us now read the chronological catalogue of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in human history and prehistory â&#x2013; Yellowstone Volcanic Field, northwestern USA - VEI 8 (mega-colossal eruptions: 2.1 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago and 640 000 years ago) 73

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■ New Mexico super volcano (1.6 million years ago and 1.2 million years ago) ■ Haleakala, Maui - Hawaii (1 Million years ago and 800 000 years ago) ■ Toba, Sumatra - Indonesia - VEI 7 (788 000 years ago ± 2.200 years of accuracy) ■ Long Valley, California (760 000 years ago and 700 000 years ago) ■ Etna, Italy (500 000 years ago, 300 000 years ago and 170 000 years ago) ■ Toba, Sumatra - Indonesia - VEI 7 (73 000 years ago) ■ Yellowstone Volcanic Field: last great eruption 72 000 years ago (flow of rhyolitic lava on the Pitchstone Plateau) ■ Taupo, New Zealand - VEI 8 (26 500 years ago) ■ Campi Flegrei, Italy (40 000 – 27 000; 15 000 – 9 500; 8050 – 1700 Before Current Era) ■ Aira, Japan (22 000 Before Current Era) ■ Laacher See Tephra, central Rhineland Neuweit Basin, Germany (dendrochronological dating: 12 916 Before Current Era; tephrochronology: 12 900 ± 560 Before Current Era) ■ Massif Central, France (final phase approximately 12 000 – 3500 Before Current Era) ■ Hasan Daği, Karapinar - Turkey (approximately 6900 ± 640 Before Current Era) ■ Mount Mazama, Oregon - USA (5677 ± 150 Before Current Era) ■ Cerro Blanco Volcanic Complex (CBVC), northwestern Argentina (around 4200 - 4000 Before Current Era): perhaps the biggest during the past five millennia in the central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, and possibly one of the largest Holocene eruptions in the world ■ Minoan Eruption of Santorini (Thera island), Greece - VEI 6/7 (around 1628 Before Current Era) ■The Hekla 3 eruption - Iceland (around 1200 Before Current Era): contemporary with the historical Bronze Age collapse ■ Vesuvius, Italy; 33 000 victims; VEI 5 (August 24, 79 Current Era, or probably October 24) ■ Ilopango Volcano, El Salvador - VEI 6+; destroyed early Mayan cities, forcing inhabitants to flee (450 Current Era) ■ Krakatau, Indonesia - VEI 7 (535 Current Era) ■ Changbaishan Volcano, China/North Korea border - VEI 7 (1000 Current Era) 74

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■ Eruption of Samalas volcano (part of the Mount Rinjani Volcanic Complex) on Lombok Island, Indonesia (1257 Current Era): one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the historic period and of the past 7000 years; it caused the superimposed century-scale cold summer anomalies, of which the Little Ice Age (LIA) was the most extreme ■ Plinian eruption of Quilotoa, Equadorian Andes (1280 Current Era) - VEI 6 ■ Eruption of Kuwae - a Pacific volcano; it has been implicated in events surrounding the Fall of Constantinople (around 1453 Current Era) ■ Huaynaputina, Peru - VEI 6; South America's largest volcanic eruption in recorded history (1600 Current Era): it caused the coldest year in the Northern Hemisphere for six centuries (winter 1601); it is considered the cause for the Russian famine of 1601–1603 ■ Cotopaxi volcano, Ecuador (April 4, 1768 Current Era). One of the largest eruptions during 17th and 18th centuries. A similar one happened on June 26, of 1877 ■ Laki, Iceland (1783 Current Era); VEI 6 ■ Tambora, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia - the greatest eruption ever recorded, VEI 7 (April 5-12, 1815 Current Era) with 92 000 victims ■ Krakatau, Indonesia - VEI 6; 36 000 victims; the loudest sound humans experienced; the first disaster of the Communication Age (August 26-27, 1883 Current Era) ■ Mt Pelée, island of Martinique - Caribbean; amongst the 30 000 inhabitants of Saint Pierre, only two survived; few hours after la Soufrière eruption (St Vincent Island, Caribbean). The existence of pyroclastic flow is recognized by volcanologists for the first time, giving the name of pelean eruption to similar phenomena (May 7-8, 1902 Current Era) ■ Novarupta, Alaska Peninsula - VEI 6; the largest volcanic blast of the 20th century, thirty times more than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens and three times more than the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the second largest in the 20th century (June 6-9, 1912 Current Era); thousands of vents steaming for years after the eruption. Even the worst-case-scenarios of super-volcano eruptions sometime in the future, would be minor compared to the largest lava flow in Earth's history, the Siberian Traps (251 million years ago, long before the appearance of humans on the face of the planet). The gigantic basaltic lava flow in Siberia lasted upward of a million years and flooded an area originally estimated to be as large as 7 million km² (2.703 million mi²), 75

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being thousands of meters thick. Some geologists suspect the eruption was caused by an extra-large plume of hot material welling up from the edge of the Earth's core. This phenomenon is the prime suspect in wiping out 90% of all living species 251 million years ago - the most severe extinction event in Earth's history (also known as the P-T extinction).

The largest known Phanerozoic continental flood basalt province. Extent of the Siberian Traps. Image Credit: Kaidor (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Extent_of_Siberian_traps-ru.svg). Own work based on File:Extent of Siberian traps german.png and File:Russland Relief.png. Image Source: Wikipedia

Later on, between 60 and 68 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, a large igneous surface located on the Deccan Plateau of west central India (Deccan volcanic province or DVP) was formed, as one of the largest volcanic features on Earth. It consisted of multiple layers of solidified basalt floods that together are more than 2 km (1.24 mi) thick. The eruptions may have lasted fewer than 30 000 years in total. In fact, scientists have detected a series of events that finally led to the dinosaursâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; extinctions. The Shiva crater, a large impact crater in the sea floor off the west coast of India, has also been dated to 65 million years ago, right at the Kâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;T (Cretaceous - Tertiary) boundary; it is considered to be the triggering mechanism for the Deccan Traps as well as a contributor to the acceleration of the Indian plate in the early Tertiary. This event along with 76

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the impact of the meteoroid that formed the Chicxulub Crater (Central America) pushed many species over the edge into extinction.

The Deccan Traps shown as dark purple spot on the geologic map of India. Image Credit: USGS - https://earthquake.usgs.gov/data/crust/maps.php. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The latest discovery describes what is now considered as the largest known explosive volcanic eruption. It shook up western Utah and eastern Nevada around 30 million years ago. The researchers estimate that the unimaginable devastation covered 31 080 km2 (12 000 mi²) after the release of almost 6000 km2 (2317 mi²) of magma. According to the Smithsonian / NASA Astrophysics Data System, the Wah Wah Springs Tuff (29.5 million years ago) is one of four super volcanic eruptions (more than 1000 km3 of magma = more than 240 mi3 magma) of dacite that occurred near the peak of the ignimbrite flare-up in the Great Basin of northwestern America. Compared to Yellowstone, this case seems even more devastating and severe. But, unlike Yellowstone’s caldera, which is still an active one, that super volcano will unlikely ever erupt again.

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Locations of ancient supervolcanoes in Utah and Nevada. Image Credit: Best MG et al., 2013 doi: 10.1130/GES00945.1 & doi: 10.1130/GES00902.1. Image Source: http://www.sci-news.com/geology/science-supervolcanoes-utah-nevada-01612.html

Meanwhile, geologists announced that they have been searching for more ancient volcanic eruptions that happened along the same stretch of continental plate that Yellowstone’s super volcano sits on (Yellowstone hotspot), within a time window of between 12.5 to 8 million years ago. So far, the team found that although there were fewer volcanic events during this period than had been estimated, those eruptions were far larger than was previously thought. A super volcano refers to a volcano that produces the largest and most voluminous kinds of eruptions on Earth. Although the actual explosivity of these eruptions varies, the sheer volume of extruded magma is immense enough to radically alter the landscape and severely impact global climate for years, with a cataclysmic effect on life. Humans could be pushed to the edge of extinction. The term was originally coined by the producers of a BBC Popular Science programme in 2002, to refer to these types of eruptions. Though there is no well-defined minimum size for a ‘super-volcano’, there are at least two types of volcanic eruptions that have been identified as super-volcanoes. Super-volcanoes are found throughout the world, there is even evidence that there is a super-volcano beneath Loch Ness, Scotland; some of these erupted in prehistoric times and they could erupt again.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Apart from the most notorious, Yellowstone, there are also calderas that have just not been well studied, a prime example being Ethiopia's Awasa caldera and Pastos Grandes caldera of Bolivia, and the largest in the world, Lake Toba, Indonesia. Second only to Yellowstone in North America is the Long Valley caldera, in east-central California, while New Zealand's Taupo caldera has been filled by water creating what many describe as one of the world's most beautiful landscapes. There is, also, a sleeping monster in the heart of New Mexico, the Valles caldera that forms a large pock in the middle of North New Mexico, west of Santa Fe. The cases of Yellowstone, Vesuvius Plinian eruption and Tambora are not described here, because they are very well known and presented in videos, films and educational material all over the world. You can ask from your teacher or from your parents to provide you with this material, in order to learn, compare and analyse those volcanic disasters of the past. The destruction of the flourishing Cycladic and Minoan communities of the prehistoric Aegean was happened after the late Bronze Age Minoan eruption of Santoriniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s volcano between 1628 to 1600 Before Current Era. Tephra layers have been found dispersed not only in the sea floor of the eastern Mediterranean / Black Sea and the lacustrine sediments of southern Turkey, but also in depositional terrestrial sequences and archaeological strata in the Greek islands (for example, Anaphe, Kos, Rhodes, Crete), the Nile valley, inland Anatolia, Syria and Israel.

Photograph of Santorini caldera from the air. Image Credit: Sokoban - Own work. Public Domain. Image source: Wikipedia

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Modern scientists claim that this eruption caused a tsunami that swept the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, swarm earthquakes, intense fall of volcanic ejecta, disastrous effects on vegetation and loss of cultivated land, death of animals, abrupt climatic changes, acidic contamination of aquifers, disruption of sea corridors between the states of the Bronze Age, plague, famine and socio-economic upheaval. All those phenomena devastated the equilibrium of natural and human ecosystems in the region. Many archaeologists speculate that the eruption caused a crisis in Minoan civilization, making them vulnerable to conquest by the Mycenaeans invaded the island. The eruption of Thera and volcanic fallout may also have inspired the myths of the Titanomachy in the Theogony of Hesiod.

The famous archaeological site in Akrotiri, Santorini (ancient Thera). The flourishing Cycladic settlement was entombed in a layer of pumice (volcanic rock in powdered or dust form). Image Credit: F. Eveleens - Own work. CC BY 2.5. Image Source: Wikipedia

In fact, the Greek version of Titanomachy could have picked up elements of western Anatolian folk memory, as the tale spread westward, for example, the thunderbolts of Zeus as volcanic lightning, the boiling earth and sea as a breach of the magma chamber, the immense flame and heat as evidence of phreatic explosions, among many other descriptions. Other modern scientists linked the Minoan eruption of Santorini and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt described in the Bible. Finally, the Greek archaeologist who discovered the site of Akrotiri, Spyridon

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Marinatos (20th century Current Era), suggested that the Minoan eruption is reflected in Plato's story of Atlantis. The eruption was bigger than the mega-eruption of Tambora in 1815 Current Era and offered an excellent geochronological time frame for the eastern Mediterranean civilizations of the period. Even more, modern scientists correlate the eruption and its impact with archaeological and philological testimonies, such as the Bamboo Annals which describe the turbulent years of the collapse of the Xia Dynasty in China with a year without summer (approximately in 1618 Before Current Era), the calamities of Admonitions of Ipuwer (a text from Lower Egypt dated to the Middle Kingdom or the Second Intermediate Period), and the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus and the Tempest Stela of Ahmose I. Consequently, volcanic eruptions have always played a crucial role in the evolution of human civilization. Their most evident impact on human communities was the massive death of unprepared people, like the Plinian eruption of Vesuvius, which devastated the flourishing centres of Pompeii and Herculaneum, killing thousands of people. Over a century ago, on August 26, 1883, the island volcano of Krakatau (Krakatoa), a virtually unknown volcanic island with a history of violent volcanic activity, located in the Sunda Strait, 40 km off the west coast of Java on the island of Rakata in Indonesia, exploded with devastating fury. The eruption was one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in recorded history. The effects were experienced on a global scale. Fine ashes from the eruption were carried by upper level winds as far away as New York City. The explosion was heard more than 4500 km (3000 mi) away, and it is considered as the first disaster of the Communication Age, since the news travelled worldwide in 24h. Volcanic dust blew into the upper atmosphere affecting incoming solar radiation and the Earth's weather for several years. A series of large tsunami waves, that were generated by the main explosion, some reaching a height of nearly 40 meters (131 feet) above sea level, killed more than thirty-six thousand people in the coastal towns and villages along the Sunda Strait on Java and Sumatra islands.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

The Sunda Strait. Image Credit: ChrisO - Combination of CIA World Factbook map and Demis Map Server (http://www2.demis.nl/mapserver/mapper.asp) data with additional annotations and modifications by self. Public Domain. Image source: Wikipedia

Tsunami waves were recorded or observed throughout the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the American West Coast, South America, and even as far away as the English Channel. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, like the Minoan eruption, has been assigned a Volcanic Explosivity Index of at least VEI of 6, which rates as ‘colossal’ or ‘cataclysmic’. In 1927, a new island, Anak Krakatoa or "Child of Krakatoa", emerged from the caldera formed in 1883 and is currently active.

DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

5. EARTHQUAKES Earthquakes are the shaking, rolling or sudden shock of the Earth’s surface. They happen along cracks in the rocks which are called fault lines, and they can be felt over large areas, although they usually last less than one minute. Unfortunately, earthquakes cannot be predicted, although seismologists try hard to develop new methods of prediction. You can find also other terms that describe the phenomenon, such seismic activity, tremors, quakes and shakes. Moreover, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows the main tremor or a previous earthquake. Seismologists talk about the epicenter, too, meaning the center, the focus area of the event, which the seismic waves are sent, spherically, in many directions, from. The modern scientists use the seismographs, machines that measure the earthquakes. They also have seismic stations, catalogues and real time databases for historic seismicity, seismic hazards maps, 3D reconstructions of geological features in each area and detailed geodetic data, scenarios for possible future earthquakes, special software running, and other tools and understandings for the phenomenon. During ancient times, people did not have such methods and tools but they instinctively know some precursor phenomena, the history of their land due the mythological and other information passed from generation to generation, and behavior of animals before an earthquake strikes… The earliest reference we have to unusual animal behavior prior to a significant earthquake is dated to 373 Before Current Era and comes from Greece. Rats, weasels, snakes, and centipedes reportedly left their homes looking for safety, several days before the destructive event. There is also evidence for animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects that exhibit strange behavior anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake. Many animals with more keen senses than humans can feel different parameters (for example, subtle foreshocks, biochemical or other geotectonic) before the quake. Perhaps, there are “early warning” behaviors instinctively inherited to animals, in order to escape danger. 83

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The vibrations and the released energy caused by the phenomenon in the form of travelling waves are recorded by the seismographic networks around the globe. Each seismic station in the network measures the movement of the ground at the site. There are many ways to measure different aspects of an earthquake. Magnitude is the most common measure of an earthquake's size, no matter where you are or what the shaking feels like. The famous Richter scale is an outdated method that is no longer used; it measures the largest wiggle on the recording, but other magnitude scales measure different parts of the earthquake. Nevertheless, it is the simplest way to show the intensity of an event, and it is used in archaeoseismological data, as you will see in the following catalogue. On the other hand, Intensity is a measure of the shaking and damage caused by the earthquake, and this value changes from location to location. The idea of a ten-number logarithmic (meaning that the amplitude of an earthquake that scores 3.0 is about three times the amplitude of one that scores 2.0) earthquake magnitude scale was first developed by Charles Richter in the 1930's in USA. This scale is considered scientifically more objective and therefore more accurate, and its varies from micro-, less than 2.0 (very minor-, minor-, light-, moderate-, strong-, major-, great-) to meteoric 10+ (no records for anything of this size, yet). The intensity, though, of an earthquake, varies depending on where you are. In the United States, the Modified Mercalli (MMI) Scale is used. The Mercalli Scale is based on observable earthquake damage. In a level I-V on the Mercalli scale, doors would rattle, dishes would break, and weak or poor plaster would crack. As the level rises toward the larger numbers, the amount of damage increases considerably. Intensity X (10) is considered as the highest value on the MMI. Mega-quakes of magnitude 10 or larger cannot happen. Since the magnitude of an earthquake is related to the length of the fault on which it occurs, no fault long enough to generate a magnitude 10 earthquake, is known to exist; and if it did, it would extend around most of our planet. The largest earthquake ever recorded in human history was a magnitude 9.5 R event, on May 22, 1960, in Chile, given by a fault almost 1609 km (1000 mi) long.

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Description: Earthquake severity increases with the Richter scale. Image Credit: Webber - Own work. Public Domain. Image source: Wikipedia

■ Islands of Hawaii, Pacific Ocean (200 000 to 100 000 years ago) ■ Golden Gate area, San Francisco Bay (around 33 000 years ago) ■ Bronze Age events in the Mediterranean areas (2400-2300 Before Current Era, 2100-2000, 1730-1650, 1450, 1365, seismic storms of 12501175 Before Current Era) ■ Sparta, Peloponnesus - Greece (464 Before Current Era) ■ Rhodes island, Dodecanese – eastern Greece (226 Before Current Era) ■ Early Byzantine Tectonic Paroxysm, Mediterranean (around 350-550 Current Era); especially: the year 365, July 21, with an estimated magnitude of 8+ R, and year 551 Current Era ■ Paroxysms of Dead Sea Fault, southwestern Asia (100-750, 700-1030 and 990-1210 Current Era); especially: the event of May 526, known as the Antioch earthquake with an estimated toll of 250 000 victims ■ Constantinople, Byzantine Empire (December 14, 557 Current Era); numerous casualties, various churches and buildings were damaged; the dome of the Aghia Sophia cathedral was weakened and later collapsed completely in May of 558; the walls of Constantinople were so severely damaged that in early 559, the attacking Huns managed to pass through them ■ Mosul, Iraq (847 Current Era) ■ Qumis, Damghan - Iran (856 Current Era); 200 000 victims ■ Corinth, Greece (856 Current Era) ■ Caucasus (893 Current Era) ■ Daipur, India (893 Current Era) 85

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■ Ardabil, Iran (893 Current Era); 150 000 victims ■ Aleppo, Syria (August 9, 1138 Current Era); 230 000 victims ■ Southwestern Syria (May 20, 1202 Current Era); 7.6 R; about 1.100.000 victims ■ Cilicia, Anatolia - Turkey (1268 Current Era) ■ Chihli, China (1290 Current Era) with 100 000 victims ■ The 14th century events (for example, 1303, 1323, 1348, 1356 Current Era) ■ Sea of Marmara, Turkey (1509 Current Era) ■ Hausien, Shaanxi Province, China (January 23, 1556 Current Era); 830 000 victims ■ Shemakha, Azerbaijan (25, 1667 Current Era) ■ Sicily and southern Italy (January 11, 1693 Current Era) 7.4 R; about 150 000 victims (one of the most powerful in Italian history) ■ Cascadia Subduction Zone, northeastern Pacific (1700 event Current Era) ■ Lisbon, Portugal (November 1, 1755 Current Era) ■ New Madrid, Missouri - USA (1811 – 1812 Current Era); 8 R ■ San Francisco, USA (1906 Current Era) ■ Messina, Straits of Messina, Italy (December 28, 1908 Current Era); 7.5 R; 160 000 victims Beyond any doubt, a severe earthquake and its terrible after-effects is one of the most frightening and destructive phenomena of Nature. For hundreds of millions of years, the forces of plate tectonics have shaped the Earth because the huge plates forming the Earth's surface slowly move over, under, and collaterally each other. Sometimes this movement is gradual, but when the plates are locked together, initially they are unable to release the accumulating energy. When the accumulated energy grows strong enough, the plates break free. In the 4th Century Before Current Era, the ancient Greek philosopher and researcher Aristotle proposed that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped in subterranean caves. Small tremors were thought to have been caused by air pushing on the cavern roofs, and large ones by the air breaking the surface. This theory (Earthquake Weather) correlated the phenomenon with the earthquake weather; a later theory correlated the earthquakes with calm, cloudy conditions, usually preceded by strong winds, fireballs, and meteors. 86

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Although, statistically, there is approximately an equal distribution of earthquakes in cold weather, hot weather, rainy weather, etc., very large low-pressure changes associated with major storm systems (for example, typhoons, hurricanes, etc) are known to trigger episodes of fault slip (slow earthquakes) in the Earth’s crust and may also play a role in triggering some damaging earthquakes. On the other hand, Archaeoseismology or Earthquake Archaeology (distinct sub-discipline of Palaeoseismology described as “the study of ancient earthquakes, and their social, cultural, historical and natural effects”), informs us about seismic events that happened during the human presence on Earth. It uses four principal types/categories of sources: instrumental (instrumental records), historical (witnesses), archaeological (artefacts), and geological (natural features such the stalagmites in caves). In fact, archaeological sites that are built overactive faults are unique, because we can detect the precise date and magnitude of individual historical earthquakes, along with the age and the areal distribution of earthquake-damaged features and the epicentral location of past earthquakes too. Since Greece is one of the seismic countries located around the Mediterranean Sea, several large earthquakes have hit Athens during its long history. Although they have caused damage to the famous temple of Parthenon (Athens Acropolis), the monument has structurally survived against earthquakes for twenty-five centuries due to its strong seismic resistance capacity.

The famous Parthenon, the temple of the ancient Greek goddess Athena, protector of the city. Photo taken in 1978. Image Credit: Steve Swayne - File:O Partenon de Atenas.jpg, originally posted to Flickr as The Parthenon Athens. CC BY 2.0. Image Source: Wikipedia 87

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But, today, how can we identify possible earthquake damage happened in ancient times? We can use the characteristic structural damage and failure of constructions, for example, collapsed walls, patched walls, offset walls, diagonal cracks in rigid walls, inclined or subvertical cracks in the upper parts of rigid arches, vaults and domes, or their partial collapse along these cracks, cracks at the base or top of masonry columns and piers, neat rows of parallel fallen columns, frequently with their drums (drums are the cylindrical stone blocks composing a column that is not a monolith) in a domino-style arrangement, or constructions deformed as if they were forced horizontally (for example, rectangles transformed to parallelograms).

Typology of earthquake-induced damages in ancient buildings. Image Credit: Miklós Kázmér (Department of Palaeontology, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary), 2014. Image Source: http://kazmer.web.elte.hu/pubs/Kazmer_ 2014_Damage_to_ancient_buildings_Encycl_EQ_Eng.pdf

We can also observe skeletons of people killed and crushed or buried under the debris of fallen buildings, as well as certain abrupt geomorphological changes, occasionally associated with destructions and/or abandonment of buildings and sites. Even more, when a site was destructed and then quickly reconstructed, with an ‘‘anti-seismic’’ building construction techniques (with no change in their overall cultural character, though), this can be considered archaeoseismological information. Equally, the well-dated destructions of buildings correlating with historical (including epigraphic) evidence of earthquakes, and damage or destruction of isolated buildings or whole sites, for which an earthquake 88

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appears the only reasonable explanation, are indices of archaeo seismological events. The written testimonies about ancient earthquakes, that date back thousands of years in some parts of the world, are often the most helpful sources of information today. For example, in China, the earliest records from Shandong Province in the northeastern part of the country, date to 1831 Before Current Era, and the almost complete records of Chinese quakes exist from the Zhou Dynasty, starting in 780 Before Current Era.

A modern replica of Zhang Hengâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous seismoscope. Photo Credit: Houfeng Didong. Image Source: https://www.zmescience.com/science/geology/worlds-first-seismoscope-53454/

The first seismometer was invented in China in 132 Current Era, by a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, engineer, and inventor called Zhang Heng. In 2005, scientists in Zhengzhou, China, built a replica of Zhangâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seismoscope to detect simulated earthquakes based on waves from four different real-life earthquakes in China and Vietnam. Not only, the seismoscope detected all of them, but also the data gathered from the tests corresponded accurately with that collected by modern-day seismometers! Unfortunately, the North and South American civilizations lacked strong writing traditions, while civilizations in Europe and the Middle East experienced long eras of unrest, during which records were lost or destroyed. But there were folklore, tales and legends, equally useful for the scientists today. 89

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6. TSUNAMI Tsunami(s) are giant waves caused by the displacement of a body of water, due to earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. Out in the depths of the ocean, tsunami waves do not dramatically increase in height. The word comes from Japanese words "津波" meaning harbour and wave. Tsunamis were common throughout Japanese history, as at least one hundred and ninety-five events in Japan have been recorded. In fact, the residents of Aneyoshi in Japan, heeded the warnings of their ancestors, so they obeyed directions and wisdom found on a local mystic stone monument (at tide’s highest point) where it was written: “Do not build any homes below this point”. During the recent deadly event of March in 2011 (that left almost 29 000 people dead or missing), after an earthquake of magnitude 9.0, the waves stopped just 100 m. below that stone. Hundreds of similar tsunami stones six centuries old can be found along the Japanese coast.

Aneyoshi tsunami stone in Japan. Image credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/world/asia/21stones.html

Earthquakes, mass movements above or below water, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions, landslides and large meteorite impacts all have the potential to generate a tsunami, while meteo-tsunamis are caused by meteorological phenomena. The effects of a tsunami can range from unnoticeable to devastating. 90

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A mega-tsunami is an informal term used to describe very large tsunamis. The largest waves are caused by very large landslides, such as a collapsing island, into a body of water. The highest tsunami ever recorded was estimated to be of 524 m. (1719 feet) vertical run-up on July 10, 1958 Current Era, in Lituya Bay, Alaska. ■ Eltanin asteroid - southeastern Pacific (2.51 ± 0.07 million years ago, during the Pliocene / Pleistocene Boundary) ■ Flank failure of Fogo, the oceanic volcano in Cape Verde Islands (73 000 years ago): estimated wave run-up heights exceeding 270 m. ■ Storrega event or Storegga landslide on the edge of Norway's continental shelf, North Atlantic (about 6100 Before Current Era) ■ Eastern Etna’s massive volcanic landslide that caused mega tsunami up to 40 m high (about 8000 Before Current Era); engulfment of coastal settlements of Eastern Mediterranean within hours ■ Valdez Marine Terminal, Alaska (approximately 4300-3800 Before Current Era) ■ Burckle crater, southeastern Madagascar / Fenambosy chevron (sharply folded rock formation) - Indian Ocean (about 3000 - 2500 Before Current Era) ■ Eastern Sicily, central Mediterranean (2100-1635 Before Current Era, 1000-800 Before Current Era, 570-122 Before Current Era, 1169 and 1693 Current Era) ■ Minoan eruption - eastern Mediterranean (about 1628 Before Current Era) ■ Eastern Mediterranean (approximately 1365 ± 5 Before Current Era and 4th-11th centuries Current Era) ■ Ancient writers wrote about the following events in ancient Greece: North Euboikos Gulf, central Greece (12th century Before Current Era); West Chalkidiki peninsula, North Greece (479 Before Current Era); Malliakos Gulf, central Greece (426 Before Current Era); Gulf of Corinth, central Greece (373 Before Current Era); Lemnos island, northeastern Aegean Sea - Greece (330 Before Current Era) ■ Makran coast, North Arabian Sea (326-325 Before Current Era, during the expedition of Alexander the Great in the area) ■ Lake Lucerne, Switzerland (1601 and 1687 Current Era) ■ Dalaman, southwestern coast of Turkey (events of 1481 and 1609 Current Era) ■ Cascadia Subduction Zone, northeastern Pacific (1700 Current Era) 91

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■ Central-East Atlantic (November 1, 1755 Current Era: the notorious Lisbon event); up to 100 000 victims ■ Unzen, Japan (1792 Current Era); with 15 030 victims ■ Krakatoa, Sunda Straits - Indonesia (1883 Current Era) ■ Mauna Loa, Hawaii and Arica, Chile (1868 Current Era) ■ Meinji-Sanriku, Japan (1896 Current Era)

The impact of Eltanin asteroid was at the edge of the Bellingshausen Sea (part of the Southern Ocean). Image Credit: Nickpo - Own work, data taken from Map of Antarctic (archived 2014-08-19). Дубровин, М. Преображенская «О чём говорит карта Антарктики». - Л.: Гидрометеоиздат, 1987. Pubic Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The first detected case of Eltanin (related to the human presence on Earth) is until now the only testified example of the 140 impacts known on Earth to have occurred in the deep ocean. Deep-sea finds refer to an asteroid between 1 and 4 km in diameter, which splashed into the South Ocean, 1500 km (932 mi) off the coast of Chile. The ten-megaton blast ripped up the ocean floor. Initially, scientists hypothesized that most of the asteroid would have probably been vaporized before it could leave much of a scar on the ocean floor. But, in 2004 Current Era, a possible source crater was found at 57°47' S, 90°47' W (at the edge of the Bellingshausen Seapart of the Southern Ocean) under 5 km (3.11 mi) of water. The crater is 132±5 km (82±3.11 mi) in diameter.

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This huge impact disturbed the global ecosystem, sent terrifyingly high tsunamis, sent enormous quantities of water and dust into the atmosphere, which would have influenced the climate, and intensified the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pronounced cycle of continental glaciation. It could probably have been, also, a stimulus (triggering mechanism) for humanity's first great migration out of Africa in Late Pliocene (= a geo-archaeological era), for Homo erectus who, by that time, was emerging in Africa, and beginning to spread into cooler Eurasia. The three Storegga (in Norse, storegga means the Great Edge) Slides are considered to be amongst the largest known landslides in human history; they occurred under water, at the edge of Norway's continental shelf, in the Norwegian Sea, 100 km (38.6 mi) northwest of the MĂ¸re coast. An area the size of Iceland slumped, causing a very large tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Position of the Storegga Slide (west of Norway). The yellow numbers give the height of the tsunami wave studied by researchers. This is considered as a mega tsunami; it had been spread to hundreds of kilometers following the collapse of a piece of shelf. Image Credit: Lamiot Own Work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

In northern Scotland, traces of the subsequent tsunami have been recorded. The deposited sediment, that have been discovered in Montrose Basin, the Firth of Forth, was up to 80 km (31 mi) inland and 4 m. (13.12 feet) above current normal tide levels, demonstrating a vertical run-up of around 20-25 m. (66-82 feet). Based on carbon dating of plant material 93

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recovered from sediment deposited by the tsunami, the latest incident took place around 6200 Âą 50 Before Current Era. One of four chevron-shaped land features on the southwestern coast of Madagascar (a huge island nation off the southeast coast of Africa; it's home to thousands of animal species, found nowhere else, plus rainforests, beaches and reefs), is 180 m. (591 feet) high, at a distance of 5 km (1.93 mi) from the ocean. It is composed mainly of material found on the ocean floor. About 1450 km (560 mi) southeast from the Madagascar chevrons, in the deep ocean, Burckle crater was discovered by Dr. Abbott, in 2005, and it is estimated to be 4500 to 5000-year old. Similar geological formations provide evidence of mega-tsunamis caused by comets or asteroids crashing into Earth. The afore-mentioned impact event is considered as a strong evidence for the triggering mechanism that caused the devastating flood in Mesopotamia between 2900 and 2750 Before Current Era. Modern scientists correlate that flooding episode with the universal flood myths and especially the famous Noahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ark. In the Mediterranean areas, tsunamis were mostly generated by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, so, the geographical distribution of the historical tsunamis in the region generally resembles the trend of seismicity/volcanic activity.

The Santorini caldera. Image Credit: Steve Jurvetson. Image Source: Flickr. Volcanic deposits of the Minoan eruption of Santorini. Mavromatis pumice quarry, Santorini Island, Cyclades. Image Credit: Santorini (Thera) Volcano. Image Source: PhotoVolcanica Full Index

Such a tsunami, dating to the 2nd millennium Before Current Era, has been identified in the seabed between Crete and Santorini islands. A computer simulation of a tsunami in the Cretan Gulf of Mirabello by Monaghan and other scientists in 1994, calculated a wave height of about 94

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40 m. (131 feet). In several areas between land and sea in Crete, pumice layers have been found inland, occasionally even on top of Minoan ruins. On the Cycladic island of Anafi, East of Santorini, at the head of a valley and at a 270 m. elevation, a layer of pumice 5 m. (16.40 feet) thick was found. Considerable amounts of pumice concentrated in some areas along the East coast near Kato Zakro have also been reported. At the archaeological site of Amnissos (6 km or 2.3 mi east of the modern city of Herakleion), the famous Greek archaeologist and professor Spyridon Marinatos found evidence of a building near the shore that had been swept by large waves. He found large quantities of pumice stone and sand in its foundation and in cavities within the remnants of the structure. Further up the slope on the same island, in the Villa of the Frescoes, additional evidence was found, attributed to the action of tsunamis. Parts of the walls and corners of the rooms of that structure have collapsed in a peculiar manner. The walls there bulge outward, and large monoliths, several tons in weight and measuring 2 m. (6.6 feet) long by 1 m. (3.28 feet) wide, have been moved out of position or are missing altogether. Most modern scientists believe that the mega-colossal eruption of Santorini volcano and the following tsunami generated catastrophes which caused the collapse of the first “European civilization society”. The event is also related to the famous legend of Atlantis found in Plato’s works. Later on, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in his Histories reported on a series of large waves and sea withdrawals occurring in spring of 479 Before Current Era, during the Greek-Persian war, which caused the destruction of the Greek city of Poteidaia. Large portions of the Persian troops perished then, in the western Chalkidiki peninsula. Herodotus’s report is regarded as the first description of a historical tsunami. As early as 426 Before Current Era, the Greek historian Thucydides inquired in his book History of the Peloponnesian War about the causes of tsunami and argued rightly that it could only be explained as a consequence of ocean earthquakes. He was the first in the history of natural science to correlate quakes and waves in terms of cause and effect: “The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen”. During the Byzantine Times, the undersea mega-quake of July 21, 365 Current Era, is considered as the strongest historical earthquake that 95

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ever occurred in Greece, since it had been of magnitude 8 or higher (? 8.5) on the Richter scale, with an assumed epicentre near Crete. It caused widespread destruction in central and Southern Greece, North Libya, Cyprus and Sicily, and destroyed nearly all towns in Crete by generating a tsunami which devastated the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, particularly Alexandria and the Nile delta. Thousands of people were killed and the ships were hurled kilometres inland. This catastrophe left a deep impression on the late antique mind, and numerous writers of the time referred to the event. Especially, the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, in his work Res Gestae, described in detail the tsunami hitting Alexandria and other places in the early hours of that day, clearly distinguishing the three main phases of a tsunami (namely an initial earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea, the ensuing gigantic wave rolling inland). In fact, the event was so devastating that the anniversary of the disaster was still commemorated annually at the end of the 6th century in Alexandria as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;day of horrorâ&#x20AC;?. Finally, the November 1, 1755 Current Era event (local time 9:40) caused the near-total destruction of Lisbon in Portugal and adjoining areas. The earthquake approaching magnitude 9 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 km (124 mi) west/southwest of Cape St. Vincent, was followed by a tsunami (130 m. or 426.5 feet high) and fire. The death toll is estimated between sixty and one hundred thousand people. Immediately after the earthquake, many inhabitants of Lisbon looked for safety on the sea by boarding ships moored on the river. But about 30 minutes after the quake, a large wave swamped the area near Bugie Tower on the mouth of the river Tagus. In some places, the waves crested at more than 30 m. Most of the coastal towns and villages in Algarve were heavily damaged, except Faro, which was protected by its sandy banks. In Lagos, the waves reached the top of the city walls. In southwest Spain, the tsunami caused damage to Cadiz and Huelva; in fact, the waves penetrated the Guadalquivir River, reaching Seville.

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1755 Current Era copper engraving showing Lisbon in flames and a tsunami overwhelming the ships in the harbour. It was made that year; it shows the city in ruins and in flames. Tsunamis rush upon the shore, destroying the wharfs. The engraving is also noteworthy in showing highly disturbed water in the harbor, which sank many ships. Passengers in the left foreground show signs of panic. Original in: Museu da Cidade, Lisbon. Reproduced in: O Terramoto de 1755, Testamunhos Britanicos = The Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, British Accounts. Lisbon: British Historical Society of Portugal, 1990. Image Credit: Unknown - The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive Jan Kozak Collection: KZ128. This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. Image source: Wikipedia

In Gibraltar, the sea rose suddenly by about two meters. In Ceuta the tsunami was strong, but in the Mediterranean Sea, it decreased rapidly. It also caused great damage and casualties to the western coast of Morocco, from Tangier, where the waves reached the walled fortifications of the town, to Agadir, where the waters passed over the walls, killing many. In addition, the whole event is considered as one major cultural disaster. For example, the Royal Library of the Royal Palace at Terreiro do Paço was lost together with its seventy thousand books and hundreds of famous artists’ paintings, such as Rubens, Titian and Correggio. The Royal Archives of explorers’ and navigators’ accounts, such as Vasco da Gama, were also destroyed.

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Travel times of the tsunami from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, calculated with the Tsunami Travel Times (TTT) software. Red contours are for 1-4 hour arrival times, yellow (5-6 hrs.), green (7-14 hrs.), and blue (15-21 hrs.). NOTE: These maps do not provide information on the height or the strength of the wave. Image Credit: NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) - NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The earthquake profoundly disrupted the 18th century colonial ambitions of the country. it was widely discussed by European Enlightenment philosophers, and it was the first earthquake studied scientifically for its effects over a large area, leading to the birth of modern Seismology.

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7. HYDROGEOLOGICAL HAZARDS = EARTH + WATER This chapter is a bit more complicated than the others, because it contains difficult terms and complex geodynamics. Ask your teacher for more explanations. We have already talked about a notorious case concerning landslides, when we explained how the Storegga events generated deathly tsunamis. Landslides are generally defined as the movements of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope due to gravity. The materials may move by falling, toppling, sliding, spreading, or flowing. They can bury or sweep away everything in their path, and they cause many thousands of victims. Geologists say that they can be triggered by heavy rainfalls after soil erosion due to wildfires, snowmelt, changes in water level, stream erosion, “destabilized” soils, changes in ground water, earthquakes, volcanic activity, disturbance by human activities (for example flooding of dams or collapse of dams), or any combination of these factors. They can be, also, submarine, and then, they cause threatening tsunamis. Research has shown that in the past giant landslides took place. An example is the Canary Islands - a Spanish archipelago and the southernmost autonomous community of Spain located in the Atlantic Ocean, 100 km (62 mi) west of Morocco - where there have been at least five massive volcano landslides that occurred in the past. Unfortunately, it seems that similar large events may occur in the future. These events can be as powerfully destructive as an atomic bomb… Prehistoric undersea slides have been recorded before. The Aghulas slide is considered as the largest event in human history. The Agulhas slide covered an estimated area of 20 km3 (4.8 mi3) off South Africa and was dated to the Pliocene – Pleistocene Boundary, about 2.6 million years ago. The sea off Cape Agulhas is still notorious for winter storms and mammoth rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves), which can range up to 30 m. (98.5 feet), being capable to sink even the largest modern ships. Cape Agulhas (from the Portuguese words Cabo das Agulhas meaning Cape of Needles) is the geographic southern tip of the 99

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African continent, on the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Historically, the cape has been known to sailors as a major hazard on the traditional clipper route. It was most commonly known in English as Cape Lagullas until the 20th century. But, marine geoscientists from James Cook University have recently discovered another bigger Pleistocene slide. Around 302 000 years ago, a ridge near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef collapsed. The massive submarine landslide caused by this, scattered debris for miles and triggered a sizeable tsunami. The remains of that ancient slip, known as the Gloria Knolls Slide (knoll is a debris field of large rocks), were discovered 75 km (46 mi) off the north Queensland coast, and at the bottom of the Queensland Trough—a vast basin that runs adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef. The sediment samples took from a knoll at a depth of 1170 m. (3840 feet) contained fossilized corals that helped scientists to date the event. The rocks unleased were 32 km3 (8 mi3) of mass, about thirty times the volume of sediment contained in Australia’s famed Uluru sandstone monolith, also known as Ayers Rock.

Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s arid "Red Centre" in Australia, Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s arid "Red Centre". The nearest large town is Alice Springs, 450 km (280 mi) away. Uluru is sacred to indigenous Australians and is thought to have started forming around 550 million years ago. It’s within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Image Credit: User:Huntster - Modification of Image:Uluru (Helicopter view).jpg. Pubic Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The world’s biggest prehistoric landslide, discovered so far on land, took place in southwestern Iran, and it is named the Saidmarreh landslide. The landslide is located on the Kabir Kuh anticline (= slope downwards from the crest), at 33° north latitude, 47.65° east longitude. The slide debris dammed the Karkheh River, causing a large lake to form behind the dam, 100

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where up to one hundred and fifty meters of sediment accumulated on its bottom. The lake then breached the dam and eroded a channel through it. The landslide has a volume of 20 km3 (about 4.8 mi3), a depth of 300 m. (384 feet), a travel distance of 14 km (8.7 mi) and a width of 5 km (3.11 mi). Thus, about 50 billion tons of rock moved in this single event! Probably, the triggering mechanism was an earthquake that took place around 10 370 ± 120 years ago.

The image above shows that this is essentially a dip slope failure on a tectonic ridge – in other words, the landslide came off along an inclined bedding plane. The weakest parts of the rock mass are mostly limestone with some marl. The maximum fall height was about 1600 m. (5249 feet) according to Harrison and Falcon (1938). Image Credit: Shoaei, Z. and Ghayoumian, J. 1998. Seimareh landslide, the largest complex slide in the world In: Moore D and Hungr O (Eds) EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR ENGINEERING GEOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, PROCEEDINGS, VOLS 1-5, 1337-1342. J. V. Harrison and N. L. Falcon 1938. An Ancient Landslip at Saidmarreh in Southwestern Iran. The Journal of Geology, 46 [3], 296-309. Image Source: https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2009/07/03/the-biggestlandslide-of-them-all-saidmareh-iran/

Far to the North, the Köfels landslide (Tirol, Austria) is recognized as the largest landslide in the crystalline Alps. The event took place in the famous valley of Ötz, where the mummy of Ötzi was found in September 1991, on the border between Austria and Italy; he is Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, dated to the Chalcolithic /Copper Age Europeans. After the event, the mountain Tauferberg was lowered by more than 200 101

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m. (656 feet), by the collapse. Geologists claim that this event took place around 7800 Before Current Era. In total, four large landslides within the crystalline rocks of the eastern Alps have been investigated since 1997. This geological event has been also correlated to the Köfels impact event. A cuneiform clay tablet, which had puzzled scholars for over one hundred and fifty years, has been deciphered for the first time. The tablet seems to be a Sumerian observation of an asteroid (comet?) which could have impacted at Köfels, Austria. The asteroid was over 1 km (0.62 mi) in diameter, its original orbit being around the Sun, of an Aten type, close to the Earth. This trajectory explains why there is no crater at Köfels. It is known also as 'Sodom and Gomorrah' asteroid because it is related to the legendary destruction, by sulphur and salt fire rain, of the two sinful biblical cities in the Dead Sea area; the event was described in Genesis, throughout the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, as well as in the Quran and other ancient religious texts.

Mount Sodom, Israel, showing the so-called "Lot's Wife" pillar. Image Credit: Wilson4469 - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The tablet is dated to 700 Before Current Era, and it is stored at the British Museum’s cuneiform clay tablet collection (no K8538, known also as ‘the Planisphere’). It was found by Henry Layard in the remains of the library in the royal place at Nineveh in the mid-19th century. Today, it is thought to be a copy of notes made by a Sumerian astronomer watching the night sky of his own time, who referred to the asteroid. Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, between the two rivers, in the valleys of Tigris and Euphrates, in modern-day southern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Modern scientists used archaeoastronomical simulation programmes in their computers to recreate the night sky thousands of years ago. They 102

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estimated that the asteroid was been seen shortly before dawn on June 29, in the year 3123 Before Current Era (in Julian calendar). About half the symbols on the tablet have survived and half of those refer to the asteroid. The other symbols record the positions of constellations and clouds. Nevertheless, the radiocarbon dating of wood buried by the landslide indicates that this impact event took place four millennia later than the geological phenomenon. Finally, a huge landslide damned the Yellow River (also known as Huang He). It is the second longer river in Asia and the sixth longest river system in the world; its basin was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization; it is responsible for several deadly floods. The lake that was formed then was filling up for up to nine months before toppling over the dam. It caused a flood that lasted for more than two generations. It was the largest on Earth in the past 10 000 years.

The Five Kings of the Water Immortals: Yu the Great, Xiang Yu, Ao the son of Han Zhuo, Wu Zixu, and Qu Yuan, in a shrine at the Anping Tianhou Temple in Tainan on Taiwan. Image Credit: Pbdragonwang- Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

That phenomenon was known as the Great Flood. The event took place around 1920 Before Current Era, in Jishi Gorge of the Qinghai Province in the northwest of China. The legend claimed that the flood started during the reign of the Emperor Yao. Later on, the Emperor Yu the Great, emerged as a hero when he accomplished to tame the phenomenon by leading dredging work (dredging is the form of excavation carried out underwater or partially underwater, in shallow waters, to keep waterways and ports navigable and clear the silty beds of rivers, by gathering up

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bottom sediments and transporting it elsewhere). Nevertheless, his reign is dated back to the third millennium Before Current Era. On the other hand, coastal areas on rivers deltas are extremely prone to sedimentation (deltaic alluvium), because they are environments where geological and human by-products gradually accumulate. They are also transitive zones between fluvial (of the rivers) and marine (of the sea) ecosystems. During Holocene, the mean temperatures increased, the rainfall patterns changed, and the deposition of alluvial sediments was intense- to the height of 5 m. (16.40 feet) - in the riverine valleys. Gradually, the big deltas worldwide (Nile, Euphrates, Tigris, Huan Ho, Han, Yangtze, Ganges), have been formed, which are the most fertile ecosystems of our planet. Holocene is the current geological epoch and warm period. It started around 9650 Before Current Era. During Holocene all the major civilizations of our planet have been flourished. Now, let us understand few difficult terms that are related to these hydrogeological phenomena. Alluvium (from the Latin word alluvius and alluere, meaning to wash against) is soil or sediments deposited by a river or other running water, typically made up of a variety of materials, such as fine particles of silt and clay, and larger particles of sand and gravel as well. The amount of solid matter carried by a large river is enormous, for example, Mississippi River annually carries 406 million tons of sediment to the sea, Huang He 796 million tons, and Po River, 67 million tons. Colluvium is the loose bodies of sediment that have been deposited or built up at the bottom of a low-grade slope or against a barrier on that slope, and they have been transported by gravity. Avalanches, mudslides and landslides are processes that deposit colluvium. It normally takes the shape of humps at the base of mountains or of fan. These areas are important for archaeology and soil science. Ancient sites can be preserved beneath colluvium. Eluvium or eluvial deposits happen after the transport of soil material from upper layers of soil to lower levels by downward precipitation of water across soil horizons. Illuvium is the material displaced across a soil profile, from one layer to another one, by the action of rainwater; the transport of the material may be either mechanical or chemical.

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Alluvial Fan in southern Iran. Image from NASA's from TERRA satellite. Image created by Jesse Allen, using data from NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey, based on interpretation provided on the ASTER Project Science Imagery Gallery Website. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36041 Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Australian geologist and professor Claudio Vita-Finzi, in 1969, when he was studying the Mediterranean valleys, made a very interesting observation. He discovered the alluvial sequences, which later have been known as Older and Younger Fill in geoarchaeology. It is about two major alluvial episodes in the Mediterranean valleys and plains, during the Pleistocene glacial stages and Roman to early Byzantine Era, when a new and fertile silt filled the river valleys. Those processes have been enhanced by other regional geological phenomena and local human interventions (for example, the Voidomatis River in northwestern Greece, and the valley of Eurotas, where the Spartans - and the heroic Leonidas - lived, in Laconia, southeast Peloponnesus, respectively). The circum-Mediterranean area is an interesting case of constantly changing coastal landscapes. Ancient authors (Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Strabo, Pausanias, and Titus Livius) had been aware of these coastal changes and of their repeated transformative impact on human societies. Marine regression and transgression (when areas which were underwater, are then exposed above the sea level / when the flooding from the sea covers previously exposed land) affected the prosperity and longevity of the ancient cities. Well-known are the examples of ancient Greek harbours in Mediterranean, like Piraeus, Thessaloniki and Ephesus. 105

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During the last decades, the extended geoarchaeological surveys have demonstrated repeated changes in the coastlines of the eastern Mediterranean during the Holocene.

Pebbles mosaic in a Pella house atrium (ancient Macedonia, northern Greece). Image Credit: Brian Donovan – Own Work. Public Domain. Image Credit: Wikipedia. Bust of Alexander the Great, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Image Credit: Gunnar Bach Pedersen - Self-photographed. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

For example, ancient Pella (the historical capital of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon from the late 5th century Before Current Era onwards; it replaced the older palace-city of Aigai, the famous Vergina; it was the birthplace of Alexander the Great) was a coastal city (built on the former island of Phacos). It was a strategic port connected to the Thermaic Gulf by a navigable inlet. Later on, during the Hellenistic Era, it was turned into a promontory. During the Late Roman Period (the Roman Imperial Period is a chronological term used in both historiography and archaeology of Europe; the 4th and 5th century Current Era) it was inland, at 30 km (19 mi) from the nearest coast. And now, let us speak a bit about as ‘the Greek Pompei’ according to their excavators. The famous Helike (Helike was in antiquity a common proper name for the constellation of Ursa Major and known also as the “willow-nymph” – the nurse of baby Zeus in Crete) was built on the coastal plain of Achaia, between the Selinous and Kerynites rivers, on the south coast of the Gulf of Corinth in Greece. During the summer of 2001, a scientific team, directed by the Greek archaeologist Dr. Dora Katsonopoulou and Dr. Steven Soter from USA, discovered the first traces of the Classical Greek city of Helike, although the first offshore expedition (Helike Project) had taken place in 1988. They also discovered its prehistoric predecessor, an entire Early Bronze Age town 106

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(mainly during the 4th / 3rd millennium Before Current Era), previously unsuspected, and evidently submerged in the same coastal plain some two thousand years earlier. In 2003, the World Monuments Fund included Helike in its ‘2004 List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites’, in order to protect the Classical and Early Bronze Age sites from destruction by a new railroad that would run over them.

A coin from Helike. Image Credit: Jolle~commonswiki (talk | contribs). This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less. Image Source: Wikipedia. Three-dimensional morpho-tectonic sketch map (not in scale) of the Helike delta plain showing the location of ancient Helike city between the Helike (HF) and Aigion (AF) active faults. (P): Poseidon statue, (F): fault. After George Ferentinos and others, The Disappearance of Helike-Classical Greece—New Remote Sensing and Geological Evidence, 2015(7), pp. 1263-1278, figure 2; doi:10.3390/rs70201263. Open access article, CC BY 4.0

Later on, the excavators detected also the Archaic and Classical, Roman and Byzantine settlements in this highly unstable environment. Ancient inhabitants lived in a very dangerous area with high rates of sedimentation, active seismicity of the Helike fault, phenomena of soil liquefaction, uplift and subsistence of the Helike’s delta. Although a large portion of local population died after the earthquake and the tsunami of the winter of 373 Before Current Era, the higher areas of the polis continued to be used during the Hellenistic Period (after the death of Alexander the Great, between 332 and 31 Before Current Era). The event was so catastrophic that the temple of Apollo at Delphi was also destructed. Some scholars believe that the whole story gave birth to the legend of Atlantis. 107

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Ancient authors wrote about this notorious disaster (Aristotle, Diodorus, Ovid, Pausanias, and Aelian). The coastal cities of Boura and Helike along with the temple of Helikonian Poseidon (the patron god of Helike was Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea and earthquakes), submerged under the sea after a strong seismic shock. The local ferrymen said that a bronze Poseidon stood erect in the strait/inland lagoon, holding in one hand a hippocampus; it was very dangerous, indeed, to those fishing with nets. But the case of Helike is also very interesting because it was caused in fact by the phenomenon of seismic liquefaction. The Greek philosopher Aristotle described first this phenomenon and recognized the interdependence between the qualities of soils and their behaviour during seismic events (for example, for the areas around the Hellespont, Achaia, Euboea and Sicily). He also related this complex geo-phenomenon to the earthquakes. All these geological and historical criteria had been used millennia later, in the 20th century Current Era. In modern Soil Mechanics, the term ‘liquefied’ was first used by Hazen in 1920.

Some effects of liquefaction in modern buildings. “Niigata Earthquake, 1964,” Japan National Committee on Earthquake Engineering, Proceedings of the 3rd World Conference in Earthquake Engineering, Volume III, pp s.78-s.105. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Liquefaction is the process of loose soil acting like a liquid during an earthquake, becoming wobbly like jelly, like quicksand. It occurs when water enters the sandy soil and loosens it. Earthquakes, volcanoes and manmade constructions like gas and water lines are the triggering mechanisms behind this extremely dangerous phenomenon. Some areas

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are more prone to this, like stream beds, beaches, dunes, and areas where windblown silt (loess) and sand accumulated. Unfortunately, all these areas were the first choice for people to settle in the prehistoric and historic past. Apart from Helike and Boura, Pliny, Seneca, Lucretius and Ovid wrote about other cities which have been absorbed by the sea (sunken in the sea). The case of Keos Island (modern Tzia, Cyclades, Aegean Archipelago) is widely known because the sea suddenly tore off 10 km of land “with many persons on them”. This means that the 4/5 of the island between the northern coast of the island and Euboea had been submerged in a catastrophic event. Likewise, other places had been devoured by the sea in ancient times in Mediterranean, like half of the city of Tyndaris in northeastern Sicily. Pliny recorded a landslide of the 1st century Current Era, in which part of the town fell away into the sea 280 m. (919 feet) below the steep cliffs, and Tantalis (initially known as the Hittite Zippasla and later known as Magnesium at Sipylum; the capital of ancient Lydia – Asia Minor) in western Turkey. The powerful city was flooded after a strong earthquake. Archaeologists claim that today it lies underneath the now dried-up Lake Saloe. The British archaeologist Peter James proposed that Tantalis was the original Atlantis. According to the traditional story, as told by the Athenian poet Solon in the 6th century Before Current Era and repeated by Plato, in the 4th century Before Current Era, the fabulously wealthy Atlantis was destroyed by earthquake and flood because its rulers, the successors of Atlas, had offended the gods.

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8. CYCLONES, TORNADOES, HURRICANES AND STORMS = AIR + WATER In Meteorology, cyclone is a large-scale air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure (as elevation on Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surface increases, there is less overlying atmospheric mass, so atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing elevation). Weather fronts mark the boundary between two masses of air of different temperature, humidity and densities, and are associated with the most prominent meteorological phenomena. The largest low-pressure systems are polar vortices and extra tropical cyclones of the largest scale. Cyclones have also been seen on extraterrestrial planets, such as Mars and Neptune. The low-pressure center of a tropical cyclone is a surprisingly calm area usually about 32 to 64 km (20 to 40 mi) wide, and it is called the eye of the cyclone. The way the winds rotate around this eye is influenced by Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rotation (known as the Coriolis Effect): counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern. Usually the strongest winds blow just around the eye in the ring of thunderstorms called the eyewall. The clouds forming around the outside of the storm create its spiral rainbands.

Cyclone over Yemen. Photo by NASA on Unsplush. Image Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/i9w4Uy1pU-s

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On the other hand, scientists use various words to describe similar phenomena. So, in our planet, there are tropical cyclones or tropical storms, typhoons or hurricanes, depending on strength and location. Cyclone is a type of low-pressure system which generally forms in the tropics. While some, particularly those that affect populated areas, are regarded as highly destructive, tropical cyclones are considered as an important part of the atmospheric circulation system, which moves heat from the equatorial region toward the higher latitudes. Tropical cyclones have different names around the world. Most tropical cyclones form in a worldwide band of thunderstorm activity known as the Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). They are classified into three main groups: tropical depressions, tropical storms, and a third group whose name depends on the region. Especially, the term cyclone is used to describe winds exceeding 117 km/h (kilometre per hour or 73 mi. per hour), is called: (1) hurricane in the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, North Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, and the South Pacific Ocean east of 160°E, (2) typhoon in the northwestern Pacific Ocean west of the dateline, (3) severe tropical cyclone in the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160°E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90°E, (4) severe cyclonic storm in the North Indian Ocean, (5) tropical cyclone in the Southwest Indian Ocean. Hurricanes are categorized on a 1-to-5 scale according to the strength of their winds, using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale; lately scientists think of adding a Category 6 to the scale. A Category 1 storm has the lowest wind speeds, while a Category 5 hurricane has the strongest. These are relative terms, because lower category storms can sometimes cause greater damage than higher category storms, depending on where they strike and the hazards they bring. In fact, tropical storms can also produce significant damage and loss of life, mainly due to flooding. The U.S. National Hurricane centre classifies hurricanes of Category 3 or above as Major Hurricanes. The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre classifies typhoons/a strong Category 4 storm as Super Typhoons. There is also a polar counterpart to the tropical cyclone, called an arctic cyclone. Finally, tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air, in contact with the ground, and clouds bases, and they are also move cyclonically (viewed from above). Multiple-vortex tornadoes are types of tornado in which two or more columns of spinning air rotate about their own axis and at the same time around a common center. They form usually in intense events. 111

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Tornado. Image Source: https://www.photosforclass.com/search/tornado

■ April 30, 1054 Current Era: Rosdalla tornado; Earliest known European tornado near Kilbeggan, Ireland ■ October 23, 1091 Current Era: London tornado; Earliest known and perhaps strongest British tornado ■ July 30, 1119 Current Era: Vyšehrad tornado; Earliest known and perhaps strongest Czech tornado ■ January 16, 1219 Current Era: First Saint Marcellus’ Flood; storm tide sweeping the coasts of Friesland (northern territories of Netherlands) and Gronigen (northwestern territories of Netherlands) ; more than 36 000 victims ■ August 15 -16, 1281 Current Era: Hakata Bay typhoon; it wiped out the Mongol fleet of Kublai Khan (more than 4000 vessels in total) during their second and final attempt at invading Japan, as they lost up to 75% of their troops and supplies; it is considered to be the earliest event for which the word kamikaze (‘divine wind’) is widely used ■ 1287 Current Era: Santa Lucia’s flood. Storm surge, Netherlands; up to 80 000 victims ■ January 16 - 17, 1362 Current Era: Second Saint Marcellus’ Flood or Grote Mandrenke; storm tide sweeping northwestern Europe (England, the Netherlands, northern Germany and southern Denmark); more than twenty-five thousand victims; impact on the Dutch-German-Danish coastline ■ 1530 Current Era: Saint Felix’s flood. Storm surge, Netherlands; more than one hundred thousand victims 112

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■ September 23, 1551 or 1556 (sources conflict) Current Era; the Grand Harbour Malta tornado; about six hundred fatalities; amongst the deadliest European tornadoes ■ 1588 Current Era; The Spanish Armada storms before the Irish coast; the Spanish fleet, known also as the "Great and Most Fortunate Navy" of 130 ships, was sent by Philip II king of Spain to invade England; due to storms in the Bay of Biscay, then various strategic mistakes and a bad weather, more than twenty thousand lives were lost and the Spanish fleet was defeated. The late 16th century and especially the year 1588, was marked by unusually strong North Atlantic storms, perhaps associated with a high accumulation of polar ice off the coast of Greenland, a characteristic phenomenon of the Little Ice Age (cooler mean temperatures between 1300 and 1850, depending on the local areas where it had been observed)

The Spanish Armada off the English coast. Created: between circa 1620 and 1625 date. Image credits: Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen - www.rijksmuseum.nl. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

■ Great Storm of 1703 Current Era (November 26-27 according to older calendar, and December, 7-8 according to modern calendar); the most severe storm or natural disaster ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain; the first weather event to be a news story on a national scale, covered by journalists ■ Great Hurricane of 1780 Current Era (October 10 - 16); known also as Huracán San Calixto, the Great Hurricane of the Antilles, or the 1780 Disaster; 20 000 to 23 000 victims; probably the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record ■ Coringa Cyclone in southeastern India (November 25, 1839 Current Era); about 20 000 fatalities; storms in the Bay of Bengal actually account for seven of the ten deadliest hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones in recorded 113

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history; Henry Piddington, an official of the British East India Company, coined the term cyclone sometime around 1840, conceptualizing the “swirling circle”, after looking at the destruction caused by the 1789 and 1839 events ■ Great Bakarganj Cyclone in India, Bengal area, now in Bangladesh (October 31, 1876 Current Era); about 200 000 victims; half of the deaths resulted from disease and starvation related to the flooding ■ October 8, 1881 Current Era; Haiphong typhoon, Vietnam; three hundred thousand fatalities; one of the deadliest cyclonic storms in history ■ Galveston Hurricane of September 8, 1900 Current Era; Texas U.S.A.; 6000 to 12 000 fatalities. Modern scientists know that catastrophic hurricanes would have the capability to drive sand over beach barriers and into coastal lakes and marshes. This phenomenon is called overwash event and it is studied by a relatively new scientific field called Paleotempestology. It studies evidence of these phenomena in ancient times, both historical documentary records and geological proxies, for example, deposits preserved in the sediments of coastal lakes and marshes, microfossils such as pollen contained in coastal sediments, wave-generated or flood-generated sedimentary structures or deposits (rocks which show evidence of a strong storm, occurring in shallow-water conditions, called tempestites) in marine or lagoonal sediments, storm wave deposited shell, sand and shell and pure sand. Using radiocarbon analysis and other dating techniques, researchers work to develop a chronology of prehistoric storms in order to analyse any emerging patterns or cycles. Moreover, markers in corals, stalagmites and tree rings can also be used. In the case of the Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes of catastrophic magnitude (a Category 4 or Category 5) directly hit each location only approximately ten to twelve times in the past 3800 years. Respectively, the tsunami-borne sediments within Banda Aceh limestone Cave - in the western part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, near the village of Lhong, 35 km (22 mi) south of Banda Aceh, now 200 m. (656 feet) away from the shore - present a sequence of eleven sand layers. They reflect such events from about 7400 to 2900 Before Current Era.

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Photomosaic of Trench 1 showing location of the 11 sand beds, Aâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;K. The upper layer is from the 2004 tsunami. After Charles M. Rubin and others, 2017, figure 4b, page 4 Nature Communications. Image Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms16019.pdf

The whole research (led by Professor Charles Rubin - from the Earth Observatory of Singapore â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and his team and collaborators) is also focused on more recent events in order to understand the periodicities of deadly tsunamis in the area, like the notorious 2004 event. The 2004 devastating tsunami washed the stratigraphy of the last 2900 years!

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9. FLOODING AND OTHER WATERINDUCED HAZARDS = TOO MUCH WATER Since Prehistory, humans have lived by the seas and rivers for a variety of reasons; without human populations near natural bodies of water, there would be no concern for floods. A flood happens when an area of land, usually low-lying, is covered with water. Periodic floods occur naturally on many rivers, forming an area known as the flood plain. Heavy rain, sometimes combined with melting snow, is the main triggering mechanism. Coastal areas are occasionally flooded by high tides caused by severe winds on ocean surfaces, or by tsunami. Monsoon rainfalls can cause disastrous flooding in some equatorial areas, and hurricanes can cause devastating flooding (storm surge and/or large amounts of precipitation), while heavy Atlantic storms push the water to the coasts of Europe. Undersea earthquakes, eruptions of island volcanoes that form a caldera and marine landslips on continental shelves may all engender a tidal wave that causes destruction to coastal areas. Many areas of the world experience periodic inundation or are prone to flooding due to local geomorphological and hydroclimatic conditions. Just remember, though, that multiple secondary factors increase vulnerability to flooding, such as growing population, denser occupancy of flood plains and other flood-prone areas, along with the expansion of unwise forms of watershed land use. Floods are the most frequent type of disaster worldwide. Especially, Sea Level Rise (SLR), a local or global event, reflects the interaction between various parameters and characterizes many stages in the geological history of our planet. ■ Between 450 000 and 200 000 years ago: Dam-busting 'mega flood' in Britain ■ About 17 000 – 9000 years ago (other scientists date it between 17 000 and 15 000 years ago: Chepalyga’s Flood ■ After 12 000 years ago: The latest Missoula flood

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■ Lake Agassiz' major drainage reorganization events: about 13 000 years ago = a possible triggering mechanism for the Younger Dryas Stadial (about 10 000 years ago) ■ 11 8000 - 11 7000 years ago = a global hydroclimatic event; huge flood of water poured out of the Amazon basin into the Atlantic Ocean ■ About 8200 years ago: Doggerland overflooding ■ 6th millennium Before Current Era: The Black Sea Deluge. In the Babylonian Kings Lists, 3600 years after the Great Flood; the event is now considered as a significant accelerator for the Neolithization (local cultures entered the Neolithic Epoch) in the southern Pontic Zone (areas in the south Black Sea coast) ■ Excavations in Iraq have revealed evidence (flood stratum = soil from that era with traces of flooding) of localized flooding at Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara, Iraq) and various other Sumerian cities, dated to about 2900 Before Current Era ■ 1887 Current Era: Yellow River (Huang He) flood, China; Estimation of victims ranges from 700 000 to six million ■ May 31, 1889 Current Era: Johnstown Flood, Pennsylvania, USA; 2200 casualties; one of the worst floods in 19th’s century USA.; the one with the highest death toll in its entire history; first intervention of the American Red Cross in the aftermath of a disaster. Let us return to the mega flood events of the past and explain a bit how they happened. 500 000 years ago, Britain was connected to mainland Europe by a broad chalk ridge, which spanned what we now call the Dover Strait. But somehow that ridge was destroyed, forever separating England and France, sometime between 200 000 and 450 000 years ago. The Weald-Artois Ridge, as it is called now, was overfloaded by a monumental torrent that gushed from an overfilling glacial lake, which was damming on its northern side. This vast glacial lake occupied most of what is now the southern North Sea; Back then, it gathered the waters from the melting glaciers to the North and constantly fed by the Rhine and the Thames rivers. That entire event is still detectable on the chalky ridge of the British side (the Seven Sisters cliffs in Sussex and the white cliffs of Dover).

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White Cliffs of Dover. Image Credit: Immanuel Giel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Own Work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

According to the researchers, one million cubic metres of water per second flowed for several months to carve the seafloor valleys, some of which are up to 10 km (6.21 mi) wide and 50 m. (164 feet) deep. The estimated flow rate was 100 times the average of the Mississippi river today, and 1000 times that of the Rhine. Eventually, the water of the mega flood would have flowed out to the Atlantic, but, later on, sea level rise during the Interglacial Warm Period (about 125 000 years ago) would have filled again the valleys gouged by the mega flood to leave Britain an island till now. A prehistoric pro-glacial lake in Western Montana (known as the Missoula Lake), the largest ice-dammed lake known to have ever occurred, as big as Lakes Erie and Ontario combined. The specialized studies in the area, revealed the cataclysmic flood deposits of the repeated events during the Pleistocene and Holocene (recording events as old as 1.1 million years ago). Periodically at the end of the Last Ice Age, between 15 000 and 13 000 years ago, the lake had a maximum depth of 800 m. (2625 feet). It measured about 7770 km2 (3000 mi2) and contained about 2100 km3 (504 mi3) of water, half the volume of Lake Michigan. The height of the ice dam typically approached 610 m. (2001 feet), flooding the valleys of western Montana approximately 320 km (199 mi) eastward.

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Glacial Lake Columbia (west) and Glacial Lake Missoula (east) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Northwestern USA, are shown south of Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The areas inundated in the Columbia and Missoula floods are shown in red. Image Credit: Wpdms_nasa_topo_missoula_floods.jpg. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

These last series of events were the notorious Missoula Floods (Spokane Floods or Bretz Floods), of a cataclysmic nature, sweeping periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge, approximately 40 times during a 2000 year- period. They had produced canyons and other large geologic features through those cataclysmic events. Thundering waves and chunks of ice tore away soils and mountainsides, deposited giant ripple marks, the flood waters having run with a force equal to 60 Amazon Rivers. Car-sized boulders can still be seen today, even 750 km (466 mi) away! These events were one of the largest floods in the history of our planet. Back, now, let us learn about the legendary Doggerland. Its name had been given by archaeologists and geologists to describe a former landmass in the southern part of the North Sea, which stretched from Britain's eastern coast across to the present coast of the Netherlands, and the western coasts of Germany and Denmark. It once connected the island of Great Britain to mainland Europe during and after the Last Ice Age, surviving until about 6500 or 6200 Before Current Era. That landmass was gradually being swallowed by rising sea levels. It was probably a rich habitat with human habitation in the Mesolithic period. First evidence of human presence in that tundra saw light in the early 20th century. At about 8000 Before Current Era, the northfacing coastal area of Doggerland had a coastline of lagoons, salt marshes, mudflats, beaches, inland streams, rivers, marshes, and sometimes lakes. It 119

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may have been the richest hunting, fowling and fishing ground in whole Europe during the Mesolithic. Water abounded, fish, birds and other game would have been plentiful, the lakes and marshes would also have provided reeds for basketry. But, apart from the existent hypothesis of the gradual flooding of Doggerland, the new hypothesis suggests that the final disaster came from the North, in the form of a tsunami, after the giant Storegga landslide around 6200 ± 50 before current era. In the 1990s, Professor Bryony Coles named the area ‘Doggerland’, producing a series of speculative maps of the area. In fact, a skull fragment of a Neanderthal, being over 40 000-year-old, was recovered from the Middeldiep, some 16 km (10 mi) off the coast of Zeeland, and was exhibited in Leiden in 2009. The slide that caused the tsunami responsible for the submergence of Doggerland, is considered as one of the largest submarine slides on Earth. The tsunami deposits contain samples of the moss Hylocomium splendens; since it haves its own characteristic growth cycle, it can confirm that the event occurred in late autumn.

Hylocomium splendens, also known as Splendid Feather Moss or Step Moss or Stair Step Moss. It is a perennial moss (plant that lives more than two years) with a widespread distribution in the boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere 50° to 70°N. Image Credit: Walter Siegmund (talk) – Own Work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Additionally, during the Pleistocene (the geological epoch which lasted from about 2.588 million years ago to 11 700 years ago, with repeated glaciations; the end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the Last Glacial Period and also with the end of the Paleolithic Age), there was one vast Ponto-Aralian Mediterranean, which was extending from eastern Europe to western central Asia. The lowest part of that huge 120

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reservoir was probably situated somewhat more than 65 m. (213 feet) above sea level. Into this basin, the waters of the largest rivers of Europe (Danube, Volga) and a few great rivers of Asia (Oxus, Jaxartes) with all their intermediate affluents (affluent or tributary is a river when it does not flow directly into the sea but into a larger stream or lake) poured. Furthermore, it received the overflow of Lake Balkash (then much larger) and, probably, that of the inland sea of Mongolia. At that time, the level of the Sea of Aral stood at least 20 m. (65.61 feet) higher than it does at present, but the Black Sea, the Caspian and Aral seas were already separated. About 17 000 to 9000 years ago (other scientists date it between 17 000 and 15 000 years ago), the Chepalyga’s Flood - between the Caspian and the Black Sea, happened. The event had a great impact on the Mesolithic cultures in the northern Pontic Zone; modern scientists talk about the Epoch of Extremal Inundations (EEI) in the vast areas of Pontic – Caspian steppes.

The steppe extends roughly from the Dniepr River to the Ural Mountains or 30° to 55° east longitude, and from the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountain in the south to the temperate forest and taiga in the north, or 45° to 55° north latitude. Image Credit: User Dbachmann – Own Work. CC BY-SA 3.0 Image Source: Wikipedia

In parallel, the Black Sea case involves, in fact, three major phases: (1) during 9000-8000 Before Current Era, the Black Sea outflew toward the Northern Aegean (2) during 8000-6000 Before Current Era a rise in rainfalls resulted in a rising run-off, turning the salt waters of the Aegean Sea brackish – similar to Ambrakikos Gulf in western Greece and Black Sea 121

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today (brackish water has more salt than the fresh water but less than sea water); (3) at about 5600 Before Current Era, the Aegean waters broke the natural â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;barrierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the Bosporus and overflooded the Black Sea, which by that time had a 15 m (49.21 feet) lower sea-level than the Aegean. The Black Sea was till then a vast freshwater lake like the Caspian Sea. In 1997, the geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman (Columbia University) proposed the model of a massive flood through the Bosporus. The Black Sea event was characterised by a 50 000 m3 (almost 120 000 mi3) per day water input and a 15 cm (0.49 foot) per day sea level rise! This has led some scientists to associate this catastrophe with prehistoric flood myths (it is now as the Deluge Hypothesis).

Map of the Black Sea with bathymetry map and surrounding. Image Credit: Giorgi BaLakhadze at English Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

A team of marine scientists led by Robert Ballard detected the ancient shoreline, freshwater snail shells, drowned river valleys, toolworked timbers offshore and man-made structures on the seabed, off the Black Sea coast of modern Turkey. New evidence shows, also, the past hydroclimatic fluctuations (how climate influence the water cycles) and the salinity (the amount of salt dissolved in a body of water) of the Sea of Marmara in relation with both Aegean and Black Sea... Another team of scientists from the University of Leeds announced on August 2010, that it had discovered the Black Sea undersea River (a current of particularly saline water flowing from Mediterranean through the Bosporus Strait to the Black Sea). It is considered as the first of its kind 122

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in the world. It is about 350 times greater than the River Thames and 10 times greater than Europe's biggest river, the Rhine. Similar channel has been suspected to run from Amazon River to Atlantic Ocean, but this one was detected through sonar research. On the other hand, all of you should know the famous and romantic city of Venezia in Italy. It is known as the “floating city”. Venice and its lagoon in the Giulia – Venezia region, were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The entire city is an architectural masterpiece in which even the smallest building contains works by some of the world's greatest artists. It was founded in the 5th century Current Era, when refugees from the Po Estuary fled foreign invaders. In later centuries, Venice became part of the Byzantine Empire, then an independent citystate and a major maritime power. Venice extends across one hundred and eighteen small islands in a marshy saltwater lagoon at the northwestern corner of the Adriatic Sea. A series of barrier islands protect this low-lying city from ’normal’ storm surges. But various phenomena, like subsidence, storm surge flooding, tidal flooding, and sea level rise in the Adriatic Sea, even oil gas extraction offshore, not too far from the Laguna Veneta, all cause repeated episodes of flooding. They are induced either by nature (local geomorphology, wind patterns, seas, moon due to combination of the attractive luni-solar forces with the Moon in perigee) or by man himself… The phenomenon is called Acqua Alta (high waters) by the locals.

L'Acqua Alta at Saint Marc place in Venice. Image Credit: EVenise. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image source: Wikipedia

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During the notorious flood of November 4, 1966, waters rose to almost two metres above sea level, turning that flood episode into the worst flood in the history of the city. In the past, the phenomenon increased a bit during the period between 1282 and 1342 Current Era. Furthermore, in the period which culminated in 1424, 1433 and 1442 Current Era, the frequency of exceptional tides was increased. The next maximum in flooding surges occurrence was in the first half of the 16th century (1416-1534 Current Era); another maximum was between 1727 and 1805 Current Era, because the scirocco wind prevailed. Finally, an impressive increase in the flooding frequency has been found since 1914 Current Era, during the excavation of the first deep channel, and then more and more accelerated because of the above-mentioned human activity. As time went by, the historic centre of Venice and the entire lagoon have become more and more exposed to flooding. Today, with a tidal level of +60 cm (2 feet) on the marigram of Punta Della Salute, water begins to invade Piazza San Marco, one of the lowest areas of the city. With a tide of +2 m. (6.56 feet), 100% of the city is blocked by water and raised wooden walkways must be placed along established pedestrian paths. Thus, Venice provides an interesting example of excellent documentation and close interaction between man and the environment. The city is extremely sensitive to climate changes and could, in the future, risk being fully submerged. Apart from Venice, Florence, another top art treasure city, suffered also tremendous damage due to an unprecedented overflow of the Arno River. We also must keep in our mind that marine and coastal environments (lagoons, river deltas, mangrove landscapes, dunes, fluvial routes, wetlands, islands, shorelines), have a great natural and cultural significance. They are, too, rich in archaeoenvironmental information (how the environment was in the past), which is vital for a huge spectrum of sciences (for example, for Palaeoceanography, Paleoclimatology, Palaeontology, Palaeoecology and Disaster Archaeology). And as we have already explored with Doggerland, parts of many contemporary seas were dry land during Palaeolithic and Mesolithic times and were at the time inhabited. Many remains of these habitations are preserved in the sediments of the seabed. Finally, the preservation 124

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conditions of the remains lying on the sea floor of several seas (for example Baltic and Black Sea) are extremely good. Low salinity, absence of shipworms and a large portion of oxygen-free bottom layers keep organic material intact. Moreover, large dams are constructed in river basins where people have lived for long periods of times, from the prehistoric past to the present. They were very large areas which encompass many cultural regions and tribal or indigenous groups. There is a strong scientific consensus that the construction of dams has led to incalculable loss, destruction and damage of cultural resources, ranging from shrines of local communities to world heritage monuments. The most famous case of the construction of dams is the Aswan High Dam that started in 1953 Current Era, and radically changed our knowledge of Egyptian Archaeology with the Nubia Campaign. Its construction was vital for safeguarding Egypt against increasing water, energy and land demands, as well as floods or droughts. The Abu Simbel temples were two massive rock temples at Abu Simbel, a village in Nubia (southern Egypt, near the border with Sudan). The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites known as the "Nubian Monuments". The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century Before Current Era, during the reign of the Ramesses II, of the 19th dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs. They served as a lasting monument to the king and his queen Nefertari.

The Temple of the goddess Hathor and queen Nefertari, , also known as the Small Temple, after relocation. Image Source: Ad Meskens â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

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The complex was relocated entirely in 1968, on an artificial hill, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. Otherwise, they would have been submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, which was a massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. Similarly, the dam at Akosombo on the Volta River, which created the largest man-made lake in Africa (officially opened in 1966), was a catalyst for Ghanaian Archaeology. Moreover, over the last forty years, the lands impacted by the Siberian hydroelectric projects (Ob, Yenisey, lena, Amur and other rivers and tributaries) have witnessed a tremendous amount of cultural protection and conservation, because monuments of all kinds have been united into a single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cultural and historical heritageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; protected by the state. Finally, the controversial Three Gorges Projects (China), the largest reservoir project in the world, was completed and fully functional as of July 4, 2012 Current Era (except for a ship lift). Unfortunately, its constructors experienced lack of funding, shortage of trained personnel and serious problems related to administrative organization, logistical requirements and political constraints. The lack of an overall research design resulted in the damage and destruction of one thousand and three hundred archaeological and historical sites, along with the total disfiguration of past cultural landscapes.

The Three Gorges Dam in Yangtze River (Sandouping, Hubei Province, China), is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW). Image Credit: Nowozin. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

And now, let us talk a bit about hydrological hazards that destroy the ancient monuments all around the world. When the monuments are in 126

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climates that experience interannual variability (for example hot and cold, dry and humid, rain, snow, freeze cycles, moisturizing winds), in areas that are characterized by intense seismotectonic activity (earthquakes), in cases of uncontrolled human action or total abandonment of the cultural heritage, where there are air pollutants, UV radiation, salt crystallization and biological weathering (colonization by microflora, for example fungi, algae, lichen and bacteria), they suffer short- and long-term damage. These phenomena are often disregarded by heritage managers, even if they play a crucial role in the overall status of the monuments, or by archaeologists, who abandon the sites to their fate without permanent monitoring controls, assessment processes and strategic plans for sustainable tourist development. Weathering mechanisms of stone material (for example, marbles and granites) that are exposed to marine environments are a constant threat to the coastal/island archaeological sites. The monuments of Delos (Cyclades Island, Aegean Archipelago) are damaged basically, by the dissolution and crystallization of salts, occurring in cycles, by a sea spray deposit mechanism.

The Terrace of the Lions, Delos. The island of Delos, near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. It was a holy sanctuary and birthplace of the god Apollo and his sister goddess Artemis. The excavations in the island are among the most extensive in the Mediterranean. Image Credit: Bernard Gagnon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Own work. CC BY-Sa 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Acid Rain, or more precisely acid precipitation, is the word used to describe rainfall that has a pH level (an index in chemistry) of less than 5.6. For the last ten years, this phenomenon has brought destruction in the United States, Canada and parts of Europe. Acid rain is formed when oxides of nitrogen and sulphite, combined with moisture in the 127

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atmosphere, make nitric and sulphuric acids. These acids can be carried away far from their origin. One serious anthropogenic threat for the monuments is related to the atmospheric circulation of SO2, which is released from the combustion of sulphur-containing mineral fuel. Acid rain causes damage on the riverine and lacustrine waters, on the soil and agriculture, as well as on the surface of buildings. Acid rain contributes to the corrosion of metals and to the deterioration and soiling of stone and paint on buildings, statues and other structures of cultural significance. Limestone and marble turn to a crumbling substance called gypsum after their contact with acid. The damage inflicted on cultural objects is especially costly, since a loss of detail seriously depreciates the objects' value to society. Technicians are used to saying that ancient buildings and sculptures in several cities have been more weathered during the last 20 years than in the preceding 2000 years. Generally speaking, water hazards and water-related disasters cause various damages on the agricultural production, the local infrastructures and the communications network. We should not, also, neglect the bioclimatic changes (for example, spread of diseases such as malaria), the food crises, the war conflicts and general societal upheavals. So, they make cultural landscapes to suffer, because the sites and the monuments are destroyed or severely damaged, tourist exploitation is stopped, the communication network is chaotic, the scientific research is blocked, the heritage is vulnerable to illegal activities and restrictions, and constraints are imposed. In addition, the displacement of people who are directly or indirectly affected by those hazards, break the linkage between local populations and their cultural roots, hurting the plurality of identities, cultures and memories.

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10. FAMINES = NO FOOD When we use the term famine, we mean the widespread scarcity of food that can be caused by several factors including war, inflation, crop failure, population imbalance, or government policies. During ancient times, environmental disasters caused extended periods or events of famine; human societies have always been very vulnerable to this phenomenon, because it is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemics, and increased mortality. Famine always goes hand in hand with Humanity and the following indictive catalogue with only few examples, shows that is the commonest of all disasters, the most torturing and the one which is interrelated with all kind of other disasters, too. So, let us go back to legendary times onwards, and read about ancient famines… ■ According to the ancient Egyptian tradition, Osiris came to Egypt to teach people how to plant grain for the first time, because the Egyptians had descended into cannibalism due to a severe famine. The whole of Africa was in a drought cycle at that time. A Mesopotamian legend also speaks of a seven- year-famine and, in the well-known Gilgamesh-Epos, the god Anu gives a prophecy about a seven-year famine. A further Egyptian tale about a long-lasting drought, found in the socalled Book of the Temple, is related to the pharaoh Neferkasokar (late 2nd Dynasty) – ruler possibly only of Lower Egypt, who faced a seven-yearfamine during his reign. So, around 2742 Before Current Era, we know that there was a dimming Sun, intense volcanic activity worldwide, lowest temperatures, drought, crop failure and seven-year famine. Similar phenomena have been described during the reign of 3rd Dynasty’s second pharaoh, Djoser (27th century before Current Era), on the Famine Stela. Nevertheless, some researchers claim that it has been written during the Ptolemaic Dynasty (from 332 to 31 Before Current Era). The stela is an inscription written in Egyptian hieroglyphics found on Sehel Island on the Nile, near Aswan in Egypt. 129

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The Famine Stela, with some carved sections missing. Image Credit: Morburre – Own Work. CC BY-Sa 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia. Joseph Interprets the Dream of Pharaoh (19th Century painting by Jean-Adrien Guignet). Image Credit: Adrien Guignet - http://freechristimages.org. Public Domain (because of age). Image Source: Wikipedia

Around 2200-1950 Before Current Era, again, sources refer to a dimming Sun, cold, drought, crop failure and famine. An account from the First Intermediate Period stated: "All of Upper Egypt was dying of hunger and people were eating their children"! Modern paleoclimatologists connect those descriptions with the climatic event known as the 4.2 kiloyear aridification event or Bond Event 3. It was probably the cause of the collapse both for the Old Kingdom of Egypt and for Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, as well. During 1370 before Current Era, fifty days dimming Sun had been reported. In addition, two years of dust in the air and seven-year famine had also been recorded, during 18th Dynasty’s ninth pharaoh Amenhotep III. Scholars think that the famous story of Joseph and the interpretation of pharaoh’s dreams before the great famine in Egypt was this case. Today, the climate changes that impacted the rise and fall of the Nile River have been called ‘Joseph phenomenon’. ■ A similar motif can be found in ancient Greek tradition with the goddess Demeter, when Ades, the god of Underworld, had kidnapped her beloved daughter Persephone. Then the lamenting mother released her anger on the crops and made the soil barren (wintertime). Persephone was the personification of spring and the fertility of vegetation. Similar myths

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existed in other eastern Mediterranean cultures in the cults of male gods such Adonis, Attis, Osiris and in Minoan Crete.

Hades abducting Persephone, fresco in the small royal tomb at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece. Image Credit: Unknown - from Le Musée absolu, Phaidon, 10-2012. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Crop failure and epidemic were also occurred during the “Minos’ War” in Attica (between the king of Minoan Cretans and the Athenians of the Bronze Age). Another case was the famine and epidemic that had occurred among the Pelasgians (one of the first tribes living on Greek territory since Prehistory). Finally, epidemic and famine decimated Cretans returning home from the Trojan War. The word has been initially found in the Homeric Odyssey (in the rhapsody xv), and the later ‘limus’ (limos in Greek), is found in Hesiod, as he describes hunger as the offspring of Eris or Discord. The modern word famine is from the Latin ‘Fames’, which is the personification of hunger. A poetical description of Fames occurs in Ovid and Virgil who considers it as a monster. ■ 440 Before Current Era: famine in Ancient Rome ■ 357 Before Current Era: famine in ancient Attica ■ 335-325 Before Current Era: prolonged drought in ancient Greece and adjacent famine. Historians such as Tacitus, Suetonius, and Josephus mentioned other famines also during the following centuries ■ 44 Before Current Era: records talk about forest-fires, rains, flooding/dust, cold, drought, crop failure and famine for two years, two months and five days, during the reign of Ptolemy XV Caesarion ■ Between 108 Before Current Era and 1911 Current Era: there were no fewer than 1828 major famines in China!

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■ During 235 Current Era: records talk about forest-fires, rains, flooding/dust, cold, drought, crop failure and famine for one year and fortyfive days, during the reign of Emperor Maximinus ■ Famines in Western Europe were associated with the Fall of Rome and its sack by Alaric I. Between 400 and 800 Current Era, the population of the city of Rome fell by over 90%, mainly because of famines and plagues ■ 639 Current Era: famine in Arabia during the Caliphate of `Umar ibn AlKhattab ■ Between 800 and 1000 Current Era: severe drought killed millions of Maya people with famine and thirst and initiated a cascade of internal collapses that destroyed their civilization ■ Between 875 and 884 Current Era: peasant rebellion in China inspired by famine ■ 927 Current Era: famine in the Byzantine Empire ■ Between 967 and 968 Current Era: severe famine in Egypt, caused by a low flood of the Nile; 600 000 fatalities in and around Al Fustat, which was the capital of Egypt, back then ■ 1022 and 1033 Current Era: great famines in India, in which entire provinces were depopulated ■ 1064-1072 Current Era: seven years' famine in Egypt

Toltec warriors represented by the famous Atlantean figures in Tula (the capital of the Toltec Empire in Mesoamerica, between the fall of the Mayan Teotihuacan and the rise of the Aztec Tenochtitlan). Telamones are carved stone support columns or pillars in the shape of fierce men. In ancient Greece, Atlantes were the equivalent of the Caryatids (the female figures like the ones of Erechtheion Temple on the Athenian Acropolis). Image Credit: Mexico photograph: Luidger (25 December 2004). CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

■ Between 1070 and 1077 Current Era: famine forced the Toltecs to migrate from a stricken region in what is now central Mexico 132

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■ 1230 Current Era: famine in Novgorod ■ Between 1231 and 1232 Current Era: famine in Japan ■ 1235 Current Era: famine in England; 20 000 die in London alone (a total of ninety-five famines in the Middle Ages) ■ Between 1315 and 1317 Current Era: great Famine in Europe ■ 1333 Current Era: famine in Portugal and Spain ■ Between 1344 and 1345 Current Era: great famine in India ■ Between 1396 and 1407 Current Era: the Durga Devi famine in India ■ 1445 Current Era: famine in Korea ■ Between 1450 and 1454 Current Era: famine in Aztec Empire ■ Between 1460 and1461 Current Era: Kanshō famine in Japan ■ Between 1567 and 1570 Current Era: famine in Harar in Ethiopia, combined with plague; Emir of Harar died ■ Between 1574 and 1576 Current Era: famine in Istanbul and Anatolia ■ 1586 Current Era famine in England, which gave rise to the Poor Law system ■ Between 1601 and 1603 Current Era: one of the worst famines in all of Russian history; famine killed as many as 100 000 in Moscow and up to one-third of Tsar Godunov's subjects; same famine killed about half of the Estonian population ■ Between 1618 and 1648 Current Era: famines in Europe caused by Thirty Years' War (one of the most destructive conflicts in human history with eight million fatalities) ■ Between 1630 and 1631 Current Era: Deccan famine in India kills two million people (there was a corresponding famine in Northwest China, eventually causing the Ming dynasty to collapse in 1644) ■ Between 1648 and1660 Current Era: Poland lost an estimated 1/3 of its population due to the wars, famine, and plague ■ Between 1651 and 1653 Current Era: famine throughout much of Ireland during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland ■ 1690s famine in Scotland which may have killed 15% of the population; in France, it killed two million people; in Estonia it killed about 1/5 of Estonian population; in Sweden it killed 80 000 to 100 000 people; in Finland, it wiped out almost 1/3 of the population ■ Between 1702 and 1704 Current Era: famine in Deccan, India, killed two million people ■ Between 1708 and 1711 Current Era: famine in East Prussia killed 41% of its population (250 000 people) 133

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■ Between 1738 and 1756 Current Era: famine in West Africa, half the population of Timbuktu died of starvation ■ Between 1770 and 1771 Current Era: famine in Czech lands killed hundreds of thousands of people ■ 1783 Current Era: famine in Iceland caused by Laki volcanic eruption killed 1/4 of Iceland's population ■ Between 1784 and 1785 Current Era: famine in Tunisia killed up to 1/5 of all Tunisians ■ Between 1788 and 1789 Current Era: the winters were harsh in France and the weather conditions very bad due to strong El Nino cycle and to previous eruption of Laki volcano; the extreme famine lead to the French Revolution ■ Four famines - 1810, 1811, 1846, and 1849 Current Era: - in China claimed nearly forty-five million lives ■ Between 1811 and 1812 Current Era: famine devastated Madrid, taking nearly 20 000 lives ■ After 1815 Tambora eruption, in Indonesia, tens of thousands died of subsequent famine ■ Between 1816 and 1817 Current Era: famine in Europe (during the “Year without a summer”) ■ 1830 Current Era: famine killed almost half the population of Cape Verde ■ 1835 Current Era: famine in Egypt killed 200 000 people

The scene at Skibbereen, West Cork, Ireland, in 1847. From a series of illustrations by Cork artist James Mahony (1810-1879), commissioned by Illustrated London News 1847. Image Credit: James Mahony - http://seanduke.com/2011/08/08/is-there-a-geneticmemory-of-the-irish-famine-the-holocaust/ . Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia 134

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■ 1845-1849 Current Era: Great Irish Famine killed more than one million people ■ 1846 Current Era: famine led to the peasant revolt known as “Maria da Fonte” in the North of Portugal ■ Between 1846 and 1857 Current Era: Highland Potato Famine in Scotland ■ 1866 Current Era: famine in India (Bengal and Orissa); one million perished ■ Between1866 and 1868 Current Era: famine in Finland; about 15% of the entire population died ■ Between 1870 and 1871 Current Era: famine in Persia is believed to have caused the death of 2 million persons ■ Between 1876 and 1879 Current Era: famine in India, China, Brazil, northern Africa, and other countries; famine in northern China killed thirteen million people and twelve to twenty-nine million died in India ■ Between 1888 and1892 Current Era: The Ethiopian Great Famine; about 1/3 of the population died; conditions worsened with cholera outbreaks (1889-1892), a typhus epidemic, and a major smallpox epidemic (18891890) ■ Between 1891 and 1892 Current Era: famine in Russia caused 375 000 to 500 000 deaths. Thus, famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any animal species. The phenomenon can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term or periodical). It usually follows natural catastrophes (for example, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, droughts) or/and human-induced events (for example, wars and migrations) and it is followed by increased mortality, regional malnutrition and epidemics. The phenomenon reflects the hazard management of human societies and it is considered as the most severe aftermath of catastrophes, apart from human losses during disaster events. But famine, nowadays, is also regarded as a more complex condition. In fact, it is a socio-economic collapse rather than mere food crisis. Although it can be identified in the historical period from written records and potentially with archaeological evidence, it can’t be traced with accuracy in Prehistory. And, there is no clear evidence that the evolution of human civilization has reduced the risk of resource failure and starvation as successfully, as we like to believe. 135

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Episodes of starvation occurred among hunter-gatherer bands, because natural resources failed, and because they had limited ability either to store or to transport food. Equally, agriculture and sedentarism had advantages, but also greater risks, because domestic crop species often display vulnerability toward climatic fluctuations or other natural hazards. Agriculture and storage lead to loss of mobility and flexibility, because the primitive storage systems had limits and failures, and the sedentary communities were more vulnerable to political expropriation (the action by the state or an authority of taking property from its owner for public use or benefit) of their stored resources. The episodes of famine are also related to the dark topic of cannibalism (human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings; the ancient Greek word was anthropophagy = eating a human). Nevertheless, not all scientists agree that cannibalism was a socially acceptable practice anywhere in the world at any time of human history, not that prehistoric cannibalism was been practicing strictly in periods of food shortage or for simply dietary reasons.

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11. HUMAN-INDUCED HAZARDS = PUT THE BLAME ON US When we talk about other human-induced hazards, we mean the consequences of human use and abuse of natural sources, and other environmental conditions, such as fires, deforestation, agricultural activities and pastoralism, erosion of soils, urbanism and pollution. Till now, the oldest record of forest clearance by humans (anthropogenic deforestation) is the case of Al-Ghab Valley in northwest Syria (area where Orontes River was flowing), where people of the PrePottery Neolithic B (PPNB), around 9000 years Before Current Era. Those people cleared the deciduous oak forest gradually expanded at the foot of mountain Ansarieh since 14 500 Before Current Era. The conclusion was based on the pollen analysis found in local sediments, and information found in the Epic of Gilgamesh (we will talk about this Epic in another chapter of the book). Unfortunately, after this severe deforestation, when the vegetation was replaced by secondary pine forest, and possibly with some cultivated plants such as olive and wheat, the lake environment changed, the soils became poor to nutrients supply and the soil erosion was accelerated. Later on, people of the Pottery Neolithic begun to clear the famous Lebanese cedar trees by 5700 Before Current Era. Then, people of the Bronze Age cleared again the deciduous oak and Lebanese cedar forest causing its final disappearance from the eastern slope of mountain Ansarieh by around 2900 Before Current Era. It was replaced by olive groves.

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Foliage and acorns of Querqus robur (oak tree). Image Source: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=194973. Foliage of Cedrus libani (cedar of Lebanon, an evergreen tree, native to the Eastern Mediterranean basin. Image Source: Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Respectively, more evidence of how humans had altered their environments, since prehistoric times, is recorded in the sediments. A very special example is the area of Lower Mesopotamia (in modern southern Iraq), where ancient Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations flourished. There, two major rivers, Tigris and Euphrates had formed a deltaic plain rich in alluvium formation and agricultural interventions. The area was also vulnerable because, during the period after the last glacial phase, the sea level of Persian Gulf was intensively fluctuating, the shorelines were changing, and other tectonic movements contributed to this environment. That is why people who wanted to settle down to the area eventually migrated. The two rivers and their tributaries form a major river system in western Asia. They originate in the Armenian highlands up North, in Eastern Anatolia in Turkey, and they flow through Syria and Iraq into the Persian Gulf. The region has a paramount historical importance, because it is a part of the Fertile Crescent, in which many archaeologists believe that civilization had been emerged.

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This is a map of the Tigris â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Euphrates watershed. Image Credit: Karl Musser, based on USGS data. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kmusser CC BY-SA 2.5. Image Source: Wikipedia.

But, during last decades, archaeologists have found evidence of human activities by the agricultural societies of the past, all around the world. The impact had begun when huntingâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;gathering Mesolithic foragers changed into the food-producing economy of Neolithic farmers, through woodcutting, herding, fire and agriculture. Large-scale human activities such as construction of canals, dikes and dams, channel maintenance and flood control could also alter significantly the natural processes. Similarly, human-induced hazards may cause problems in the equilibrium of ecosystems and the life of the human ecosystems. Now, let us talk about wildfires (uncontrolled fires burning in wild land areas, that threaten wildlife and rural areas). They had always common causes, such as lightning and droughts; they can also be started by human negligence or intension (livestock grazing, fuel wood cutting and other non-wood product uses, agriculture, warfare), or by other natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions or impacts (meteors, asteroids). Especially, fires in the forest and other vegetation of the tropics and subtropics have increasing regional and global impact on the environment. The smoke plumes from tropical biomass fires carry vast amounts of atmospheric pollutants, including carbon monoxide and dioxide, methane, non-methane hydrocarbons, and aerosols. On the other hand, fires play a 139

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central role in the maintenance of many natural ecosystems and in the practice of agriculture and pastoralism. Generally speaking, experts today classify fires into five main types or classes: Class A - fires involving solid materials of an organic matter, such as wood, paper or textiles, rubber and plastics that do not melt. Class B - fires involving flammable liquids such as wax, paints, cooking fat, plastics that melt, petrol, diesel or oils. Class C - fires involving gases. Class D - fires involving flammable metals, such as magnesium, aluminium, lithium, titanium, sodium and potassium. Class E - fires involving electricity from live electrical apparatus. But we can also find cooking fat of class B as a separate Class F, or Class K.

A Diorama (=model representing a scene with three-dimensional figures, either in miniature or as a large-scale museum exhibit) showing ancient cavemen stands inside the National Museum of Mongolian History in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The museum preserves the Mongolian cultural heritage. Image Credit: Nathan McCord, U.S. Marine Corps / http://www.defenseimagery.mil; VIRIN: 090812-M-7376M-073. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia.

Till recently, the earliest convincing evidence for the human control of fire dates back between 460 000 to 230 000 years ago, and it was found in China - Zhoukoudian Cave. But further evidence shows that humans at least controlled fire 500 000 years ago in Europe, and 790 000 years ago in Near East. Recent discoveries, though, pushes the timing for the human use of fire back by 300 000 years, to Homo erectus era. The team of researchers has identified microscopic traces of wood ash among excavated animal

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bones and stone tools in a sediment layer dated to about one million years Before Current Era in the Wonderwerk Cave of South Africa. Moreover, red patches of sediments from Chesowanja, Kenya, and from Koobi Fora FxJj 20, thought to be the oxidized remains of fires dated back to 1.6 - 1.5 million years ago, during the Hominins period. But, the earliest evidence of fire control remains the one from Swartkrans Cave, just north of Johannesburg (South Africa). It is based on two hundred seventy charred bones heated to a very high temperature. Two hominin species were present at Swartkrans around two million years ago, Australopithecus (or Paranthropus) robustus and an early species of Homo, possibly Homo erectus! Thus, the first pollution of inner spaces happened thousands of years ago, by making a thick layer of shoot on the walls of the caves. The lungs of the mummified bodies from the Prehistoric times were frequently black from the inhaled smoke (because the smoke was wanted perhaps as mosquitoes’ repellent). The lungs of the Tyrolean iceman “Otzi” were polluted by dust and carbon; the lungs of humans today are polluted by the cigarette smoke, vehicles exhaust and factory emissions. Another physical form of pollution caused by humans to their environment was the human excrement (faeces), because there was not any kind of sewage system. Many illnesses and epidemics have been started by this kind of contamination. Dust pollution (for example silicosis) caused by daily carving flint from limestone in stone mines was also another form of pollution since the beginning of human history. And in ancient cities, smell pollution was present, too, as Aristotle mentioned. The Roman Senate, 2000 years ago, introduced a law, according to which “aerem corrumpere non licet” (polluting air is not allowed). Later on and even today, billions of people lived and still live in crowded, smoky and sooty surroundings, breathing foggy and polluted air. Mining, ship building and metallurgy (lead, silver, copper, gold, and iron) were also activities which destroyed wood and caused severe air pollution. According to modern scientists, many hundred thousand people (mainly slaves) should have been died of acute lead poisoning during the mining and smelting processes in the Greco-Roman world! And, the irrational behaviour of two Roman emperors, Caligula and Nero, is attributed to lead poisoning. A general condition which made scientists to 141

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believe that the fall of the Roman Empire was caused by this. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the concentration of lead in the atmosphere of the Earth dropped to levels of the 5760 years Before Current Era. Then, during the Medieval and Renaissance Periods started to rise again, and during / after Industrial Revolution, it is increasing considerably. Of course, the control of fire by early humans was a turning point for the human evolution, both biologically and culturally. In Palaeolithic times, fire may have been used for heating, cooking or roasting plant and animal food, illumination, and for protection from predators; along with agriculture, this innovation was used for clearing and maintaining open vegetation, fertilizing soil, and facilitating cattle grazing. When Modern Humans entered Europe, they met another human population, the Neanderthals, well adapted to mid-latitude environments, and had knowledge of pyrotechnology (intentional use and control of fire). Numerous hearths have been found at Mousterian sites, and, in a number of cases, there is clear evidence that they were deliberately constructed, maintained, and reused. Neanderthals, also, used fire to harden wooden spears and to process birch pitch to haft stone tools. But research has shown that, in contrast with Southeast Asia, no major increase in fire regime is recorded in Southwest Iberia or in West France at the onset or after the colonisation of these regions by Modern Human populations. Consequently, wildfire cases in West Europe between 70 000 and 10 000 years Before Current Era were mainly driven by climatic cycles. But fire-use for ecosystem management was not restricted to agrarian and herding societies; regular burning of landscape is reported for Native Americans and aboriginal people of Australia, known as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fire-stick farmingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers are suspected to have manipulated vegetation in North Europe. They deliberately set fires to improve the sightlines for missile-based hunting and/or change vegetation to attract game species. On the contrary, evidence has shown that humans had changed dramatically the central African rainforest about 3000 years Before Current Era, even more than the period of climatic changes during the Late Quaternary, about one million to 500 000 years ago. In fact, the tropical rainforests had been disappeared, when Bantu-speaking farmers had been come there from the region that now encompasses modern-day Cameroon and Nigeria, bringing their agriculture and iron smelting technologies with 142

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them. The erosion and its effects on the climate created a drier, more savannah-like landscape that resulted in the conditions we see today. Similar phenomena have been detected in other regions, too, like the Carpathian basin (otherwise known as Pannonian Basin, in Central Europe; it is extended to the territories of many modern countries), where, by the end of the Neolithic period, the previously warm, humid and balanced climate gradually deteriorated; around 4700 Before Current Era, during the Copper Age, newly settled human populations started large scale deforestation in order to clear land for their agricultural needs. In parallel, the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;elm-declineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in Northwest Europe (an episode in the vegetational sequence) was dated to about 3400 - 2800 Before Current Era. It was also linked with human activities. But, although the Neolithic agriculturalists deforested areas of woodland in whole Europe, this specific decline has been finally attributed to the elm bark beetle, a parasitic insect that carries with it the Dutch elm disease (like some mosquitoes carry the parasite of malaria). This hypothesis suggests that farmers intentionally spread the beetle, to destroy the elm forests for more deforested land for farming. Moreover, scientists have revealed that Roman Empire contributed the most to the deforestation of Mediterranean landscapes, by: the increasing populations and their needs and demands concerning housing and building, fuel and industries (for example, mining, smelting, and making of ceramics), cultivation, animals and grazing, shipbuilding, urbanization and military activities. But, one of the most notorious worldwide examples of human avidity and environmental overexploitation is the Easter Island case. Easter Island was originally known as Rapa Nui in Polynesian (it is an island located in southeastern Pacific Ocean; it belongs to Chile from 1966). Initially, it was a very fertile land, with abundant plant and animal life dating back tens of thousands of years. There were many unique plants in its forests when the first settlers arrived around 300 onwards till 1200 Current Era. But in just a few generations the people of Easter Island drove their plants and animals to extinction. Nevertheless, ethnographers and archaeologists blame diseases carried by European, and slave raiding of the 1860s, for the devastation of local peoples. Easter Island is most famous for its nearly one thousand extant monumental statues, called Moai. These monolithic human figures 143

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had been carved between 1250 and 1500 Current Era by the early Rapa Nui people who settled the island. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island as a World Heritage Site.

Moai at Rano Raraku, Easter Island. Image Credit: Aurbina – Own work at English Wikipedia. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Finally, another form of disaster is the urban conflagration, because, before the 20th century, fires were a major hazard to urban areas causing massive amounts of damage to cities. Until the 15th century Current Era (few following examples), many severe city fires - known also as urban fires, had already happened and registered in historical records. Later on, the catalogue has been enriched further with disastrous fires that ravaged cities and surrounding villages around the world… ■ 587 Before Current Era: the destruction of the Temple and city of Jerusalem ■ July 19, 64 Current Era: The Great Fire of Rome (it was brought to control after six days); according to Tacitus and later Christians, the Roman emperor Nero blamed the devastation on the Christian community of the city, initiating the empire's first persecution against them (but at least five stories circulated about how and why it happened); only 4 out of 14 districts of the city completely escaped damage ■ 406 Current Era: a great fire burns down much of the Byzantine Constantinople (Istanbul in modern Turkey) 144

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■ January 13, 532 Current Era: the ‘Nika Riots’ or ‘Nika Revolt’ result in the destruction of much of Constantinople by fire; the revolt was against the Byzantine emperor Justinian, over the course of a week; tens of thousands of people killed; the famous Christian church of Haghia Sophia was destroyed and rebuild again, later, by Justinian ■ 847 Current Era: Borgo, the area around Saint Peter’s Basilica, in the historical 14th district of Rome (on the west bank of the river Tiber, next to the Vatican City), was devastated by fire ■ 1041 Current Era: fire destroys most of the old city of Bremen (northwestern Germany), including the cathedral ■ 1135 Current Era: the first of the Two Great Medieval Fires of London; this blaze was so severe that it destroyed most of the city between St Paul's and St Clemens Danes in Westminster ■ 1204 Current Era: Constantinople was burned three times during the Fourth Crusade (a Latin Christian armed expedition, in order to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem and the powerful Egyptian sultanate, between 1202 and 1204) ■ 1212 Current Era: the second of the two Great Medieval Fires of London, also known as The Great Fire of Suthwark; 3000 people died on London Bridge while trying to flee the city

Map of Marco Polo’s Travels. Image Credit: SY – Own work. CC BY-Sa 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia 145

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■ 1237 Current Era: a huge fire in Hangzhou (the capital and most popular city of Zhenjiang Province in eastern China; one of the ancient seven capitals of the country) destroyed 30 000 houses; the Venetian merchant Marco Polo supposedly visited the city in the late 13th century, recording in his book that the city “was greater than any in the world” ■ 1421 and 1452 Current Era: First and Second Great Fire of Amsterdam. Nevertheless, the most destructive urban fire in the world history, until now, remains the San Francisco case, after the San Francisco earthquake caused by the notorious San Andreas Fault. The earthquake struck the northern coast of California at 5:12 am on Wednesday April 18, 1906. It had an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The fire lasted for many days on, up to 3000 people died and 80% of the city completed destroyed. But the event remains out of the topic of this book. You can search for it online.

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12. CLIMATIC CHANGES Let us explain, first few terms about climate. Weather refers to temperatures, humidity, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological factors, locally, regionally or worldwide, for a given period. Climate includes, also, temperatures, humidity, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological factors, locally, regionally or worldwide, over long periods of time. The climate of a location is affected by its latitude (how far is from the Equator or the Poles, respectively), its terrain (with mountains, hills, plains), persistent ice or snow cover, as well as by nearby oceans and their currents. Paleoclimatology is the study and description of ancient climates using information from both non-biotic factors (for example sediments found in lake beds and ice cores) and biotic factors (for example tree rings and coral bands). It can be used to extend back the temperature or rainfall information for locations to a time before various weather instruments were used to monitor weather conditions. On the other hand, climatic models are mathematical models of past, present and future climates and they can be used to describe the likely patterns of future changes. According to Köppen’s Climate Classification (one of the most widely used climate classifications), the main climatic zones of Earth are: Rain forest, Monsoon, Tropical Savannah, Humid Subtropical, Humid Continental, Oceanic Climate, Mediterranean Climate, Continental Steppe, Subarctic Climate, Tundra, Polar Ice cap and Desert. The highest temperature ever recorded on Earth after the use of instruments, is 57.8 °C (136 °F), at Al ‘Aziziyah, Libya in September 13, 1922 Current Era; the coldest temperatures ever recorded on Earth is −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F), at Vostok Station, Antarctica, in July 21, 1983 Current Era.

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An updated Köppen–Geiger climate map. Legend: A-Tropical, B-Arid, CTemperate, D-Cold, E-Polar. Image Credit: Peel, M. C., Finlayson, B. L., and McMahon, T. A. (University of Melbourne) Enhanced, modified, and vectorized by Ali Zifan. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences: "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification" (Supplement) map in PDF (Institute for Veterinary Public Health) Legend explanation. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia.

The climate of our planet is a combination of interdependent structures, parameters, phenomena and processes that characterize all the following systems: Magnetosphere is the region around an astronomical object, in which phenomena are dominated or organized by its magnetic field. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the magnetized planets Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Plasmasphere is a region of the Earth's Magnetosphere that consists of low energy cool plasma, above the Ionosphere (= the ionized part of Earth's upper atmosphere; it includes the Thermosphere and parts of Mesosphere and Exosphere). Geosphere, in modern texts, refers to the solid parts of the Earth. In that context, some geologists prefer ‘Lithosphere’ over Geosphere, but these can be used interchangeably. Lithosphere is both oceanic and continental. It is the crust and the uppermost mantle – Asthenosphere, which is joined to the crust across the 148

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Mohorovičić discontinuity, also known as Moho (named after the pioneering Croatian seismologist Andrija Mohorovičić, first identified in 1909). Moho is 5 to 10 km (3-6 mi) below the ocean floor, and 20 to 90 km (10-60 mi) beneath typical continental crust, with an average of 35 km (22 mi).

Structure of the Earth. Image Credit: Kelvinsong – Own work. CC BY – SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Pedosphere is the outermost layer of the Earth that is composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes. It exists at the interface of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Biosphere is the part of the Earth, including air, land, surface rocks and water, within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn modify or transform. It includes he global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships. Hydrosphere is the collective mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet, consisting of water in all forms: oceans, inland seas, lakes and rivers, rain, underground water, ice either in glaciers or snow, atmospheric water vapour - as in clouds. Atmosphere of Earth consists, from the ground up, of the Troposphere, Stratosphere which includes the ozone layer, Mesosphere, Thermosphere and Exosphere).

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Image Source: Pinterest https://gr.pinterest.com/pin/741968107329780924/?lp=true

Cryosphere is the portions of the Earth’s surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps/ ice sheets, frozen ground - permafrost and seasonally frozen ground. It is considered as an integral part of the global climate system. Finally, Anthroposhere is that part of the environment that is made or modified by humans for use in human activities and human habitats. And, since human technology has a serious impact on environment more and more (for example the unprecedent deforestation of Amazon tropical rainforest that changes the climatic equilibrium worldwide), this sphere is also called Technosphere. And now, here are few terms referring to climatic phases of the past, which are related to the presence of humans on Earth and to the past climatic changes. The impact of those changes will be explained in later chapter. ■ Glaciation cycles and Pliocene-Pleistocene events (geological period extending approximately between five million years ago and 12 000 years ago) ➠ Major steps in the evolution of African hominids (2.8 million years ago, 1.7 million years ago and 1.0 million years ago) 150

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■ Last Glaciation Maximum: in Earth’s climatic history, LGM was the last period of the last glacial phase, when ice sheets were at their major extend in both North and South Hemisphere (approximately 19 000 to 14 000 years Before Current Era) ■ Younger Dryas: the last cold snap of the Pleistocene Epoch (approximately 10 900 - 9700 years Before Current Era) ■ Bond Event 8: coincides with the transition from the Younger Dryas to the Boreal; most favourite living conditions for humans, resembling modern milder climatic style; the Preboreal-Boreal in Europe was a time of transition from the Paleolithic cultures to the Mesolithic; there were plenty of forests and drowned coastlands; human settlements avoided the deep forest in favor of streams, lakes, and especially bays of the ocean (approximately 9500 years Before Current Era onwards) ■ Bond Event 7: unnamed event (approximately 8300 years Before Current Era) ■ Bond Event 6: correlates with the of glacier activity in Norway, as well as with a cold event in China (7400 years Before Current Era) ■ Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO): a warm period; although temperatures in North Hemisphere were warmer in summer, Tropics and South Hemisphere were colder than average; current desert areas of Central Asia were extensively forested and the continent of Africa had more humid conditions and lush vegetation; the “Green Sahara” with extended lake system and rich fauna (roughly between 7000 to 3000 Before Current Era) ■ Bond Event 5: correlates with the 6200 years climatic event Before Current Era ■ Bond Event 4: one of the most intense aridification events during the Holocene (correlates with the event of 3900 years Before Current Era); climatic deterioration in western Europe and the Sahara ■ Bond Event 3: correlates with the event of 2200 years Before Current Era beginning of a severe centennial-scale drought in North Africa, Southwest Asia and midcontinental North America ➠ a series of exceptionally low Nile floods + the Sarasvati River dries up + desertification of the Thar Region begins ■ Bond Event 2: roughly correlates with the Iron Age Cold Epoch (900-300 Before Current Era); Homeric Minimum (800 - 500 Before Current Era) 151

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■ Roman Optimum (RO): Younger Fill – a strong episode of sedimentation; tree rings from Italy, in the late 3rd century Before Current Era, indicate a period of mild conditions in the area at the time that Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants to attack Rome (approximately 200 years Before Current Era until 400 Current Era) ■ Bond Event 1: roughly correlates with the Migration Period Pessimum; it begun around the epoch of western Roman Empire’s decline; extreme weather conditions, cold winters and other environmental calamities triggered the Germanic and Slavic tribes and the Huns to attack mainland Europe invading also the Mediterranean lands; it was a period of major migrations and violence (450 - 900 Current Era) ■ Medieval Warm Period / Little Optimum (MWP / MO): unusually warm climate in the North Atlantic region and elsewhere in the world (like China and Japan, Oceania and Chile); colonization of Greenland by Islander Viking Red Eric; formation of modern European woods (approximately 800 1320 Current Era) ■ Little Ice Age (LIA): period of cooling for both hemispheres; climatologists and historians find it difficult to agree on either the start or end dates of this period ➠ three minima (phases with the most intense cold), beginning about 1650, 1770 and 1850, each separated by slight warming intervals (approximately from 14th to the mid-19th century Current Era); at its beginning, the Black Death expanded and devastated whole countries and populations.

It is very probable that you have already read about Ice Ages (from movies and comics), it is a fascinating subject that also intrigues the scientists. Let explain a bit the process and make a trip back to the climatic history of our planet. We will learn that Earth had repeated cycles of 152

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glaciation in the past, even when there are not humans on it, twice almost destroyed as the majority of living organisms were disappearedâ&#x20AC;Ś When we have long term reduction in the mean temperature of the Earth, and an expansion of the continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers, we are talking about an Ice Age. The evidence is based on geological, chemical, and paleontological data that clearly show the record of Glacials (cold phases) and Interglacials (warmer phases) over the past million years of Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history. Based on existing ice on the Earth, today, we are still in an ice age, because the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets still exist.

The geological time scale (GTS) is a system of chronological measurement that relates stratigraphy to time, and is used by geologists, paleontologists, archaeologists and other scientists who are involved in the study of the past. Eons: the biggest subdivisions in the history of our planet, the longest lasting of geochronological divisions. Eras are the next largest categories. Periods are relatively shorter in time length. They are further broken down into Epochs and Ages. Image Credit: Creation Science 4 Kids. Image Source: https://creationscience4kids.com/the-geologic-column/

In brief, there have been at least four major ice ages in the Earth's past. The earliest hypothesized ice age, called the Huronian, took place around 2.7 to 2.3 billion years ago, during the early Proterozoic Eon (after that, the oxygen appeared in the atmosphere of Earth; it is known as the Great Oxygenation Event). The earliest well-documented ice age, and 153

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probably the most severe of the last one billion years, occurred from 850 to 630 million years ago (the Cryogenian period) and may have produced a Snowball Earth in which permanent ice covered the entire globe even Equator, making our planet a white frozen planet seen from Space (after that, the greatest evolution of multicellular life took place; it is known as the Cambrian Explosion). A minor ice age, the Andean-Saharan, occurred from 460 to 430 million years ago, during the Late Ordovician and the Silurian period. There were, also, extensive polar ice caps at intervals from 350 to 260 million years ago, during the Carboniferous and Early Permian Periods, associated with the Karoo Ice Age. But it is possible that glacial periods other than those above, especially in the Precambrian Epoch, have been overlooked because of scarcity of exposed rocks from older periods in high latitudes. The present ice age began 40 million years ago, with the growth of an ice sheet in Antarctica (Holarctic / Antarctic Ice Age). It intensified during the late Pliocene, around 3.5 million years ago, with the spread of ice sheets in the North Hemisphere. This process has continued into the Pleistocene. Since then, the world has seen cycles of glaciation with ice sheets advancing and retreating. The most recent glacial period ended around 10 000 years ago.

During the ice ages, more temperate and more severe periods occur. There is evidence that ocean circulation patterns are disrupted by glaciations. The colder periods are called Glacial Periods, the long warmer periods Interglacials, such as the Palaeocene/ Eocene Thermal Maximum â&#x20AC;&#x201C; PETM (about 55 million years ago) and the Eemian interglacial Era (about 131 000 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 114 000 years ago). The Earth is now in an interglacial period known as the Holocene. 154

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The brief cooler period during warmer interglacials, such as Older Dryas, Younger Dryas and Little Ice Age, are called Stadials. The brief warm periods during ice ages, are called Interstadials, such as the Bølling /Allerød Oscillation (approximately 14 700 -12 700 Before Current Era); they are weaker than interglacials. The Glaciation / Interglaciation cycle ranges from 10 million years to 100 million years. The Glacials / Interglacials cycle ranges from 70 000 to 100 000 years, and 10 000 to 50 000 years, respectively. Finally, the Stadials / Interstadials cycle lasts approximately 2000 years. During the Quaternary there have been detected approximately 80 glacial cycles over this time. Ice ages can be further divided by location and time, for example, Fraser (in the Pacific Cordillera of North America), Pinedale and Wisconsinan (in central North America), Devensian (in the British Isles), Midlandian (in Ireland), Würm (in the Alps), Weichsel or Vistula (in northern central Europe), Valdai (in East Europe), Zyryanka (in Siberia), Llanquihue (in Chile) and Otira (in New Zealand). The Quaternary (Pleistocene + Holocene = human presence on Earth), started approximately around 3.1 million years ago. The name ‘pleistocene’ is derived from the ancient Greek word πλεῖστος (plistos meaning ‘most’) and ‘καινός’ (kenos meaning ‘new’).

Pleistocene of northern Spain showing woolly mammoths, cave lions eating a reindeer, tarpans and woolly rhinoceros. Image Credit: Mauricio Antón - from Caitlin Sedwick (1 April 2008). "What Killed the Woolly Mammoth?". PLoS Biology 6 (4): e99. DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060099. CC BY 2.5. © 2008 Public Library of Science. Image Source: Wikipedia

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The Pleistocene epoch followed the Pliocene epoch; it is followed by the Holocene epoch. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the Palaeolithic Age, a term used in Humanities, and Archaeology especially. It is further divided into the Early, Middle and Late Pleistocene, along with numerous faunal stages. Finally, Holocene Climatic Optimum is also known, by many other names, including Hypsithermal, Altithermal, Holocene Optimum, Holocene Thermal Maximum, and Holocene Megathermal. But what causes the ice ages? Of course, there are many theories and hypotheses and scientists are based on different data and evidence. Generally speaking, the triggering mechanisms behind ice ages remain controversial for both the large-scale ice age periods, and the smaller ebb and flow of glacialâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;interglacial periods within an ice age, as well. The vast majority of modern scientists says that several interrelated factors are important: (1) Atmospheric composition (the concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, sulphur dioxide, and various other gases and particulates in the atmosphere), (2) Changes in the orbit of the Earth around the Sun known as Milankovitch cycles (and possibly the Sun's orbit around the galaxy), (3) The motion of tectonic plates resulting in changes in the relative location and amount of continental and oceanic crust on the Earth's surface, (4) Variations in solar output (intensity of solar radiation), (5)The orbital dynamics of the Earth-Moon system, (6) The impact of relatively large meteorites, and (7) The impact of mega-eruptions of supervolcanoes.

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13. BIOHAZARDS = WHEN WE GET SICK What make humans to get sick? Several microorganisms – the microbes known as germs, which are around us or inside us, are the culprit. They are microscopic organisms (they cannot be seen with our naked eyes, so they are detected by medical instruments, the microscopes) which may exist in their single-cell form or in a colony of cells. Most microbes in our planet do not threat humans, plants and animals; in fact, they collaborate with other organisms and help the lifecycle. The microorganisms are studied by the microbiologists, and they include archaea, protozoa, plankton, amoeba, and green algae (we do not talk about them here), bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are, perhaps, the most well-known microorganisms, and in terms of number, they are by far the most successful organism on Earth, because they are extremely adaptable to the most extreme conditions; they have no nucleus within the cell and contain no organelles (specialized cellular ‘organs’). They are divided into two classes, Gram positive bacteria which have thicker cell wall and Gram negatives which have a thinner layer sandwiched between an inner and outer membrane. They are the only microorganisms which can live harmlessly within the human body, often aiding bodily functions such as digestion. Did you know that there are more bacterial cells within the human body than humans cells, albeit much smaller in size? Unfortunately, of all the ‘living’ microorganisms, few dangerous of them can cause the most problems in terms of disease in humans. Scientists categorize them into five types, according to their shape: Comma-shaped bacteria (for example, Vibrio Cholera), Spherical-shaped bacteria or Cocci (for example, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus), Rod-shaped bacteria or Bacilli (for example, Escherichia Coli and Salmonella), Spiral-shaped bacteria or Spirilla (for example, Treponema and Borrelia), and Flagellated bacteria (for example, Tetanus Bacteria).

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Strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria taken from a vancomycin intermediate resistant culture (VISA). Image Credit: Janice Carr / Content Providers(s): CDC/ Matthew J. Arduino, DRPH; Janice Carr - This media comes from the PHIL of CDCP (â&#x2030; 6486). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Fungi (singular: fungus) are eukaryotes, meaning that they have a defined nucleus and organelles. Fungal colonies can be visible to the human eye once they have achieved a certain level of growth (for example mould on bread). Fungi can be split into three main groups: molds with thread-like (filamentous) growth and multicellular structures, yeasts which are typically non-filamentous and can be single celled and mushrooms which possess a fruiting body for production of spores. They can cause disease in plants and in people who are immunocompromised. However, some organisms from this group are widespread used in the food industry, to produce beer and other foodstuffs.

Amanita muscaria. This mushroom is classified as poisonous and psychoactive (hallucinogenic). It was used since the Palaeolithic Times in various places all over the World. CC BY-SA 3.0 NL. Image Source: Wikipedia

Viruses (singular: virus) are considered by many experts to not be living organisms. They essentially consist of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA,) and 158

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a protein coat. A virion (a virus particle) requires a host cell in order to replicate. In humans, a virus enters a human cell and “hijacks” it; it uses the cell to replicate. Viruses can infect all life forms, from animals and plans to microorganisms such bacteria and archaea. Often, the immune system detects the presence of the virus and acts; we can feel it when we have the symptoms of a common cold or influenza. But some viruses can cause permanent and irreversible damage to cells, for example HIV (human immunodefieciency virus), that causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodefieciency Syndrome), a set of symptoms and illnesses that occur at the final stage of the infection, when the immune system collapses.

Overview of the main types of viral infections and the most notable species involved. Image Credit: Häggström, Mikael (2014). "Medical gallery of Mikael Häggström 2014". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.008. ISSN 2002-4436. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Bacteria, fungi and viruses can be also parasitic (but not all of them; likewise, all parasites are not bacteria). Parasites can live on or inside their host and get most of its food from the host. Parasites usually aren't very good for their host and can make you very sick. Some of them are microscopic and unicellular (for example, toxoplasma and plasmodium 159

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falciparum that causes malaria), so they can be categorized as microbes. Their life cycle includes encounter with a host, entering in a host (= another organism that will support their survival in detriment of itself), survival, multiplication and causing of damage. The parasites that cause a disease in humans are pathogens. They can also be bigger, like worms, lice, bedbugs and vampire bats. Even the early human ancestors had suffered from parasites. The earliest found evidence is dated to 5900 Before Current Era from northern Chile, to 5000 Before Current Era from Brazil, and to 2330 Before Current Era from Peru. Apart from fossilized feces, Egyptian mummies hold also interesting evidence. Similarly, the first written records are found in ancient Egyptian papyri from 3000 to 400 Before Current Era. A rich medical documentation can be found, too, in the texts of the Greek Hippocrates and Aristotle. The Babylonians, the Romans and the Arabs, the Indian and the Chinese, were also aware of them. Parasites cause dreadful infections like dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease spread by water fleas), elephantiasis, schistosomiasis, amebiasis, cysticercosis, chagas, leishmaniasis, African trypanosomiasis and malaria.

Anopheles minimus. Mosquitoes are micropredators and significant vectors (in epidemiology, any agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism) of malaria. Image content provider: James Gathany. CDC Public Health Image Library â&#x2030; 7950. Image Source: Wikipedia

Biohazards are also known as Biological Hazards. They refer to biological substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms (including animals), primarily that of humans, for example, microorganisms, viruses and toxins from biological sources. In 1966, Charles Baldwin, an environmental-health engineer working for the Dow Chemical Company, 160

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developed the famous symbol of biohazards, which is generally used as warning.

The Biohazard symbol. Image Credit: Offiikart â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Own work. CC0 1.0 Universal / Public Domain Dedication. Image Source: Wikipedia

The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorizes various diseases in levels, with level 1 presenting the minimum risk and level 4 presenting an extreme risk. Biohazard Level 1: bacteria and viruses including Escherichia coli and varicella (chicken pox); Biohazard level 2: bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a laboratory setting, such as hepatitis A, B and C, some influenza A strains, salmonella, Lyme disease, mumps, measles, dengue fever and HIV; Biohazard level 3: bacteria and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines and other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile virus, SARS, MERS coronavirus, tuberculosis, typhus, yellow fever and malaria; Biohazard level 4: viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines and other treatments are not available, and lab workers should undergo serious decontamination procedures, such as Variola virus (smallpox and hemorrhagic fevers including Ebola). Another term, Pathocoenosis was first used in a Medical Symposium held in London (1966). It includes the whole of pathological conditions present in a given population during a given period of time, such as the parameters of Nosology (= the branch of medical science dealing with the classification of disease), the frequency and distribution of diseases in a given population group, ecologic and internal parameters (for example, the

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climatic conditions, the population’s density, morbidity rates, socio-cultural patterns, economic and technical framework). Finally, the term Law of Mac Neill (in his book Plagues and People, 1976) in Human Geography, highlights the biological factor in human history; you can conquer a population based on the advantage of contagious, microbial diseases. Perhaps, the most famous example is the Incas case (the Inca Empire was the largest existing in pre-Columbian America, the last chapter of thousands of years of Andean civilization), who were decimated by the smallpox (plus typhus, influenza and diphtheria epidemics) introduced by the Spanish Conquistadores in 16th century Current Era.

Machu Picchu (it means the old peak) at twilight. The symbol of the Inca Empire. UNESCO World Heritage Site. On a mountain ridge 2,430 m. (7,970 feet) above sea level, Near Cusco, Peru. Image Credit: Martin St-Amant (S23678) – Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The main invisible ‘enemies’ of human species are: Anthrax, Chicken Pox, Cholera, Diphtheria, Flu, Hepatitis, Infectious Pneumonia, Leprosy, Malaria, Meningitis, Mumps, Plague, Polio, Rabies, Rubella, Rugeole (measles), Scarlet Fever, Smallpox, Syphilis, Tetanus, Tuberculosis, Typhoid Fever, Typhus and Viral hemorrhagic fevers (for example, Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever, Marburg, Ebola, Bolivian hemorrhagic fever). A Pandemic is an epidemic that spreads through human populations across a large area (for example a continent wide), or even spreads worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met: the emergence of a 162

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disease new to the population, the agent infects humans causing serious illness, and the agent spreads easily and sustainably among humans. Virgin Epidemics are situations, according to which, a human group contacts for the first time a specific virus or other pathogen. Now, let us look at the most notorious epidemics known in human history… ■ Athenian Plague – killed a quarter of the Athenian troops and a quarter of the population over four years; during the Peloponnesian War (430 Before Current Era) ■ Antonine Plague – Roman Empire; approximately five million victims (165-180 Current Era) ■ Plague of Cyprian (Saint Cyprian – Bishop of Carthage, De mortalitate) – Roman Empire; from 250 Current Era onwards during the larger Crisis of the Third Century; it killed two Emperors: Hostilian in 251 and Claudius II Gothicus in 270; alleged to be caused either by some form of smallpox or measles ■ Justinian Plague – Asia, Europe, Africa; up to 100 million victims (540-750 Current Era) ■ The Plague or the Black Death – Asia, Europe, Africa; approximately 100 million victims (1300s-1720s Current Era) ■ Typhus outbreak – emerging during the Crusades, it had its first impact in Europe in 1489 Current Era, in Spain (during fighting between the Christian Spaniards and the Muslims in Granada); in 1528, the French lost 18 000 troops in Italy and lost supremacy in Italy to the Spanish; in 1542, 30 000 people died of typhus while fighting the Ottomans in the Balkans; between 1655 and 1918, severe droughts and famines caused typhus’ epidemic outbreaks in Mexico; the disease, also, played a major role in the destruction of Napoleon's Grande Armée in Russia, in 1812 ■ Effects of Colonization – (16th century Current Era) disease killed the entire native (Guanches) population of the Canary Islands; half the native population of Hispaniola was killed by smallpox; Mexico and Peru were ravaged by smallpox, aiding the European conquerors; measles killed a further two million Mexican natives. Researchers claim that the death of 90% to 95%of the Native American population of the New World was caused by Old World diseases

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■ Cholera (also known as the Blue Death because dehydration causes the skin to turn bluish), an infection of the small intestine ; the word derived from the Greek kholera (χολέρα) from kholē (χολή = bile) –first pandemic: India (its first known description is found in Snaskrit language), China to Caspian Sea (1816-1826 Current Era); second pandemic: Europe and North America (1829-1851 Current Era); third pandemic: Russia, with over a million deaths (1852-1860 Current Era); fourth pandemic: Europe and Africa (1863-1875 Current Era); fifth pandemic: North America (1866 Current Era); sixth pandemic: Germany (1892 Current Era); seventh pandemic: little effect in Europe because of advances in public health, but Russia was badly affected again (1899-1923 Current Era) ■ Third Pandemic of Bubonic Plague – Worldwide; up to twelve (?) million victims (1850s–1950s Current Era) ■ Spanish Flu – Worldwide; up to hundred million victims (1918-1920 Current Era); the first confirmed pandemic of influenza took place in 1510 Current Era. Let us, also, describe few of the most dangerous human killers, anthrax, leprosy, tuberculosis and syphilis. In later chapter, we will explain how diseases change the human history. Anthrax is an acute zoonotic infection (contracted by sick animals) caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis (highly lethal in some forms). The anthrax bacillus is one of only a few, that can form long-lived spores found on all continents on Earth, except for Antarctica; in a hostile environment, caused perhaps by the death of an infected host or extremes of temperature, the bacteria become inactive; dormant spores which can remain viable for many decades and perhaps centuries. Often, the outbreaks occur after climatic change such as heavy rains, flooding, or drought. The disease can be either pulmonary (in the lungs) with mortality rates nearly 100% , gastrointestinal (in the gastroenteric system) with fatality rates of 25% to 60%, and cutaneous (on the skin), rarely fatal if treated, but without treatment about 24% of cases progressing to toxaemia and death.

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Gram positive Bacillus anthracis (stained purple) growing the cerebrospinal fluid. Image originally appeared in Jernigan et al., 2001. Public Domain. Image Source: English Wikipedia

The famous German physician and scientist Robert Koch, first, identified the bacteria which caused the anthrax disease in 1875 Current Era. On May 1881, Louis Pasteur performed a public experiment to demonstrate his concept of anthrax vaccination in animals. It is one of the oldest recorded diseases of grazing animals, such as sheep and cattle. The name anthrax comes from anthracites, the Greek word for anthracite (coal), because victims of the cutaneous type of disease develop black skin lesions. Modern authors believe it to be the Fifth or Sixth or Seventh Plague mentioned in the Book of Exodus in the Bible. It is mentioned also by Homer in Iliad, as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;burning plagueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, caused by the wrath of the god Apollo against Achaeans. Apart from Hippocrates (in his famous work Epidemics), it was Virgil (1st century Before Current Era) who provided one of the earliest and most detailed descriptions of an anthrax epidemic in his book Georgics. But, it was only in 1769 Current Era, that Jean Fournier classified the disease as anthrax or charbon malin. Unfortunately, today it can be used as a biological weapon in wars or terrorist attacks. Leprosy, on the other hand, is also known as Hansen Disease (HD). It is a chronic disease, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. Left untreated, leprosy can be progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Considered always as a social stigma, it got an effective treatment only in the late 1930s Current Era. The causative agent of leprosy was discovered by G. H. Armauer Hansen in Norway in 1873, being the first bacterium to be identified as causing disease in humans. Modern Genomics research has revealed that 165

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the origins of leprosy go back to the Late Pleistocene transmitted out of Africa. Different strains of the disease have been also identified, in Medieval central and eastern Europe and Anatolia; they came from central Asia or Asia Minor through westward migrations of Avars (a North Caucasus native ethnic group, living between the Black and the Caspian Seas). Other strains which were identified in northern and western Europe were associated with Nordic and Saxon populations’ movements. It is supposed to have been existed in India and China from approximately 4000 Before Current Era. Probably the Mesopotamians did become familiar with leprosy during the 3rd millennium Current Era. The disease seems to have been endemic in Egypt from at least the Old Kingdom period (approximately between 2700 to 2400 Current Era). Leprous Egyptians died in some isolated place and were never mummified. It seems also that the disease has been known since biblical times. The disease occurs sixty-eight times in the Bible, fifty-five times in the Old Testament and thirteen times in the New Testament. The word ‘leprosy’ derives from the ancient Greek words lepro (a scale) and lepein (to peel), coming into the English language via Latin and Old French. Leprosy was already becoming globally distributed in the 7th century Before Current Era, and by approximately 250 Before Current Era it was being reported by Greek physicians. In the West, the earliest known description of leprosy there was made by the Roman encyclopaedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus (25 Before Current Era - 37 Current Era) in his work De Medicina, where he called leprosy ‘elephantiasis’. It spread slowly west across Europe and by 40 Before Current Era, it had entered the British Isles, remaining the most feared disease of the Middle Ages, until the Black Death. Leper colonies or houses became popular then, particularly in Europe and India, and often ran along monastic lines. In France, alone, there were 2000 such colonies between 11th to 13th centuries. The disease is, still, common in many countries worldwide, and in temperate, tropical and subtropical climates.

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Leprosorium / Two lepers denied entrance to town. One has crutches; the other is wearing Lazarus dress, handbag and rattle, to announce his coming. 14 th century in our era. Image Credit: Vinzenz von Beauvais - Miniatur aus einer Handschrift des Vinzenz von Beauvais. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Another common and often deadly infectious disease is Tuberculosis. It is caused by mycobacteria, mainly by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis and it usually attacks the lungs (as pulmonary TB) but can, equally, affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the skin. It was also known with many other names, such as White Plague (because sufferers appear markedly pale), Consumption (it consumed people from within, with a bloody cough, fever, pallor, and long relentless wasting), and Phthisis (ancient Greek word for consumption and phthisis pulmonalis). Today, doctors estimate that 1/3 of the population worldwide carry the Koch bacterium, while two million people die annually of tuberculosis. The disease is more aggressive in women and persons between fifteen and forty-five years old, affecting fertility rates. The tubercle bacillus was discovered by the German scientist Dr. Robert Koch, in 1882 Common Era. The disease caused 20% of all human deaths in the western world between the 17th and 19th centuries Common Era, and remains a cause of high mortality in developing countries. It is considered a crowd disease, and, initially, its origin has been associated with the Neolithic Demographic Transition, when people started to live in larger groups. The biochemical genomic analyses of the pathogen show that it emerged about 70 000 years ago, when it accompanied migrations of anatomically modern humans out 167

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of Africa, and expanded as a consequence of increases in human population density during the Neolithic period. But, a common ancestor of Mycobacteria Leprae and Tuberculosis has been detected in the Upper Devonian (300 million years ago); it seems that TB balances Lepra. So, its bacterium is as old as the humankind is. The most ancient evidence of the disease has been found in a 500 000-year-old human fossil of Homo erectus from modern Turkey. When the species moved north from African latitudes, it had to adapt to more seasonal climates. Since the young maleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body produced less vitamin D and this deficiency weakened his immune system, the door opened to tuberculosis.

Egyptian Mummy in the British Museum, London â&#x20AC;&#x201C; tubercular decay has been found in the spinal column. Image Credit: Klafubra. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia.

A strain of the pathogen arrived, also, from Asia during the population of the Americas during upper Palaeolithic times. Tuberculosis is believed to have first been recorded in a Chinese medical text dating back to 2700 Before Current Era. It was found even in mummies coming from the ancient Egypt and evidence of TB appears in Biblical scripture, and in religious books in India around 2000 Before Current Era. It has been, also, studied by Hippocrates and Aristotle. The infection has ravaged the heart of Europe since prehistoric times. Finally, syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal bacterium Treponema pallidum. Although the route of transmission of syphilis is usually through sexual contact (due to promiscuity, prostitution, decreasing use of condoms and unsafe sexual practices), there are examples of congenital syphilis via transmission from mother to child in utero (when a woman is pregnant). 168

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In 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of syphilis. If left untreated, syphilis can damage the heart, aorta, brain, eyes and bones. In some cases, these effects can be fatal. The name of the disease was given by the Italian physician and poet Girolamo Fracastoro in his epic noted poem, written in Latin, entitled Syphilis sive morbus gallicus (‘Syphilis or The French Disease’), in 1530 Current Era; the protagonist of the poem is a shepherd named Syphilus who suffered from god Apollo’s punishment. Its first recorded outbreak in Europe happened in 1495 Current Era. It was known with many names, such as Great Pox (a 16th century term, in order to distinguish it from smallpox), Lues venerea (from Latin meaning ‘venereal plague’ = plague from Venus), Cupid's disease, or The Black Lion (from the ulcers suffered by British soldiers in Portugal).

Syphilis treatment: Urine examination and treatment with ointments (mercury), Vienna, 1497 - 1498. Image Credit: Bartholomäus Steber - A malafranczos morbo Gallorum praeservatio ac cura; eingescannt aus: Alois Niederstätter: 1400 – 1522: das Jahrhundert der Mitte: an der Wende vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit, aus der Reihe Österreichische Geschichte, Wien 1996, ISBN 3-8000-3532-4. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The history of the disease is still under dispute. Researchers have noted that a Chinese medical case recorded in 2637 Before Current Era, 169

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seems to be describing a case of syphilis. Its symptoms are described by Hippocrates in Classical Greece, in its venereal/tertiary form. Skeletons in pre-Columbus Pompeii and Metapontum in Italy demonstrate signs of congenital syphilis. Other examples are skeletons found in the Augustinian friary in the Northeast English port of Kingston upon Hull, dated to 13th – 14th centuries Current Era, and from the excavations in the Cathedral square in St Pölten, Austria, dated between 1320 and 1390 Current Era. A European writer, who recorded an outbreak of ‘lepra’ in 1303, is "clearly describing syphilis. On the contrary, according to other researchers, syphilis was a New World disease brought back by Columbus and Martin Alonzo Pinzon (by the crewmen of Columbus's voyages to Naples, where happened the outbreak of 1494 Current Era). Genetically, both theories are correct. And, it seems that the disease was more frequently fatal in its first outbreaks than it is today; by 1546, the disease had evolved into the disease with the symptoms so well known to us today” … Unfortunately, till now, there is no effective vaccine for the prevention of syphilis.

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14. SPACE HAZARDS = WHEN SKY BECOMES DANGEROUS I think that you will find this chapter very fascinating, because it is about Universe and ancient skies. The hazards have been categorized and symbolized by different symbols to be easily understood. In a later chapter we will learn with mind-blowing examples, how these phenomena affected the life on Earth, the appearance and disappearance of human species, the destruction of civilizations and the course of human history (for example, travels, inventions, discoveries, wars, arts, migrations and epidemics). ☄Fire from the sky This group includes comets, asteroids, meteoroids, meteors, fireballs and meteorites. Comets are small icy Solar System bodies that get warmer and begin to release gasses they pass close to the Sun. Their nuclei range for a few meters to ten of kilometers across. The outgassing process can create a visible atmosphere or coma, up to fifteen times the diameter of the Earth. They are like “deep fried ice-cream”, because their surfaces are formed of dense crystalline ice, mixed with organic compounds, but their interior ice is colder and less dense. Their tail may stretch one astronomical unit (roughly the distance from our planet to the Sun: about 150 million km (93 million mi), as defined in 2012. There are 5253 known comets, according to the known population of our Solar System Objects in November 2014. Of course, their number is steadily increasing, and it is estimated that in the Oort Cloud (Outer Solar System), one trillion comet-like bodies exist! The word comet derives from the ancient Greek word κομήτης / κόμη (“wearing long hair” / “the hair on the head”). Latest NASA studies of meteorites found on Earth confirm that DNA and RNA components and related organic molecules which are the base of Life have been formed on asteroids and comets. We are “star children” …

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Typical direction of tails over a comet’s orbit near the Sun. Image Credit: Юкатан - Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Asteroids are minor planets especially in the inner Solar System; the larger ones are also called planetoids. When our Sun was young, millions of asteroids existed in its nebula, but they never grew large enough to become planets. Most of them orbit in the Asteroid Belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter or co-orbit with Jupiter (the Jupiter trojans). They are mainly composed of minerals and rocks and they have been formed closer to the sun than comets; their diameter is greater than one meter in comparison to meteoroids.

Trees knocked over by the Tunguska Blast. Photograph from the Soviet Academy of Science 1927 expedition led by Leonid Kulik. Image Source: CYD - From English Wikipedia, en:Image:Tunguska01.png. Public Domain

The United Nations have declared the 30th of June as International Asteroid Day, in commemorating the anniversary of the Tunguska asteroid impact over Siberia (Russian Federation), on June 30, 1908 Common Era. As 172

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modern scientist acknowledge, “impact cratering is the most fundamental geologic process in the Solar System”. This activity accompanied our planet from its distant past to the recent periods of Pleistocene and Holocene.

Frequency of bolides, small asteroids roughly 1 to 20 meters in diameter impacting Earth’s atmosphere. Image Credit: NASA/Planetary Science http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-397. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Meteoroids are small rocky or metallic bodies in outer space, ranging in size from small grains to one-meter-wide objects. They are fragments of comets and asteroids, or collision impact debris ejected from bodies like Moon or Mars. Scientists estimate that 15 000 tons of different forms of space dust enter Earth’s atmosphere annually. When a comet, an asteroid or a meteoroid enter our planet’s atmosphere, with at a speed typically 20 km/s, its aerodynamic heating produces a streak of light from the glowing object and its tail. These are meteors or shooting stars (astronomers call their brightest cases bolides), which we make a wish upon… When there are many meteors in short time period that seem to originate from the same fixed point in the sky, these are the meteor showers. When these objects can survive their passage from our atmosphere and impact with the ground, they are called meteorites. These are the solid debris of comets, asteroids or meteoroids. Their modern classification is quite complex. Geologists consider that when meteorites are large enough to create a crater, they are called bolides. 173

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During antiquity, in Asia Minor, the sacred stone enshrined at the temple of Artemis at Ephesus (one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world) was a meteorite believed to have fallen from the planet Jupiter. The black stone, also, set into the wall of Kaaba (the most sacred place of the Muslim pilgrimage at Mecca – Saudi Arabia), it is believed to be a meteorite, too. Finally, the first iron artefacts of Humanity, were made from meteorite iron. You can find online the EARTH IMPACT DATABASE (http://www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/).

Namibie Météorite Hoba Photographic prise par GIRAUD Patrick. It is an object of 60-tonne weight and 2.7-meter length. It is considered as the largest known intact meteorite found on Earth. Image Credit: No machine-readable author provided. Calips assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). CC BY 2.5. Image Source: Wikipedia.

★ Supernovae (SN) explosions Generally speaking, various chemical elements (for example C, O, N, H, S, Mg, K, Na, Cl, Ni, Ca, Fe, Mn, Sr, Ba, noble gases, trace elements), which are found in geological formations and sediments, either as isotope fractionations, ratios or as concentrations of organic compounds, are the voices of archaeodisasters from the sky, and of past bioclimatic changes associated with major disruption in ancient civilizations. The afore-mentioned chemical elements can be the evidence for solar variability, cosmic rays’ activity, supernovae explosions, and variations in the geometry of Earth’s orbit, seasonal and geographical distribution of incoming radiation, volcanic aerosols and past levels of greenhouse gases. 174

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They can also mirror anthropogenic activities, such as the rise of human population, deforestation and burning of fossil fuels.

A composite image of the Crab Nebula showing the X-ray (blue) from Chandra Xray Observatory, and optical (red) from Humble Space Telescope, images superimposed. The size of the X-ray image is smaller because the higher energy X-ray emitting electrons radiate away their energy more quickly than the lower energy optically emitting electrons as they move. Image Credit: Optical: NASA/HST/ASU/J. Hester et al. X-Ray: NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2002/24/image/a. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. th This 11 century pictograph of Anasazi people at Chaco Canyon may depict the supernova 1054. This supernova and the Moon were in this configuration when the supernova was near its brightest. An imprint of a hand at the top signifies that this is a sacred place. Image Credit: Alex Marentes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Flickr: Chaco Canyon Petrographs. CC BY-SA 2.0. This work is free and may be used by anyone for any purpose. If you wish to use this content, you do not need to request permission as long as you follow any licensing requirements mentioned on this page. Image Source: Wikipedia

Supernovae (singular: supernova) are bright stars before slowly fading from sight over several weeks or months or even years. During the last thousand years, only three supernovae events have been observed by humans because they were visible to naked eye; modern scientists have observed many of them in other galaxies, though, with their telescopes. When they collapse and explode, almost the totality of their mass is expelled at velocities up to 10% of the speed of light. This phenomenon creates an expanding and fast-moving shock wave. 175

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The light of the explosion hit Earth on July 4, 1054 (observable in the constellation of Taurus) and remained visible for around two years (last seen on April 6, 1056). Initially light was of yellow color, later of red and white. Today, the nebula (known, also, as the first Messier object, or M1) and the pulsar are the most studied astronomical objects outside our Solar System. Its luminosity was equal to 250 million Suns! The phenomenon was recorded in multiple Chinese and Japanese documents and in one document from the Arab world. It was, also, observed by the Aborigines in Australia, the American-Indian tribes and Europeans as well. At least six iconographs (Chaco Canyon - New Mexico, northern Arizona, Fern Cave in Lava Beds National Monument - North California, Symbol Bridge - California, Abo Monument - Mexico) seem to depict the event as it dazzled the sky watchers of that time, but its absence from Latin literature is related to the historic event of the Schism (July 1, 1054 Current Era) which was of higher priority back then. The symbol of a crescent moon and star has been used since antiquity, imprinted on coins, flown on flags. The Sumerians symbolized their moon god (the most popular amongst Mesopotamian deities). The Zoroastrian traditions had depictions of the symbol. The Greeks used it to represent the goddess Artemis / Hecate (it was the emblem of the city of Byzantium since 339 Before Current Era). The Carthaginians used it to represent their chief goddess Tanith (‘the serpent-lady’). The dominant religion of Arabia was the cult of the moon-god, and it was used in worship in Central Asia and Siberia. The crescent moon/star is found, also, on the flags of many Islamic countries. Today we know that the explosion had taken place in 5446 Before Current Era (approximately), but it got visible only after 6500 years, because the distance of the event from the Earth was too big (6500 light years)! ↨ Magnetic Excursions and Reversals Our planet has a magnetic field, also known as geomagnetic field, that extends from Earth’s interior out into Space (Magnetosphere), where it meets the Solar Wind (= permanent stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun) and the cosmic rays. In fact, it is almost the field of a magnetic dipole tilted at an 11° related to Earth’s rotational axis. The 176

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molten iron existed in Earth’s outer core moves, generating electric currents that produce the geodynamo phenomenon. Today, the Νorth Pole of the geomagnetic field (located near Greenland in the North Hemisphere) is the South Pole of the planet’s magnetic field and vice versa. But, during the vast geologic time, it wanders and reverses, and, at irregular intervals (in average, several hundred thousand years) abruptly switches places. When our magnets pinpoint the North, they show the South Magnetic Pole, since the opposites poles attract. The Magnetic Equator exists where the magnetic field is horizontal, and the inclination is zero. Over the last 180 years, the North Magnetic Pole (in the Southern Hemisphere) has been migrated 600 km (370 mi) northwestward.

Geodynamo between reversals. Computer simulation of the Earth's field in a period of normal polarity between reversals. The lines represent magnetic field lines, blue when the field points towards the center and yellow when away. The rotation axis of the Earth is centered and vertical. The dense clusters of lines are within the Earth's core. Image Credit: Dr. Gary A. Glatzmaier - Los Alamos National Laboratory - U.S. Department of Energy. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/ y2003/29dec_magneticfield.htm. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Generally described, a geomagnetic reversal is a change in the Earth's magnetic field, when the positions of Magnetic North and Magnetic South are interchanged. During periods of normal polarity, the direction of the field was the same as the present direction, while in reverse polarity, the field was the opposite (chrons). Although the time spans of chrons are randomly distributed, a ‘periodicity’ has been recognised, with most 177

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ranging between 0.1 and one million year. About four hundred polar shift reversals have occurred during the past 330 million years. The latest one, the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal, took place 780 000 years ago. There are, also, brief disruptions that do not result in reversal, called geomagnetic excursions, which can be characterized as dramatic, typically short-lived decreases in field intensity, with a variation in pole orientation of up to 45◦ from the previous position; they are generally not recorded across the entire globe (fourteen found in the last one million years). But recent studies propose a different picture of a geomagnetic field enjoying long periods of stable polarity. Those reversals leave their signal / mark on igneous rocks and they are, also, related to plate tectonics of the past (motions of continents and ocean floors) -this is called Magnetostratigraphy. The scientists who study the phenomenon are called Paleomagnetists. The magnetic excursions don’t change permanently the large-scale orientation of the magnetic field. Generally, they are not recorded around the entire globe, as reversals do. The World Magnetic Model shows that the intensity of the field decreases from the Poles to the Equator. Its maximum expression exists over Northern Canada, Siberia and the coast of Antarctica south of Australia. Its minimum expression exists over South America (the famous South Atlantic Anomaly). Initially, the presence of a radiation belt had been proposed by Kristian Birkeland – Carl Størmer - Nicholas Christofilos, and Immanuel Velikovsky, prior to the Space Age. On the other hand, James Alfred Van Allen (1914-2006 Current Era) was an American space scientist at the University of Iowa. In the 1958 satellite missions (Explorer 1 & 3) Van Allen had argued that a Geiger counter should be used to detect charged particles. The term Van Allen Radiation Belts refers specifically to the radiation belts surrounding Earth; it is the Plasmasphere which lays into the inner Magnetosphere. Earth's two main belts extend from an altitude of about 500 to 58 000 km (310 to 36 040 mi) above the surface in which region radiation levels vary. The belts endangered satellites. In 2013, NASA reported that the Van Allen Probes (two robotic spacecraft used for the study of the belts’ environment) had discovered a transient third radiation belt, observed for four weeks before destroyed by a powerful interplanetary shock wave from the Sun. 178

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A cross-section of Van Allen radiation Belts. The Inner Belt typically extends from 1,000 km (620 mi) to 6,000 km (3,700 mi) above the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surface, but it may decline to roughly 200 km. Image Credit: Booyabazooka at English Wikipedia. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Later on, similar radiation belts have been discovered around other planets, but the Sun does not support long-term radiation belts. In 1995, the Robert & Glatzmaier model (first 3D computer simulation of an Earth like magnetic field that reverses itself) showed that in the inner core the magnetic field has an opposite polarity from the outer core, and this stabilizes the field against a tendency to reverse more frequently. After running for one year on a supercomputer, the model which simulated the behavior of the geomagnetic field for 40 000 years, showed a reversal. In fact, after 36 000 years, the magnetic field reversed its dipole polarity over a period of only 1200 years. Based upon the study of lava flows of basalt throughout the world (when cools show whatever magnetic field was present at the time), scientists concluded that the Earth's magnetic field reverses at intervals. ranging from tens of thousands to many millions of years, with an average interval of approximately 250 000 years. But, the average rate of Earth's geomagnetic reversals has varied enormously: five reversals per million years during the last ten to twenty million years, in contrast with 0.05 reversals every million years between 125 and 84 million years ago. According to the La Violette Theory (1983), the geomagnetic reversals are induced by solar cosmic ray storms. The solar cosmic rays from mega flares could impact the Earth's magnetosphere, since they become trapped there to form storm-time radiation belts and generate an 179

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equatorial ring current producing a magnetic field opposed to the Earth's one. If sufficiently intense, this ring current magnetic field could cancel out the Earth's own field and flip the residual magnetic field pole to an equatorial location. From this position it could later either recover or adopt a reversed polarity. This kind of geomagnetic excursion would be very rapid, occurring in a matter of days. The verification came between 1989 and 1995, when geophysicists reported their analysis of a geomagnetic reversal recorded in the Steens Mountain lava formation (Oregon State, USA) dated to 17-14 million years ago, conclusively demonstrating that during this reversal the Earth's magnetic pole changed direction as fast as 8 degrees per day! More evidence came from the Bosumtwi impact event (between Ashanti and Ghana in Africa), took place approximately one million years ago. It was linked to the Jaramillo event. It was discovered in rocks from Jaramillo Creek in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico, because it was a short-term excursion and reversal. Nevertheless, it is highly disputed amongst researchers. Other examples that could sustain this theory are the following. The Blake excursion which coincides with the disappearance of Lower Palaeolithic tools and the appearance of Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) tools and Neanderthal Man (approximately 114 000 - 110 000 Before Current Era). McHargue and others (1994 and 1995), discovered Be10 anomalies in ocean sediments, dated to 30 000 and 41 000 Before Current Era, respectively. The Mono Lake and Laschamp geomagnetic excursions were caused by the passage of supernova shock fronts during a time of unprecedented long-term solar activity. The Mungo excursion synchronizes with the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic boundary and the replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Man (approximately 29 000 -27 000 Before Current Era; and a second one around 24 000 Before Current Era). But perhaps it had not worldwide synchronous features. Finally, geologic data also give irrefutable evidence that at two times in the recent past, around 7640 and 3100 Before Current Era, there have been complete reversals of the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magnetic field caused by an outside influence, most probably a comet.

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Geomagnetic polarity during the last 5 million years (late Cenozoic Era = Pliocene and Quaternary). Dark areas denote periods where the polarity matches today's normal polarity; light areas denote periods where that polarity is reversed. Image Credit: United States Geological Survey, hand-traced to vector by me (User:Intgr) - U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-187. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Thus, the geomagnetic reversals are strongly related to various cosmic phenomena and have a huge, but subtle, impact on human evolution. Albert Einstein believed that the origin of the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magnetic field was one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in physics. The ancient legends about the Sun changing direction remain, also, a great mystery. Ancient Greek researchers Herodotus and Plato cite Egyptian sources of occasions when the Sun changed directions and arose in the West instead of the East. In fifteen spectacular pages, Velikovsky (in his 181

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famous work Worlds in Collision) cites other indications in legends and writing of a reversal of directions that could only come with the Earth “turning upside down”.

Senemut (sometimes spelled Senmut, Senenmut or Senmout) was an 18th dynasty Egyptian architect and government official. He may also have been the lover of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. Although it is not known where he is buried, Senemut had two tombs constructed for him, TT71, in the Tombs of the Nobles, and TT 353, near Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir –el-Bahri. The astronomical ceiling of TT-353 dates the tomb to the eve of 15th November 1463 Before Current Era. The ceiling is divided into two sections representing the northern and the southern skies. The southern - upper part shown in the picture above - is decorated with a list of decanal stars, as well as constellations of the southern sky belonging to it like Orion and Sothis (Sopdet). Furthermore, the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Venus are shown and associated deities who are traveling in small boats over the sky. Thus, the southern ceiling marks the hours of the night. Image Credit: Senemm TSR – Own Work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

A ceiling in the tomb of Senmut of Egypt, pictures a reversed sky tableau such as would occur were the Earth “turned upside down”. Other researchers observed, also, the reversed burials of Pharaohs, the inscription of Horemheb's tomb that the Sun rises in the West, and the statues of Rameses II at Abu Simbel, facing East rather than the orthodox western way to where he should be oriented, with his false beard. 182

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Indications are strong in favor of heavy magnetic disturbances in the mid-first and mid-second millennia Before Current Era, based on ceramic, clay, rock, biostratigraphic, legendary, and historical data. For example, investigation of Egyptian pottery over a 3000 year-period proved that the greatest rate of change occurred about 1400 Before Current Era. Later on, scientists detected changes of the magnetic inclinations, imprinted upon Bavarian and Etruscan vases of the period 800-600 Before Current Era. ☉ Galactic Core explosions Most cosmic rays originate from extrasolar sources within our own galaxy such as rotating neutron stars, supernovae and black holes. However, the fact that some cosmic rays have extremely high energies provides evidence that at least some must be of extra-galactic origin (for example, radio galaxies and quasars). On the other hand, anomalous cosmic rays (ACRs) are cosmic rays with unexpectedly low energies; they have been created near the edge of our solar system, in the Heliosheath, the border region between the heliosphere and the interstellar medium. They approach the Earth’s surface isotropically (= equally from all directions). Recent research has produced evidence for 1.5 to 2-fold millenniumtimescale changes in the cosmic ray flux in the past forty thousand years. The cosmic rays constitute a fraction of the annual radiation exposure of human beings on Earth. The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with our Solar System included, with a diameter between 150 000 and 200 000 light years. It is estimated to contain 200 - 400 billion stars, and, at least, 100 billion planets! Our Sun is located within the disc; it may be found close to the inner rim of the Galaxy's Orion’s Arm, in the Local Fluff or the Gould Belt, at a hypothesized distance of 26 490 (± 100) light-years from the Galactic Center. The term Milky Way comes from the ancient Greek words γαλαξίας κύκλος (meaning milky cycle given for its appearance), translated into Latin via lactea. The Milky Way has a relatively low surface brightness; unfortunately, light pollution or the moon light reduces its visibility. The worldwide lore and mythology about it is very rich.

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It was just one of eleven "circles" the ancient Greeks identified in the sky, apart from the zodiac, the meridian, the horizon, the equator, the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, and two colure circles (two main meridians of the celestial sphere = equinoxes and solstices) passing through both poles.

Image of the night sky above Paranal on July 21, 2007, taken by ESO astronomer Yuri Beletsky. A wide band of stars and dust clouds, spanning more than 100 degrees on the sky, is seen. This is the Milky Way, the galaxy to which we belong. At the centre of the image, two bright objects are visible. The brightest is the planet Jupiter, while the other is the star Antares. Three of the four 8.2-m telescopes forming ESO's VLT are seen, with a laser beaming out from Yepun, Unit Telescope number 4. The laser points directly at the Galactic Centre. Also visible are three of the 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes used for interferometry. They show small light beams which are diodes located on the domes. The exposure time is 5 minutes and because the tracking was made on the stars, the telescopes are slightly blurred. Image Source: ESO/Y. Beletsky https://web.archive.org/web/20081121184421/http://www.eso.org/gallery/v/ESOPIA/ Paranal/phot-33a-07.tif.html. CC BY 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The galactic center harbors a compact object of very large mass (named Sagittarius A*), strongly suspected to be a supermassive blackhole. Most galaxies are believed to have a supermassive black hole at their center. The galactic core outbursts are the most energetic phenomenon taking place in the entire Universe. They occur about every 13 000- 26 000 years (major outbursts) and more frequently (lesser events). A super wave produced by an explosion of our Milky Way's core could be immediately preceded by a very strong gamma ray pulse, ten thousand times stronger than what could come from a supernova explosion. 184

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Similar cosmic phenomena that caused turbulence on Earth have been, also, predicted by Paul la Violette, the pioneering American scientist, who proposed a unified Super Wave Theory (1983, 1985 and 2005). Many years of astronomical observations confirmed that the centre of our Galaxy explodes about every 10 000 years, each of these events lasting 100 years or so. Similar events trigger a lethal ‘galactic super wave’. La Violette suggested that a volley of galactic cosmic rays had bombarded the Earth and our solar system toward the end of the last Ice Age (about 14 000 years ago). ☀ Solar Flares Our Sun is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma and it has not a definite boundary. It consists of the core with its magnetic field, the opaque layer of the photosphere, and the transparent solar atmosphere (chromosphere and corona). The corona seems to be constantly ejecting its contents into space. The Sun is roughly middle-aged; it has not changed dramatically for more than four billion years, and fortunately for us, it will remain stable for more than another five billion years. Some of this material flows past the Earth’s orbit as a cloud of energetic protons and helium nuclei, accompanied by electrons; this is known as the solar wind.

The structure of the Sun. Image Credit: Kelvinsong – Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

In every second, one hundred million solar ions arrive above each square centimeter of the Earth’s atmosphere. The more luminous the star, 185

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the faster its stellar wind carries away mass, and, the more rapidly the gases flow away from the star. Furthermore, sudden explosive eruptions (flares), occur above the solar surface. The energy in a single flare could supply the Earth’s population with electrical power for millions of years. The cosmic dust can be struck by particles from the Sun or stars and emit gases. Only 20% of the argon 36 and 38 found on Earth is an effect of the solar wind upon space dust and debris. The balance has derived from an unquiet sun of long ages ago, and larger dust clouds surrounding the Earth back then. The scientific dialogue started in 1967, by John F. Simpson, who interconnected solar activity, radio noise and geomagnetic indices, observing that “maximum quake frequency occurs at times of moderately high and fluctuating solar activity”. Gui-Qing Zhang (1998), from the Beijing Astronomical Observatory Chinese Academy of Sciences, concluded that earthquakes occur frequently around the minimum years of solar activity. ☼ Sunspots A sunspot is a region on the Sun’s surface that is marked by a lower temperature than its surroundings and has intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection, forming areas of low surface temperature. Worth mentioning is that, the first record of sunspots dates to around 800 Before Current Era, in China, and the oldest surviving drawing of a sunspot dates to 1128 Current Era. In 1610 Current Era, astronomers began to use the telescope in order to make observations of sunspots and their motions. Today, the interrelation between Sun’s activity and Earth’s climate is scientifically proven.

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This figure summarizes the sunspot number observations and the correlation between solar activity and climate on Earth. Since about 1749 Current Era, continuous monthly averages of sunspot activity have been available and are shown here as reported by the Solar Influences Data Analysis Center, World Data Center for the Sunspot Index, at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. These figures are based on an average of measurements from many different observatories around the world. Prior to 1749, sporadic observations of sunspots are available. These were compiled and placed on consistent monthly framework by Hoyt and Schatten (1998). Image Credit: Robert A. Rohde as part of the Global Warming Art project. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia.

Furthermore, according to the Sunspot Hypothesis, there is a correlation between sunspots and earthquakes (electric earthquakes) via the Ionosphere, because an intensification of the magnetic field can cause changes in the Geosphere. Changes in the Sun-Earth environment affect the magnetic field of the Earth that can trigger earthquakes in areas prone to them. Recent examples are Mount Pinatubo that erupted in 1991 and Mt. Aetna in conjunction with the end of the solar maximum. Then, two Mexican volcanoes, Mt. Popocatepetl and Mt Colima erupted in 2000 (during Sunspot Cycle 23). During another recent sunspot cycle, Mt. St. Helens exploded hot plumes of smoke and ash into the sky in 1980. El Chicon erupted in 1982 during the last year of the 1979- 1982 solar maximum. In fact, Mt. Aetna erupts precisely in tandem with peaks in solar activity, as the eruptions of 2000, 1991, 1969 and 1908, all solar maximum years, reveal. Finally, the notorious Krakatoa exploded with massive fury on the last leg of the Venus transit (1874-1882 Current Era). The modern scientific dialogue was started in 1967 by John F. Simpson (Goodyear Aerospace / University of Akron, Ohio USA), who interconnected solar activity, radio noise and geomagnetic indices. 187

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Moreover, the scientific journalist Mitch Battros proposed, firstly in Earth Changes Media and then in Science of Cycles â&#x20AC;&#x201C; both founded by him (after 1995) a sequence of interrelated phenomena, such as sunspots, solar flares (charged particles), magnetic field shift, shifting ocean and jet stream currents, as well as extreme weather, including also earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes or other extreme natural events. NASA uses the data from Space weather as pre-earthquakes signals. Even the economists have detected possible links between solar activity and the economic fluctuations! For example, Carlos Garcia-Mata and Felix Schaffner (1934) observed that there is a correlation between the appearance of sunspots near the solar equator (which happens just after the sunspot peak) and times of economic depression. â&#x2DC;ž Moon Orbit Perturbations There are over thirty theories for lunar formation (Origin of the Moon Hypotheses). Its recent origin was stated in Democritus, Anaxagoras, Aristotle, Apollonius, Plutarch, Ovid, Hyppolitus, Lucian and other ancient Greek writers. Its higher luminosity in the past is described by ancient authors, implying that it was closer to Earth, which had thirteen months year then.

The monthly changes in the angle between the direction of sunlight and view from Earth, and the Phase of the Moon that result, as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere. The Earth-Moon distance is not to scale. Image Credit: Orion 8 - Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia.

According to Spedicato and Petruzzi hypothesis (2008), the moon was captured about 9450 Before Current Era, from a body of an estimated mass about ten times Earth mass. The researcher identified that body with 188

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the Greek Metis, or the Babylonian Marduk or other deities. The Moon, then, moved on an orbit closer to Earth than now (of a radius of about 270 000 km) and it appeared in the sky one and a half times bigger than Sun or Mars. The researchers are also based on Velikovsky’s data from ancient cultures. In fact, one astonishing lore should be mentioned here: Censorinus (Roman grammarian and miscellaneous writer of the 3rd century Current Era) in a remarkable passage of his book De die natali, reports that “the Arcadians (=ancient Greek tribe resided in mountainous Peloponnesus) claim, but I do not believe it, that before the Moon existed, the year had three and not twelve months”. ♁ Mars Orbit Perturbations In addition, havoc from the sky was not only originated from the above-mentioned phenomena, but, also, due to disturbances in planetary orbits (for example, Venus and Mars Hypotheses). Modern researchers such de Grazia have examined the ancient literary and geoarchaeological evidence, suggesting that there were close flybys of the planet Mars in the past. Those flybys could create on the Earth the following phenomena: immense sub-crustal tides of magma (of 6 hourduration), immense oceanic tides, flooding continents, Earth spin axis "precessions" causing spin axis shifts, recharges of the Earth's geomagnetic field strength, paleomagnetic polarity reversals, orbit perturbations or ''warps" for both Earth and Mars, meteor-type impacts on Earth (since Mars had a rocky ring system, of which only Deimos and Phobos survive today). Close Mars flybys alternated between the ascending (October 24) and the descending intersection (March 20-21) crossroads. Close flybys rocked back and forth in 108-year cycles, like a rocking chair. Spedicato (2010, 2013 and 2014), Patten (1988), Ackerman (2001 and 2001), and partially De Grazia (1984), gave, also, a timescale of Mars orbits and their interrelation with other planets in our solar system, including Earth, after the offset of Younger Dryas. A very brief summary is the following. Till about 9450 Before Current Era, Mars was a satellite of Earth (this explains its similar rotation period and angle over ecliptic with our planet). During the period between 9450 to about 7000 Before Current Era, Earth 189

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got a second satellite, the Moon. At about 7000 Before Current Era, Metis (? Nibiru) impacted over Jupiter, causing Jupiter to expel a mass particularly from its core (the goddess Athena expelled from Zeus head). Then, that mass from Jupiter impacted Mars, expelling him out of Earth’s orbit. So, between 7000 and 700 Before Current Era, Mars moved along an elliptic orbit passing close to Earth every fifty-four years, at a distance even smaller than the Moon’s distance. When Mars was closest to Earth, humans could have a clear sight of various aspects of its surface, especially of the volcanoes and Valles Marineris. In fact, Spedicato proposes an alternative fascinating theory according to which, the three Giza pyramids were aligned not in similarity with the three main stars of Orion Belt (as proposed by Hancock, Bauval and Gilbert, West and others), but with the three volcanoes of Mars visible by that time.

Pyramids of Giza and Orion’s belt. Image Credit: The Online Star Register Blog – Astronomy – 4 November 2017. The three Tharsis volcanoes (bottom, right) straddle the region dominated by Olympus Mons (top left). Scientists think the volcanoes may not be extinct, but rather dormant and waiting for a hot plume of magma to travel beneath them. Image Credit: NASA. Image Source: Space.com – Science and Astronomy, 17 October 2007.

Due to these gravitational tide effects when Mars was closest to Earth, many Martian volcanoes probably erupted. During one special event (Ackerman, 2001), Mars lost its core which become planet Mercury. Furthermore, it was during that cosmic event - hinted by ancient rituals and texts around the world, that twice Sun rose in East and twice in West (Velikovsky, 1950) - when the length of the year changed from 360 to 365 days. 190

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♀︎ Venus as a comet In the late 1970s, NASA’s Pioneer Venus Orbiter first detected the "induced magnetotail" (= a teardrop-shaped plasma structure filled with “a lot of little stringy things”) that points away from Venus in the direction of the Earth. Later on, in 1997, Europe’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Satellite showed that the tail stretched some 45 billion kilometers into space, more than six hundred as far as anyone had realized and almost far enough to “tickle” the Earth when the two planets are in line with the Sun. In this sense, Venus can be likened to a comet, which has an induced magnetotail of similar origin

The ion tail of Venus. Image Source: Jeff Hecht, New Scientist Magazine, May 31, 1997

Velikovsky, after studying a plethora of evidence, had suggested that Venus came into our solar system within the last 4000 to 5000 years. It came flying toward our Sun and it was caught by the gravitational field. Venus spins in the opposite direction that it orbits the Sun, which no other planet does. In addition, it's spinning tremendously fast, and also it could well have been the thing which caused the strange happenings on our own planet as it flew by, recorded in the Bible: fired-up things in the sky (chariots of fire), weird tides in the oceans (parting of the Red Sea), as well as, an unbalanced earthen biology (the plagues of frogs and stuff). The Babylonians were the first to chart Venus, and, when looking at their records, Venus appears very suddenly 4000 to 5000 years ago. The Vedas said that the star Venus looks like fire with smoke. The star had a tail, dark in the daytime and luminous at night. This luminous tail, which Venus had in earlier centuries, is mentioned in the Talmud “Fire as hanging down from the planet Venus”. 191

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Described by the Chaldeans, the planet Venus `was said to have a beard. The term ‘beard’ is used in modern astronomy in the description of comets. As for the Mexicans, they called her a comet, `a star that smoked’. Moreover, the peoples of the Mexican Gulf Coast were lamenting the destruction of their previous civilization by the jaguar-god (a Venus symbol), the storm-god Hurracan. In China, the time of Emperor Yahou coincided with the time of Exodus; and there the waters “over-topped the great heights, threatening the heavens with their floods”. More intriguing evidence will be presented in a later chapter, where we learn about the impact of cosmic phenomena on the life of our planet. And now, a more detailed list of the afore-mentioned phenomena in a chronological order: ☄Eltanin asteroid (2.15 million years ago): Bellingshausen Sea of Antarctica ★ Super Novae explosion (approximately two million years ago): The Scorpius – Centaurus OB association (Phrase mass extinction) ★ SN explosion (one million years ago): In the constellation Scorpius (now a black hole) ☄A large meteorite ploughed into southeast Asia (about 800 000 years ago). The impact splashed molten glass over the region, including Australia ☉ Galactic Core explosions (450 000-250 000 years ago): Sagittarius A* ★ SN explosion (340 000 years ago): Geminga (first shockwave) ↨ Calabrian Ridge 1 (325 000-315 000 years ago): CR1= magnetic excursion due to solar cosmic rays’ storm ☄Wolfe Creek Crater (300,000 years ago): western Australia ↨ Jamaica/Pringle Falls (215 000-210 000 years ago): J/PF = geomagnetic excursion due to solar cosmic rays’ storm ↨ Blake excursion (114 000-108 000 years ago): disappearance of Lower Palaeolithic tools and appearance of Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) tools ☄Meteor Crater - Barringer Crater (49 000 years ago): Winslow – Arizona ☉ Galactic Core explosions (73 000-35 000 years ago): Sagittarius A* ↨ Laschamp excursion (about 43 000-41 000 years ago): caused by the passage of supernova shock fronts during a time of unprecedented longterm solar activity 192

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★ SN explosion (41 000 years ago): comet-like objects ★ SN explosion (37 000 years ago): Geminga (second shockwave) ↨ Mungo excursion (37 000 years ago): The Middle/Upper Palaeolithic boundary and the replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Man ↨ Mono Lake excursion (32 000 years ago): caused by the passage of supernova shock fronts during a time of unprecedented long-term solar activity ★ SN explosion (31 000 years ago): huge blast wave of iron-rich grains that impacted our planet ☉ Galactic Core explosions (15 000-12 500 years ago): Sagittarius A* ★ SN explosion (13 000 years ago): demise of mammoths and abandonment of Clovis sites in North America ☄Sithylemenkat meteor lake in Alaska (14 000 years ago, but doubted; researchers claim that it is older and others that it is of glacial origin) ☄Meteor swarms (about 11 000 years ago). Wide distribution of microspherules in a layer on four continents + peak abundances of nanodiamonds + other unusual forms of carbon such as fullerenes + meltglass + iridium ☀ Tragic solar flare event (about 12 900 years ago): Global Conflagration; Usselo Horizon ★ SN explosion (12 300-11 000 years ago): Vela constellation - Gum Nebula ☄Merewether Crater (about 8000 years ago): Ungava Bay - Canada + thirteen impact craters (the Henbury crater cluster): Alice Springs – Australia ↨ Complete geomagnetic reversal (7640 Before Current Era): irrefutable geological evidence; event caused by an outside influence, most probably a comet ★ SN explosion (5500 years ago): Eta Carinae; the shock wave from this explosion would reach Earth between 2000 and 2500 Current Era ☄June 29, 3123 Before Current Era: An asteroid approach on collision course is documented by a Sumerian astronomer (alleged collision happened near modern Koefels, Austria)? Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ↨ Complete geomagnetic reversal (3100 Before Current Era): irrefutable geological and archaeological evidence; event caused by an outside influence. 193

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☄? Hephaistos events (between 2200-1800 Before Current Era): Sarasvati River - Thar Desert; Homeric Epics - eastern Mediterranean - southwestern Asia? Egyptian Ipuwer papyrus? Exodus from Egypt / the Ten Plagues ☄? Phaethon's ride /? Proto-planet Venus (about 1200 Before Current Era); the researcher de Jonge (2014) claims that the mysterious Longyou Caves (Shiyan Beicun on the Qiantang River, Zhejiang Province, China) – considered to be the 8th wonder of the ancient world – were built for the protection of the King and its royal court from the reappearance of a devastating comet or comet swarm in 1200 Before Current Era ☄Tupana event / Panela crater – northeastern Brazil (about 1200 Before Current Era) ☾ Century of "perturbed months" (747- March 23, 687 Before Current Era): the moon receded to an orbit of thirty-five to thirty-six days duration; it remained in such an orbit for a few decades until, at the next upheaval, it was carried to an orbit of twenty-nine and a half days' duration, on which it has proceeded since then ♁ Thunderbolt of Mars (years around the foundation of Rome, 753 Before Current Era): the great city of Volsinium, by what is now Lago Bolsena, was destroyed, as said by the Etruscans ☀ Calendar reform in Egypt (8th century Before Current Era): Cataclysm during the reign of the Pharaoh Osorkon II of the Libyan Dynasty; a 365 days solar calendar + in the ninth year of King Ptolemy Euergetes (239 Before Current Era): a reform party among the Egyptian priests met at Canopus and drew up a decree ☄Earliest confirmed sighting of Comet Halley (northern Greece, 466 Before Current Era); according to the researchers Graham and Hintz (2010): other later known observations in 240, 164 and 87 Before Current Era, by Chinese and Babylonian astronomers; perhaps its earlier known image on the coins of Armenian king Tigranes II the Great (95-55 Before Current Era), silver and copper-bronze tetradrachms and drachms; severe event of comet’s debris hitting Earth (536 Current Era = known as the year when a decade-long cold snap begun) causing a worldwide turmoil, drought, famine and the Justinian plague; 1066 Current Era (Battle of Hastings and Bayeux Tapestry); 1456, 1531, 1607, 1682 Current Era ☄Comet split apart in winter 373/372 Before Current Era; Aristotle mentioned one bright comet during the winter months of that year when 194

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Asteios was the archon of Athens; it has been proposed that it was the same which reappeared in 1843 Current Era ☄Comet of winter 341 /340 Before Current Era; Aristotle mentioned it in relation of the Athenian archon Nichomachos ★ SN explosion (December 7, 185 Current Era): Sn 185 (SNR 315.0-02.3) near the direction of Alpha Centauri; between the constellations Circinus and Centaurus ★ SN explosion (mid-May of 386 Current Era): SN 386 (SNR 011.2-00.3) Sagittarius constellation ☄Swarm of cosmic debris (534-536 and 545 Current Era) ☄Comet collision (January 17, 773 Current Era) ☄Comet swarms (836-869 Current Era) ★ SN explosion (spring of 1006 Current Era): SN 1006 - Lupus constellation, just South of Scorpio ★ SN explosion (July 4, 1054 Current Era): SN 1054 (initial explosion in 5446 Before Current Era= visibility after 6500 years) - Taurus constellation ☄Tamaatea Fires / New Zealand (about 1178 Current Era) ☼ Zero sunspots (1450-1540 Current Era): Spörer Minimum ★ SN explosion (November, 6 1572 Current Era): SN 1572 or Tycho's Nova; Cassiopeia constellation ★ SN explosion (October 9, 1604 Current Era): SN 1604, the last great supernova in our own galaxy or Kepler's Star; Ophiuchus constellation ☼ ‘Zero’ sunspots (1645-1715 Current Era): Maunder Minimum (only about 50 sunspots recorded instead of the normal 40-50 thousands) ☄Great Comet of 1680 Current Era. It was discovered on November 14, 1680 by the German astronomer G. Kirsch and it is the first telescopically detected comet in human history; destruction of settlements in southwestern America + fall of ‘Easter Island Culture’ ☄Great Comet of 1744 Current Era. Visible for November 29, 1743 till March 6, 1744. By February 1, it rivaled the star Sirius in brightness displaying a curved tail 15° in length; by February 18, the comet was as bright as Venus and displaying two tails. And on February 27, it peaked at magnitude -7 reported visible in the daytime, 12° from the Sun ☼ Zero sunspots (1790-1820 Current Era): Dalton Minimum

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☄Great Comet of 1843 Current Era; it belongs to the Kruetz Sungrazing Comet Group, which has produced some of the most brilliant comets in recorded history ☼ The Carrington Event (September 1, 1859 Current Era): the biggest reported solar storm and giant auroras ☄? Comet Biela (October 8, 1871 Current Era): Peshtigo - Wisconsin and Chicago fires ☄Great September Comet of 1882 Current Era; it was a gigantic member of the Kreutz Sungrazing Group and had been first spotted as a bright zeromagnitude object by a group of Italian sailors in the South Hemisphere on September 1; later on, its nucleus broke into at least four separate parts; today, some comet historians consider it as a ‘Super Comet’ ☄Tunguska event (June 30, 1908 Current Era): Siberia ☄Rupunui event (August 13, 1930 Current Era): Amazonian Rain Forest – Brazil But we should also explain few more cosmic phenomena that are directly corelated with our planet and are also present in worldwide lore of ancient cultures. Axis Mundi and Plasma Mythology According to the leading research of Marinus van der Sluijs, the mythological phenomenon of axis mundi (world pillar) dates back to the earliest stages of civilisation and is described by the most diverse cultures in remarkably similar terms (= found in many cultures of the world). It includes a possible link to the zenith or the pole and a visible entity in the sky, with a complex, evolving morphology, as they had appeared in the past. The prototype may have been the zodiacal light, or an enhanced aurora formed in prehistoric times, as recent insights in plasma physics indicate. Aurora (plural aurorae or auroras) is also known as the polar lights, the northern lights (aurora borealis) and the southern lights (aurora australis). The ionization and excitation of our planet’s magnetospheric plasma by the charged particles of the solar wind produces this amazingly beautiful natural phenomenon, usually seen either in arctic and antarctic 196

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(Antarctica, and the southern latitudes of Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia) regions. But the proton auroras are usually seen in lower latitudes. When the geomagnetic storms are more intense, the phenomenon can be seen in latitudes below the auroral zone. The word came from the Latin word meaning the dawn, the morning light. Even if they are often black auroras, typical auroral display consists of these forms appearing in the above order throughout the night (red, green, blue, ultraviolet, infrared, yellow and pink). Their noise is like a hissing, or crackling noise, and begins about 70 m. (230 feet) above the Earth's surface.

Over the Eyjafjallajökull glacier and volcano, seen from the Skogasandur outwash plain, near the village of Skogar, Iceland. Image Credit: Sébastien Giguère - Own work. CC BY 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

An aurora was described by the Greek geographer and explorer Pytheas in the 4th century Before Current Era (he made a trip to northwestern Europe from Massalia (Marseille, France), and by the Roman Seneca (1st century Before Current Era - 1st century 1st century Current Era) and Pliny the Elder (1st century Current Era), who wrote about auroras. In 2017, a Japanese diary dated to 1770 Current Era was been discovered. It contained depictions of auroras above the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, suggesting that the geomagnetic storm may have been 7% larger than the Carrington Event, which affected telegraph networks. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have also intense auroras. The rise of the axis mundi, as it appeared back then, precipitated the separation of Heaven and Earth, which had formerly been united; it was the first thing that existed in the darkness. The axis marked the optical centre of Heaven and Earth. In ancient traditions, there was always a mythical god, 197

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hero or ancestor traveled up and down along the axis. The axis emitted a rutilant, luminous glow, and it was formed of water, wind or fire. It was spinning and it consisted of seven to nine superimposed segments. The axis assumed the form of a cone, and its top and bottom extremities were bifurcated. One or two spirals coiled round the axis, producing seven to nine windings. Seven to nine concentric rings formed round the axis. It was hollow inside. The axis was the source of life, energy, and food, and contained the mythical ancestor, and it was surmounted by a deity or a spherical object. Several filaments, tentacles or streamers, mostly four, seven or nine, jetted out from the axis, radiating into space. When the axis snapped in the centre and collapsed, the pieces speedily dispersed through space. Another leading scientist, Anthony L. Peratt, observed the striking similarity of rock art / cave drawings patterns and symbols, found all over the world, from Neolithic to Bronze Age, with the high energy plasma discharges in the Los Alamos Laboratory. People of ancient times seem to have watched to the same cosmic phenomena (like Z-pinch aurorae), due to the increase of the solar wind by one or two orders of magnitude. Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter. Lightning is one of the well known examples of plasma.

The Squatter Man (Squatting Man or Stick Man) petroglyphs are an image recorded by nearly all races on all the continents back in the day. Probably our ancestors were all inspired by the same event. The most likely way they could all have seen it was if the event was in the sky. Image Credit: Dr Anthony Peratt. Image Source: http://www.theplasmaverse.com/verse/squatterman-plasmadischargespetroglyphs.html 198

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The Two Suns Although the Sun courses along the zodiac and has no direct connection to the Milky Way, various cultures claim that the Sun formerly moved on the Milky Way. The Pythagoreans (= an early pre-Socratic ancient Greek School of Philosophy, based around the metaphysical beliefs of Pythagoras of Samos and his followers) taught that the Sun was once on a different course, this of the Milky Way. This former Sun was identified as Phaethon (we will speak about this famous ancient legend in a later chapter). The ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles (approximately 484- 424 Before Current Era) taught that there are two suns. According to the Jesuit scholar Kugler, the former "Sun" could have been a giant comet. According to modern scientists, either the "Milky Way" could be based on an increased zodiacal light (Clube and others), or many myths trace to an episode, in which the Magnetosphere of the Earth was once visibly glowing as a semi-permanent “aurora” (van der Sluijs).

This captivating natural color view of the planet Saturn was created from images collected shortly after Cassini began its extended Equinox Mission in July 2008 (Saturn actually reached equinox on August 11, 2009). Image Credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute - http://www.ciclops.org/view/5155/Saturn-Four-Years-On http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/365640main_PIA11141_full.jpg http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11141. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Moreover, in the Near Eastern tradition followed by ancient Egyptian, Greeks and Hindus, the planet Saturn was the “Sun of the night” 199

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(if observed inside a lunar halo) and the “star of the king”. Babylonian texts (= passages in the cuneiform script and omen literature) referred to the planet as Sun between the years 750-612 Before Current Era (starting at least from the late second millennium onwards). Saturn is the only one amidst the naked planets of our solar system, which has a consistent yellow golden color and a motion relative to the Sun’s. In fact, planet Saturn has a yellowish atmosphere with dark gray and brown clouds that form belts or bands around it (van der Sluijs and James). Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in our solar system after Jupiter. At least sixty-two moons are known, till now, to orbit the planet, and hundreds of moonlets in his rings. Saturn must be known from prehistoric times. The Precession of the Equinoxes Another famous cosmic phenomenon, known from prehistoric times is the Precession of the Equinoxes. The Earth rotates around its axis in 24 hours, orthogonally to the Ecliptic (= the plane of the orbit of our planet around the Sun), describing a cone. The gradual shift in the orientation of Earth's axis of rotation is called Axial Precession. The period of this movement is extremely long with respect to human life, since the axis completes a cycle in 25 776 years. The Precession has a very important consequence on long-term naked eye astronomy, because the prolongation of the Earth axis on the celestial sphere defines astronomical North. The stars move retrograde across the sky. The Equinoxes (twice in a year, when the center of the visible Sun is directly above the Equator –- in our epoch, in March and September) and the Solstices (twice in a year, when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere – in our epoch, in June and December) slowly change over time moving backwards. 4500 years Before Current Era, the Vernal Equinox was close to the star Aldebaran of the constellation Taurus (= the constellation of Taurus rose in the horizon along with the Sun in the morning of the Vernal Equinox of that date). This epoch lasted until 2000 Before Current Era. It was known as the Taurus Epoch. Then, since the move is backwards, the Era of Aries started around 2000 until 100 Before Current Era. Then, it has shifted to 200

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somewhere in the constellation of Pisces and it is about to be in Aquarius (astrologers disagree if we have already entered Aquarius Era or we are about to do).

The coincidence of the annual cycles of the apses (closest and further approach to the sun) and calendar dates (with seasons noted) at four equally spaced stages of precessionary 26,000-year-cycle. The season dates are those in the north. The tilt of Earth's axis and the eccentricity of its orbit are exaggerated. Approximate estimates. Effects of weak planetary precession on the stages shown are ignored. Image Credit: Cmglee - Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Moreover, the direction in which astronomical North points – possibly indicating a star, thereby a pole star – changes, also, continuously in time. Today’s pole star (our Polaris) will resign to be the pole star in a few centuries. Although there is evidence of its discovery in ancient Indian text (about 700 Before Current Era), the historical tradition attributes that to the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus (2nd century Before Current Era). Nevertheless, it was observed by all ancient cultures and there is a rich beautiful lore around the world about this phenomenon.

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Babylonians, Egyptians, Mayas, Indian, Chinese, believers in the Mithraic Mysteries (= a mystery religion practiced in the Roman Empire between 1st and 4th centuries Current Era) and other ancient people were familiar with this beautiful and intriguing cosmic phenomenon. The Homeric Epics describe in a poetic and symbolic way the change of the Pole star. In Paleolithic times, the North Pole crossed the Milky Way, and the Pole star in 15 000 Before Current Era was Delta-Cygnus. The north-pole sky was therefore completely different from ours; it was probably depicted in a fresco of the famous Lascaux grotto.

Bull #18 (Auroch) in Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux cave â&#x20AC;&#x201C; France. Info Credit: Space Today Online. Ice Age Map of the night sky /Upper Palaeolithic cosmographic depictions (Baudouin, 1916; Gingerich, 1984; Congregado, 1991; Edge, 1995; Rappenglueck, 1997 and 1999; Blomberg and others, 2003). About 15,000 Before Current Era (during summer solstice?). Image Source: Scribol.com. http://scribol.com/anthropology-and-history/archaelogy/what-the-lascaux-cavepaintings-tell-us-about-how-our-ancestors-understood-the-stars/4/

The Lascaux Cave is considered as the sanctuary of the paleolithic art; It is the setting of a complex of caves near the village of Montignac (Dordogne, southwestern France). Over six hundred parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of the cave. The aurochs (Bos primigenius or Bos taurus = extinct species of large wild cattle that inhabited Europe, Africa and Asia; it survived in Europe until 1627 Current Era) in the cave paintings in the Salle des Taureux (Hall of the Bulls) at Lascaux, is a complete animal, the oldest form of the constellation of 202

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Taurus the Bull. Long ago the bull was cut in half at the star 39 Tau, and many stars were then available for two other constellations, Aries - the Ram and Cetus - the Whale. In the famous magnificent portrait of the Auroch at Lascaux, six large dots are depicted above it. It is known as Bull #18. In reality it depicts the constellation of Northern Hemisphere known as Pleiades or Seven Sisters. In naked eye astronomy only the six stars are visible indeed, because the seventh was only visible with binoculars. Modern astronomers speculate that the seventh star has been brighter, thus visible, during Neolithic. Later on, the Pleiades are represented above the shoulder or the back of constellation Taurus. The Year with 360 days All Veda texts (all the Brahmanas) speak uniformly and exclusively of a year of 360 days. This Hindu year of 360 days is divided into twelve months of 30 days each. The texts describe the Moon as crescent for fifteen days and waning for another fifteen days. They say, also, that the Sun moved for six months or 180 days to the North and for the same number of days to the South. From about the 7th century Before Current Era onwards, the year of the Hindus became 365 and a quarter day long. But for temple purposes the old year of 360 days was equally observed, and this year is called ‘savana’. The Egyptian year was composed of 360 days before it became 365 by the addition of five days. The calendar of the Ebers Papyrus (a document of the New Kingdom), has a year of twelve months of thirty days each. Besides the gnomon or sundial, the Egyptians used the water clock, which had the advantage over the former of showing time during the night, as well as during the day. A complete example (Egyptian Museum, Cairo 37525) was found in the Amon Temple of Karnak- Thebes, 25.5° north of the Equator. This alabaster water clock dates from the time of Amenhotep III (1397-1360 Before Current Era). The jar has an opening through which water flows out, and marks are incised on the inner surface of the jar to indicate the time. Four time points are prominently important: the Autumnal Equinox, the Winter Solstice, the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice. The Equinoxes have equal days and nights in all latitudes. On the solstices, when either the day or the night 203

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is the longest of the year, the length of the daylight varies with the latitude: the farther from the Equator, the greater is the difference between the day and the night on the day of the solstice. This difference, also, depends on the inclination of the Equator to the plane of the orbit or Ecliptic, which at present is 23 1/2 degrees. If the polar axis changes its astronomical position (direction), or its geographical position with each pole shifting to another point, then the length of the day and night (on any day except the Equinoxes) would change too. The ancient Romans reckoned 360 days to the year. Plutarch wrote that in the time of Romulus, in the 8th century Before Current Era, the Romans had a year of 360 days only. Various Latin authors say that the ancient month was composed of thirty days. The Mayan year consisted of 360 days; later, five days were added. The year was then a 'tun' (360-day period) and five days. Every fourth year another day was added to the year. “The five supplementary days were regarded as ‘sinister and unlucky’. They were called "days without name". The Mexicans, at the time of the conquest, called a thirty-day period "a moon”, since they knew that the synodical period is 29.5209 days. The Maya people lived in southern Mexico and northern Central America (a wide territory that included the entire Yucatán Peninsula), from as early as 2600 Before Current Era. The peak of their civilization was between 250 and 900 Current Era. They had the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian America, and prominent art, astronomy, architecture (pyramids) and mathematics. One major Mayan city-state was Chichen Itza, between 1000 and 1450 Current Era. The Aztecs were Nahuatl-speaking people, who lived in Central Mexico in the 14th to 16th centuries Current Era, but their tribute empire spread throughout Mesoamerica. Their capital was Tenochtitlan. In 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico. By 1521, the Spanish had conquered the Aztecs. They tore down much of the city of Tenochtitlan and built their own city on the site called Mexico City.

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The Aztec or Mexica Calendar Stone or the Sun Stone, based on Mayan system and used by the Aztecs and other pre-Columbian people of Central America. It was one of the most accurate calendars ever invented. Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City, Mexico. Image Credit: El Comandante - Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Inca Empire was centered in Peru and ruled over much of the west coast of South America from the 1400s to the time of the Spanish arrival in 1532 Current Era. Although people of the empire did not have the wheel, iron tools, or a writing system, there was a complex government and a developed system of roads. The emperor of the Inca was known as the Sapa Inca. Their first emperor founded the Kingdom of Cuzco around 1200 Current Era, and the city of Cuzco would remain the capital of the empire till its end. At its height, the Inca Empire had an estimated population of over 10 million people. Unfortunately, civil war and diseases such as smallpox ravaged it before the arrival of the Spanish warriors and conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1533 Current Era, who conquered Inca. In ancient South America the year consisted of 360 days, divided into twelve months. The Peruvian year was divided into twelve Quilla, or moons of thirty days, while five days were added at the end, called Allcacanquis; finally, a day was added every four years to keep the calendar correct.

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The three greatest empires of American Continent. Image Credit: Map of Aztec, Mayan, and Incan Civilizations by Ducksters. Image Source: Aztecs, Maya and Inca for Kids - Overview

The calendar of the peoples of China had a year of 360 days divided into twelve months of thirty days each; the division of the sphere was, also, into 360 degrees. Each degree represented the diurnal advance of the Earth on its orbit, or that position of the zodiac which was passed over from one night to the next. After 360 changes the stellar sky returned to the same position for the observer on the Earth. Moreover, they added five and a quarter day to their year calling this additional period *Khe-ying*. Later on, they began to divide a sphere into 365 and a quarter degree, adopting the New Year length not only in the calendar, but also in celestial and terrestrial geometry. In China, the astronomer Y-hang in the year 721 Before Current Era, announced to the Emperor Hiuen-tsong that the order of the sky and the movements of the planets had changed, making impossible to predict eclipses. He explained that the course of the planet Venus changed in the days of Tsin. Tsin (the planet Venus) moved 40Â° to the South of the Ecliptic and eclipsed the star Sirius! The astronomers of Babylonia distinguished three paths of the Sun. The famous Mul-apin (probably written around 1000 Before Current Era; it contains astronomical data which can be traced back in time up to 2048 Before Current Era) talks about the Anu path, the Enlil path and the Ea 206

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path. Those were the repeated changes in the course of the Sun across the firmament. They denote the successive Ecliptics in various world ages. Like the Sun, the planets in different times, moved along the Anu, Enlil and Ea paths.

MUL.APIN, Babylonian compendium (collection of concise but detailed information), written in cuneiform, that deals with many diverse aspects of Babylonian astronomy and astrology. Image Credit: Unknown - http://images.math.cnrs.fr/Revue-de-presse-avril2012.html?lang=fr. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

One time during the century of perturbations (747- March 23, 687 Before Current Era), at the beginning of Roman history, the moon receded to an orbit of 35 to 36 days duration, and it remained in such an orbit for a few decades until, at the next upheaval, it was carried to an orbit of 291/2 duration, on which it has proceeded since then. Furthermore, the Zodiac, or the path of the constellations in relation to the Sun and Moon paths, at present consisting of twelve signs, but at one time had eleven and at another time ten signs. The solar and lunar movements changed repeatedly, necessitating adjustments of the calendar. It seems that a series of catastrophes changed the axis and the orbit of the Earth and the Moon. The ancient year, after going through a period marked by disarranged seasons, settled into: a "slow moving year" (according to the Roman philosopher Seneca in the 1st century Current Era) of 365 days, 5 207

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hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds plus 12 lunar months of 29 days, twelve hours, 44 minutes and 2.7 seconds each (mean synodical period). Radioactivity and Fires from the Sky According to the researcher Alfred de Grazia and other modern scientists, during the disasters of Exodus (described in the Bible), there are indications of radiation effects, such the widespread "leprosy“, effect which may denote radiation disease, and consumption of fallen quail which killed many persons. The manna, which had to be eaten under supervision (edible but poisonous), could be produced with the aid of cosmic lightning. Formaldehyde (a compound of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen) is a partially combusted gas. It must be synthesized into sugar in an alkaline environment (not poisonous) and it can be converted into starch, rolled into "coriander seed" sizes and dropped at dawn. According to Velikovsky's theory of petroleum origins, there was a frightful deluge of oil, event based on references in legends and scriptures, to the fall of naphtha, sometimes blazing, and of brimstone, often rendered otherwise as a rain of hail. The Abkhasian (Northern Georgia, eastern coast of the Black Sea), people known for their long lifespans, convey a story about a fall-out of cotton, which caught fire and burned the Earth; perhaps it was "cottoncandy" mixed with hydrocarbon. The ancient bible of Mesoamerica, the Popul Vuh, tells of the fate of the people of that age: “And so they were killed; they were overwhelmed. There came a great rain of glue down from the sky”. The "glue" is still found in the land of the Olmecs: the pioneer excavators found radiocarbon samples contaminated by asphalt. The tails of comets are composed mainly of carbon and hydrogen gases. Lacking oxygen, they do not burn in flight, but the inflammable gases, passing through atmosphere containing oxygen, will be set on fire. Both researchers (Velikovsky and de Grazia cite numerous ancient sources to show how falls of a blood-like substance occurred when a "new" comet came into catastrophic contact with the Earth: the Manuscript Quiche of the Maya, the so-called Papyrus Ipuwer from Egypt, the Book of Exodus, the Greek myth of Ouranos/ Kronos and Zeus /Typhon, the Finnish epic Kalevala, the lore of the Altai Tartars, the Sumerian myth of Inanna 208

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(later known as Ishtar / Venus goddess) who filled the wells of Sumer with "blood“, the Egyptians’ story of the goddess Hathor (also Venus) whose visits to Earth were associated with the covering of the land with a bloodlike "beer“, and the Norse legends of the "raining of blood" associated with the Valkyries (= female figures in Norse Mythology, who choose those who may die in battle and those who may live). They all record the fact that the water in the rivers was turned into "blood“. In the most ancient legends, it is common to find references to more than comets and deluges of water. Deluges from the sky consist also of dust, loess, stones, glass, tar, oil, salt, gold, iron, ashes and carbohydrates. A great fall of black dust at Constantinople took place on November 5-6, 472 Current Era, accompanied by burning heavens. A fall of red matter, like coagulated blood, happened in the middle of the 9th century Current Era. A burning body fell into Lake Van, Armenia, turning the waters red and cleaving the earth in several places (1110 Current Era). A gelatinous matter fell in India was associated with a globe of fire. A mixture of red rain and snow whose dust contained silica, aluminum, lime, iron, carbon and loess, was coincidental with a shower of meteoritic stone over central and southern Italy in 1813 Current Era.

Fragment of vitrified wall at Saint-Suzanne, Mayenne. Image Credit: jp.morteveille - jp.morteveille. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

A strange phenomenon has been observed in the mounds and barrows of the British Isles. Some had at one time been filled with an intense heat; their walls were melted, and their contents fused. The stones of the innermost cell of a long barrow (burial place on a hill, tumulus) near Maughold on the Isle of Man have been fused together like the mysterious 209

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vitrified towers (stone enclosures) of Scotland and elsewhere in western and northern Europe. Many Egyptian tombs and the interiors of pyramids are scarred by intense heat. Job of the Bible hears from a retainer that: "the fire of God is fallen from heaven and hath burned up the sheep [to the number of 7000], and the servants, and consumed them, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee". It is only one of many references to naturally caused combustion in the Bible. During and after the Exodus, repeated references to the heavenly fire are encountered. Our ancestors lived under turbulent skies, and since the very beginning, they have been preoccupied with cosmic phenomena. The regular ritualistic observation of the sky, gradually led to the elaboration of calendars and mystic rituals, and later, to the knowledge of the planets, the construction of astronomical devices, the complicated astrological treatises and various beautiful legends and myths.

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15. MASS EXTINCTIONS = ALMOST NOTHING LEFT In this chapter we will talk about three main issues. The extinctions that happened before the presence of humans on Earth, the extinctions that happened during the presence of humans on Earth, and the Holocene Extinction with its environmental side effects which all we are familiar with today. An extinction event or extinction-level event (ELE) is a period when many species die out. Usually, the normal background rate of extinctions is about two to five families of marine invertebrates and vertebrates every million years, but since life began on Earth, there have been twenty global extinctions; among them, seven major extinctions are proven and other two major remain controversial. Extinction event or biotic crisis, according to both Biology and Ecology, refers to extinction of species, not all life. Although many life forms may become extinct, the usual connotation is that the ‘event’ is at most a transition in dominant life forms. Especially, for the past 500 million years, the detected mysterious cycle of booms and busts in marine biodiversity, is now attributed to a periodic uplifting of the world’s continents. According to researchers, the mechanism is related to the amount of the isotope Str87 found in marine fossils. Even if those crises took place far beyond the human presence on this planet, they are worth mentioning in brief, due to their severity, impact and probability of happening again in the future. ▪ About 650 million years ago, 70% of the dominant Precambrian flora and fauna, as well as stromatolites (= sedimentary rocks made of layers of cyanobacteria – single cell photosynthesizing microbes), perished in a great extinction. The Precambrian extinction has been correlated with a large glaciation event that occurred sometime earlier than 650 million years ago. The Snowball Earth hypothesis (we have already mentioned it) - term coined by geologists in 1992, supports a hypothesis going back to 1948; it proposes that the Earth's surface became entirely or near entirely frozen at 211

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least once (Cryogenian period I and II; Cryogenian II: about 850-630 million years ago). This event was of such severity that almost all micro-organisms were completely wiped out.

According to Snowball Earth, our planet should have looked like this from Space. Image Credit: cK-12.

New geological and biochemical evidence, though, supports the Slushball Earth hypothesis, according to which our planet was not completely frozen throughout one of the extreme glaciations in the late Precambrian. ▪ The End-Ediacaran extinction event (the term Ediacara after the Ediacara Hills of South Australia) took place between 550-540 million years ago, after the Ediacaran period, during which complex life had begun to take form for the first time on Earth. Then, tiny bacteria had evolved into the more complex Eukaryotes. But, when the oxygen levels began to fall over 50%, of all species died. The huge numbers of dead creatures decomposed and make up some of today’s fossil fuels. In the geological record of Earth, there are few indices / data that reflect the extinction: the negative δ13C excursion (a geochemical signal often associated with mass extinctions, representing a decrease in primary productivity and release of plant-based carbon), the increase in black shale deposition that represents global anoxia, and the global changes in oceanic circulation which can be detected today.

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Cast of Dickinsonia costata from Australia. Cropped and digitally remastered version of another file masquerading as DickinsoniaCostata*.png (Can't remember which number should replace the *!). Image Credit: Verisimilus at English Wikipedia. CC BY 2.5. Image Source: Wikipedia. The discovery of cholesterol molecules (a signature of animal cells) is the evidence that Dickinsonia were animals, and at 571 million to 541 million years ago, may have been among the earliest animals on the planet

Although the exact cause of the lowering oxygen levels is yet unknown, modern researchers propose the following triggering mechanism: the rapid reversals of Earth’s magnetic field destroyed a large part of the ozone layer. This mass extinction made room for the Cambrian Explosion (lasted about 20-25 million years), a sudden diversifying of complex creatures. ▪ 485.4 ± 1.9 million years ago a series of mass extinctions at the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary, the Cambrian-Ordovician extinction events, eliminated the 60% of the marine life, many brachiopods and conodonts and severely reduced trilobite species. According to the Glacial Cooling and Oxygen Depletion Hypothesis, continental glaciation at the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary is responsible for a decrease in global climatic conditions, destroying Cambrian fauna which were intolerant of cooler conditions. Apart from paleontologists, several geologists, also, agree with this explanation about the cooling and depletion of water in marine waters. At the beginning of Ordovician, the climate was very hot due to high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), which gave a strong greenhouse effect. The marine waters are assumed to have been around 45°C, which restricted the diversification of complex multi-cellular organisms. Moreover, the Ordovician saw the highest sea levels of the Palaeozoic. But over time, the climate become cooler, and around 460 213

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million years ago, the ocean temperatures became comparable to those of present-day equatorial waters, leading to the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event known as GOBE. The GOBE is one of the most potent speciation events of the Phanerozoic Era, because the global diversity increased severalfold. In parallel, researchers have proposed the Ordovician Meteor Event to characterize the shower of meteors or the gamma-ray burst that hit our planet during the Middle Ordovician period, roughly 470 million years ago, but this phenomenon is not associated with any major extinction event till now. It was charachterized by a dramatic increase in the rate at which Lchondrite meteorites fell to Earth.

A 700g individual of the NWA 869 meteorite. Chondrules and metal flakes can be seen on the cut and polished face of this specimen. NWA 869 is a ordinary chondrite (L4-6). Image Credit: H. Raab (User:Vesta) - Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

â&#x2013;Ş 447-444 million years ago, during the Ordovician-Silurian transition, two Ordovician-Silurian extinction events occurred, probably as the result of a period of glaciation - evidence for the glaciation was found through deposits in the Sahara desert! Brachiopods, bivalves, echinoderms, bryozoans and corals were particularly affected. Initially, scientists had proposed that the movement of the supercontinent Gondwana into the South Polar Region was the probable cause of intense rapid cooling and glaciation at that time.

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Gondwana 420 million years ago. Gondwana was a supercontinent from about 550 million years to 180 million years ago. During the Carboniferous, it merged with the other existing supercontinent, Laurasia, to form Pangaea. The remnants of Gondwana make up about two thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and the Indian Subcontinent. View centered on the South Pole. Image Credit: Fama Clamosa – Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Meanwhile, they detected that GRB (Gamma-ray bursts) had travelled within our galaxy. Marine habitats changed drastically as sea levels decreased, causing the repeated die-off of species. Those events were the second largest mass extinction on the face of Earth. ▪ About 370-360 million years ago, in the transition from the Devonian period to the Carboniferous (= meaning ‘coal-bearing’ from two ancient Greek words) Period, about 70% of all species were eliminated. This was not a sudden event; evidence suggests that the extinctions took place over a period of some twenty million years. This extinction event affected the reef-builders so severely, that the reef building was not common until the appearance of the modern corals. 70% of marine invertebrates failed to survive until the Carboniferous. Among the organisms most affected by the extinction event were placoderms, brachiopods, trilobites, conodonts and acritarchs. On the contrary, the Carboniferous period was named the ‘golden age of sharks’, because they proliferated and evolved closer to modern sharks. Since the majority of the groups extinct in the Devonian, were warm water species, scientists have proposed several causes for that events: the 215

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expansion of forests which depleted the atmosphere of carbon dioxide, dropping global temperature severely to the point of initiating a new glaciation cycle, a meteoritic impact, oceanic volcanism, and ocean anoxia possibly triggered by global cooling.

Archaeopteris hibernica fossil specimen in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Image Credit: User:Daderot (modified by User:Kontos - derivative of File:Archaeopteris hibernica - National Museum of Natural History - IMG 1972.JPG. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. Archaeopteris is an extinct genus of tree-like plants with fern-like leaves. It had global distribution and it is found in strata dated from Upper Devonian to Lower Carboniferous (383-323 million years ago)

During the Early or Lower Carboniferous, when the conditions were warm, humid and swampy, many land plants were preserved in coal balls. The large forests of the whole period transformed later into large deposits of peat. Gradually, these forests, once again, removed huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Consequently, the oxygen levels in the atmosphere peaked around 35% (compared to 21% today). So, at the end of the Carboniferous, glaciers covered the South Pole, again. ▪ 252 million years ago, during the Permian-Triassic extinction event, known also as the ‘Great Dying’ or P-Tr event, about 96% of all marine species went extinct. At this time all the continents came together as the supercontinent Pangaea; for the first time the area of the land exceeded that of the ocean. This catastrophe was Earth's worst mass extinction, coming close to eliminating multicellular life. In fact, 90-95 % of all known 216

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life was extinct, 53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, and an estimated 70% of land species, including plants, insects (their only known mass extinction), and vertebrate animals. The Siberian Traps and the lava flows at Emeishan in China are the number one suspect for this catastrophe, because they led Earth to an unprecedented nuclear winter. According to the estimation of modern researchers, between 6300 and 7800 gigatons of sulphur, between 3400 and 8700 gigatons of chlorine, and between 7100 and 13 700 gigatons of fluorine, were released from the magma in the Siberian Traps during the end of the Permian period! Acid rain, methane gasification, severe anoxic conditions were, also, among the implications of such mega-colossal phenomena.

The breakup of Pangaea over time. Image Credit: Kious, Jacquelyne; Tilling, Robert I.; Kiger, Martha, Russel, Jane - This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics. (Online Ed.). Reston, Virginia, USA: United States Geological Survey. ISBN 0-16-048220-8. http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/historical.html. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

According to the most fresh, rigorous perspective, the whole process is clearly dated and explained. At the peak of the crisis (around 252.28 million years ago), and for at least 20 000 years, the planet was losing 3% of 217

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species every millennium. Those massive and colossal volcanic eruptions, the brush fires, and possibly even the combustion of coal ignited by hot lava, raised global temperatures and turned the oceans acidic and oxygendeprived, but also, terrestrial and marine extinctions happened at the same time. Thus, the end-Permian extinction remains still the worse the planet has ever experienced, so far. Moreover, two testified cases of giant impacts seem to be interdependent events. A subglacial basin about 500 km (311 mi) wide based on data from NASA’s GRACE satellite, centred on 70° S, 120° E, in Wilkes Land, Antarctica, suggests that the crust of our planet thinned from a giant impact crater, causing an isostatically disturbed mantle plug. The proposed crater is three times the size of the Chixulub crater (“the dinosaurs’ crater”), and the impact is assumed to have occurred before the formation of the East Antarctic coast that cuts across the ring faults. The impact was so huge, that it appears to have weakened the crust at the site, leading to the final separation of Australia from Antarctica, and, also, to the last stage in the fragmentation of Gondwana. In fact, the Wilkes Land crater refers to two separate cases of conjectured giant impact craters hidden beneath the ice cap of Wilkes Land. Another large impact site from this time is the Bedout crater or the Bedout High, to the North of the West Australian coast. This geological and geophysical feature is now centred about 250 km (155.33 mi) off the northwest coast of Australia in the Canning and overlying Roebuck basins; it is a roughly circular area about 30 km (18.64 mi) in diameter, where older rocks have been uplifted as much as 4 km (2.5 mi) towards the surface. Finally, according to another scientific hypothesis, ocean-dwelling Nickel-eating extreme anaerobic bacteria (Methanosarcina) played a key role during and after the colossal volcanic event. They exploded releasing huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere and, thus, depleting ocean oxygen levels as a by-product of that metabolism. ▪ 201.3 / 195 million years ago, the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event eliminated about 20% of all marine families, as well as most nondinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and the last of the large amphibians. This event vacated terrestrial ecological niches, allowing the dinosaurs to assume the dominant roles in the Jurassic period. This event happened in less than 10 000 years, and occurred just before Pangaea started to break apart. The massive volcanic eruptions, 218

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specifically the flood basalts of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) seem to be the most obvious candidate for this event. The CAMP is the Earth's largest continental igneous province, covering an area of roughly 11 million km2(4 247 124 square mi). It is composed mainly of basalt formed prior to the breakup of Pangaea in the Mesozoic Era, near the end of the Triassic and the beginning of the Jurassic periods. The breakup of Pangaea created the Atlantic Ocean and left behind basaltic lavas and other igneous formations over a vast area around the present central North Atlantic Ocean, including large deposits in northwest Africa, southwest Europe, as well as northeast South and southeast North America.

A basaltic lava flow section from the Middle Atlas, Morocco. Image Credit: Mente_et_malleo (talk) (Uploads) - Own work. Author: Marzoli; Central High Atlas, Morocco; free use. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

▪ 65 million years ago, the Cretaceous-Tertiary (Paleogene) extinction event or K-T, killed about 85% of all species, including the dinosaurs, although most mammals, birds, turtles, crocodiles, lizards, snakes and amphibians were largely unaffected… According to the famous Alvarez hypothesis (after physicist Luis and geologist Walter Alvarez), the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and many other living organisms was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth. Its geological evidence lays in the Yucatán Peninsula, at Chicxulub, Mexico; the impact crater had been created by a rock, the size of which could be approximately the entire size of Martian moon Deimos (mean radius 6.2 km or 3.85 mi). The collision would have released the same 219

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energy as 100 tera tonnes of TNT (420 ZJ), over a billion times the energy of the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

An artist’s impression of what the Chicxulub crater might have looked like soon after an asteroid struck the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Researchers studied the peak rings, or circular hills, inside the crater. Image Credit: Detlev van Ravenswaay /Science Source. Image Source: New York Times / Nicholas St. Fleur. According to geophysicists, “Chicxulub is the only crater on Earth with an intact peak, the next intact peak ring would be on the Moon”

Concerning the dinosaurs, modern researchers have detected multiple, smooth-edged full-thickness erosive lesions (either unilaterally or bilaterally) on the mandible of tyrannosaurids fossils, attributed to actinomycosis, a bacterial bone infection. They have also found bite wounds from other tyrannosaurids; but now these are related to an infection by a Trichomonas gallinae-like protozoan, the direct result of which was likely starvation. Even more, as in the case of the previous PT event, both volcanism and impactism have been accused of causing this KT event. The colossal eruptions at Deccan Traps, were initiated by a hot spot in the Indian Ocean, covered an area of 1.5 million km2 (579 153 square mi) to a depth of 150 m. (492 feet). The series of lava flows may have lasted less than 30 000 years, in total. But, not all the scientists agree on the synchronicity of events. The first scenario speaks of Chicxulub impact crater happened either approximately 300 000 years before or 180 000 years after dinosaurs’ extinction. Another research proposes that if that asteroid had struck a few million years earlier (when the range of dinosaur species was more diverse 220

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and food chains were more robust), or later (when new species had time to evolve), then non-avian dinosaurs would not been extinct and possibly humans would never be arisen in the evolutionary chain of life.

Sue specimen, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Image Credit: Jonathan Chen - Own work. The second version of Sue the Tyrannosaurus' skeleton mounts at the Field Museum on August 6, 2018. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia. Tyrannosaurus rex or T-Rex was a bipedal carnivore. Its fossils have been found in a variety of rock formations dated to 68-66 million years ago. It was the last known member of the tyrannosaurids and among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the K-T event

The second scenario suggests that Deccan Traps happened about 250 000 years (or 30 000 to 11 000 years) before the impact. New evidence suggests that the extra-terrestrial impact cycles (periodicity of 31 ± 5 million years) are more complicated than once thought. The path of our solar system and Earth through the galactic disk (plane) of the Milky Way, and its encounter with the Dark Matter (= super massive Black Hole at Milky Way’s heart), trigger interrelated comet strikes on Earth, flood-basalt volcanic eruptions and extinction events. The case of dinosaurs seems to fall into this category of mega disasters. Do not mistake this periodicity with the periodicity of 225-250 million years of our solar system to revolve / orbit around our galaxy’s center (Cosmic Year). ▪ The Toba Event Approximately 75 000 years ago (according to 40Ar/39Ar age determination’s technique), in Sumatra -Indonesia, took place the largest explosive eruption of the last few hundred thousand years (Young Toba 221

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Tuff -YTT). The Toba ash layer retrieved from deep-sea cores of the Indian Ocean dated to, about, 73 910 ± 2590 years ago. The super-eruption had an estimated VEI of 8 (the highest rating of any known eruption on Earth). That event created the Earth's largest Quaternary caldera (35 x 100 km or 19 x 62 mi), with a summit elevation at 2157 m. (7077 feet) in 2.58° N and 98.83°E. This caldera was formed during four major Pleistocene ignimbrite-producing eruptions, beginning at 1.2 million years ago.

Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia - Landsat satellite photo. Image Credit: NASA Landsat NASA, https://zulu.ssc.nasa.gov/mrsid/. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. Location of Lake Toba shown in red on map. Image Credit: The United States Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Ice-core data and atmospheric modelling indicate that the dense global aerosol cloud that caused a 'volcanic winter', persisted for about six years in the skies, causing possible abrupt regional coolings of up to 15° C and global cooling of 3° to 5° C (and possibly greater) for several years. Similar phenomenon happened to the seas, with an ocean cooling with increased sea ice and snow cover. Even more, palynological records, coral reefs and sediment analysis testify this global ecological disaster. Since it is a low- latitude volcano, Toba’s dust and volatiles would have been injected efficiently into both North and South Hemisphere, covering a total eruption volume of 2800 km3 (672 mi3) - perhaps underestimated, with estimated eruption cloud heights of 32 ±5 km (20 ±3 mi), and an estimated duration of continuous fallout of Toba ash over the Indian Ocean at two weeks or less. Chain reactions would, also, have taken place, as large amount of dead wood produced by the dead and damaged trees, along with drought 222

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conditions, increased forest fires and burning of this biomass So, it released large amounts of reactive species such as hydrocarbons, organic acids and nitrogen compounds into the global atmosphere. The severity of such colossal event (Toba Event), weakened the monsoon winds and changed abruptly the weather patterns worldwide (for example, causing severe drought), and destroyed almost totally the tropical vegetation and the majority of temperate and sub-arctic forests; it decreased, also, ocean productivity, but, on the contrary, it caused blooming of algal biomass and phytoplankton that widespread coral death. Finally, it reduced the standing crops of plants and animals, and drove human species to the threshold of extinction. This scenario led modern scientists to propose a severe population bottleneck, assuming that the global human population, then, dropped to only three thousand to ten thousand individuals (around five hundred breeding females). The hypothesis proposes, also, that after the decrease of human population, eventually a rapid population increase followed, technological innovations and migrations. Moreover, those severely reduced and isolated populations in small refugia in Africa and Eurasia were undergone rapid racial differentiation, through genetic drift and local adaptation after the event. Nevertheless, the international, multidisciplinary research team, led by Oxford University - under archaeologist Michael Petraglia (2007), in collaboration with Indian institutions, has uncovered what it calls â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Pompeiilike excavationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; beneath the Toba ash. We should pinpoint here, that, although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with Prehistoric (particularly Sone Age) cultures that have become extinct. When the archaeologists study such prehistoric societies, refer to the study of stone tools as lithic analysis. Thus, the researchers found stone tools above and below the thick layer of ash from the Toba eruption, that were remarkably similar; this shows that the huge dust clouds from the eruption did not wipe out the local population of people. Furthermore, both Neanderthals in Europe and the small-brained Homo floresiensis in Southeast Asia survived that catastrophic event! In 2003, at Liang Bua (island of Flores, Indonesia), the remains of an individual that would have stood about 1.1 m. (3 feet and 7 inches) in height, were discovered archaeologically by a an Australian/ Indonesian 223

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team. Gradually, other partial skeletons of nine individuals have been recovered, including one complete skull, referred to as "LB1â&#x20AC;?. Since then, these remains have been the subject of intense research to determine whether they represent a species distinct from modern humans. Interdisciplinary research has shown that these remains, actually, do represent a distinct species due to genetic and anatomical differences. The more extensive stratigraphic and chronological work has pushed the dating of the most recent evidence of its existence back to 50 000 years ago. The Homo floresiensis skeletal material is now dated from 60 000 to 100 000 years ago. The stone tools recovered alongside the skeletal remains were from the archaeological horizons ranging from 50 000 to 190 000 years ago.

Reconstruction of female Homo floresiensis based on LB-1. This image regards the second version (2.0) of Archaeological Forensic Facial Reconstruction of the individual LB1 of the species Homo floresiensis. It has been released for the open source exhibition "Facce. I molti volti della storia umana". Image Credit: Cicero Moraes et alii â&#x20AC;&#x201C; http://arc-team-open-research.blogspot.it/2015/08/homo-floresiensis.html. CC BY 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

In parallel, extended bioanthropological research has shown that the ancestors of Homo floresiensis left Africa before the appearance of Homo erectus, possibly even becoming the first hominins to do so and evolved further in Asia. In fact, few researchers proposed even that Homo floresiensis derived from a population of Homo erectus who arrived on Flores about 224

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one million years ago (as indicated by the oldest artifacts excavated on the island) and rapidly became dwarfed. Meanwhile, the most recent interdisciplinary evidence suggests that that eruption did not severely impact the climatic conditions of eastern Africa and consequently it was not the cause of this human genetic bottleneck. Even more, the modern human emergence in eastern Asia now is dated back to at least 100 000 years ago, before the Toba eruption. Finally, the Red Deer Cave (Maludong fossil site, Yunnan Province, China) and Longlin Cave (Guangxi Zhuang region, China) People, whose fossils have been excavated in 1989. They were radiocarbon dated between 14 500 and 11 500 years ago. They show hybrid features (a mix of archaic and modern features) as a separate species of humans that became extinct, perhaps a result of mating between Denisovans and modern humans or, alternatively, “robust early modern humans” with affinities with modern Melanesians. They, also, seem to be more recent than the afore-mentioned Homo floresiensis (dubbed "Hobbits"). Thus, they are the most recent known prehistoric archaic human population. ▪ The disappearance of Neanderthals And now, let us talk about one of the most fascinating and controversial topics in, both, Palaeolithic Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology, worldwide. Generally speaking, Neanderthals (Homo Neanderthalensis) are classified as paleoanthropological specimens of Pleistocene species of the Homo genus, which inhabited Europe and parts of West and Central Asia. ‘Hominins' is the term used for all humans, living and extinct, plus all our immediate ancestors (including members of the genera Homo, Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Ardipithecus); 'Hominids', formerly used for humans, has now been widened to include apes, modern and extinct (modern humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans plus all their immediate ancestors). Compared to Homo sapiens sapiens (anatomically modern humans) Neanderthals were stockier, with shorter legs and bigger bodies, as an adaptation to preserve heat in cold climates. They were named after one of the first sites where their fossils were discovered in 1856 Current Era, the

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Neander Valley, just east of DĂźsseldorf, at that time in the Rhine Province of the Kingdom of Prussia (now in North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany).

Approximate Neanderthal range; pre-Neanderthal and early Neanderthal range shown in purple, late Neanderthal range in blue. Sicily is included because it was connected to the European mainland (as was Great Britain), other Mediterranean islands are not included as there is no positive evidence that Neanderthals were present there, nor that they did cross any significant bodies of water. But, recent evidence proves that Neanderthals were capable early mariners. Image Credit: Own work - Own work File:Mapa mundi blanco.PNG. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Neanderthals coexisted and admixed with anatomically modern humans for several thousand years before their â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;disappearanceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Biological, anatomical, pathological, climatic, environmental and social factors seem to have been interdependently contributed to this phenomenon. Many hypotheses have been proposed; we will try to present here, in brief and in the simplest way few of them. Although their cranial capacity (size of their cranium) was larger than anatomically modern humans (but they had almost the same degree of encephalization / intelligent level or cognition as modern humans), and they were almost exclusively carnivorous and top predators, their population seems to have never steadily reached much more than 10 000 individuals, according to some researchers. Why? Until now, there was a general assumption that identical total brain volumes imply identical internal organization. But, researchers argued that differences in the size of the body and visual system between Neanderthals (significantly larger eye sockets - by an average of 6mm from top to bottom- meaning bigger eyes) and anatomically modern humans imply, also, differences in organization between even same-sized brains of these two taxa. Consequently, different brain organization shows different copying abilities to fluctuating resources and cultural maintenance, and a 226

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different ability to innovate and to adapt to quickly changed environments of Late Palaeolithic. The semi-circular canals of the inner ear (labyrinth) provide us with our sense of balance. So, there is a high correlation between the size of the canals and the agility of the body; throughout human evolution, our canals seem to have increased in size as our agility was increasing. Anatomically, Neanderthals had smaller canals than modern humans, and even our earlier ancestors. They had, also, short limbs, larger femora and wide pelvis. This fact made long distance moves much harder for them to absorb shock and to bounce off from one step to the next. They had less efficient locomotion than modern humans.

The anatomy of the human ear. Image Credit: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online

Even more, they had a more prominent projection around the elbow joint, and a narrow socket at the shoulder join. The shoulder joint is formed where the humerus (= upper arm bone) fits into the scapula (= shoulder blade, like a ball and socket). Thus, they did not have the full capability for throwing spears through distances perhaps more than 20 m. (66 feet), as modern humans do.

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This Neanderthal skeleton was discovered in the La Grotte de Clamouse cave (France). A new study of Neanderthal anatomy suggests they lacked projectile weaponry, such as bows and arrows, which may have put them at a disadvantage against early modern humans, who were equipped with more advanced weapons. Image Credit: iStock Photo. Image Source: Jennifer Viegas – Discovery News, January 14, 2009. Science on NBC NEWS.com

In addition, Neanderthals body plan minimised the body's surface area to retain heat and to keep vital organs embedded deep within the body, to insulate them from the cold. They did survive the icy extremes – but they needed a lot of feeding, about twice calories’ intake as much as we need today. This parameter had been aggravated both by the climatic changes, as the forests on which they depended, began to recede giving way to open plains, and by the effectiveness of their hunting tools and techniques. Reversely, modern humans made lighter stone points that could be fitted on to lighter spear shafts, so, they could hunt more effectively in an open landscape, and they could perform high levels of mobility to follow migrating herds. In parallel, the taming of the wolves - going back to 70 000 years ago - and later their domestication (leading to the dogs as steady companions of Homo sapiens in all their daily activities) gave a strong advantage to modern humans who finally became the predominant species in Europe. On the other hand, if Neanderthal females hunted alongside males, the ‘reproductive core’ of the population was constantly put in danger. On 228

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the contrary, the female Homo sapiens was gathering food instead, to supplement their diet when game was in short supply, or she was going after small game, making her more suitable to use the resources of the environment, while big game hunting made males more resilient to this process. Estimations made by scientists, show that Neanderthal females would have faced daily energy costs during gestation and lactation of about 2750-3020 kcal (kilocalories= units of energy in chemistry and physics 1 kcal equals 1000 calories). This is about 20% higher than for Homo erectus females and 10% higher than for middle Upper Palaeolithic humans. From this perspective, Neanderthals and Upper Palaeolithic modern humans would have behaved differently even under the same environmental conditions.

A modern guide to healthy eating that is in favour of lower calories intake. Image Source: Health Kids Association

Moreover, Neanderthals were possibly the most carnivorous form of humans ever to have lived; they practiced cannibalism and/or mortuary defleshing. This habit could have spread a mad cow-like disease that weakened and reduced populations, contributing to their extinction. As 229

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modern clinical tests show, medical instruments can carry infectious prions, which spread TSEs (= transmissible spongiform encephalopathy), even after such tools have been sterilised. Consequently, sharing stone tools could have, also, spread the disease among Neanderthals, even those that did not practice cannibalism. Recent anthropological studies among a welldocumented tribal group, the Fore of Papua New Guinea, who practiced ritualistic cannibalism, have shown a fatal debilitating disease named kuru (meaning “trembling in fear”). By the 1960s, kuru reached epidemic levels and killed over one thousand and one hundred people. That kuru was related to the Fore's cannibalistic activities. Within a hypothetical group of fifteen thousand individuals (for example, of Neanderthals), such a disease could reduce the population to non-viable levels within 250 years, meaning ten generations.

Members of the Fore Tribe of Papua New Guinea. Image Credit: genealogyreligion.net. Image Source: Ancient Origins – Robin Whitlock June 16, 2018

In addition, only a slight difference in iodine intake could have been responsible for the physical differences between Neanderthals and modern humans. “Certain Neanderthal physical traits, associated with iodinedeficiency diseases (heavy brows, thick bones and musculature, propensities for degenerative joint diseases) did not persist even if their genes continued into later European populations”, according to modern researchers. Even today, about 30 % of the world's population is at risk of iodine-deficiency diseases, especially people isolated from the principal sources of dietary iodine like saltwater fish, shellfish and seaweed. 230

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Studies have, also, shown that human blood group O with negative Rhesus factor, may have been the majority among Neanderthals. Modern research indicates that this mutation took place about one million years ago, probably in the hominid common ancestor of Humans and Neanderthals. Blood Type O seems to protect against severe malaria, tuberculosis, or syphilis, for example, but makes people more susceptible to bacteria that cause severe cholera and stomach ulcers, as well as to hypothyroidism and higher risk of venous thromboembolism. Moreover, modern research conducted on women undertaking fertility treatment, found that those with blood type O were up to twice as likely to have a lower egg count and poorer egg quality, affecting the chances of conceiving. Similar results begin to be gathered concerning male infertility rates and blood group O. Apart from having low fertility rates as all O modern women, a Neanderthal woman with O Rh _ could bear only one healthy child, making her and her off springs prone to infectious diseases (for example to plague). But, a Sapiens woman with other blood types and Rh+ could bear many healthy children.

Diagram showing the blood group compatibility for transfusion purposes today. Red blood cell compatibility chart. In addition to donating to the same blood group; type O blood donors can give to A, B and AB; blood donors of types A and B can give to AB. Image Credit: InvictaHOG - Criado por mim no Adobe Illustrator 8/24/06 e liberado para domĂnio pĂşblico. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

If endogamy (= the custom of marrying only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe) was strong in Neanderthal smaller groups, there should exist other hereditary difficulties, too, apart from 231

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interbreeding (= sexual reproduction /breed with another of a different race or species). This may have been a difficult and risky biological process for Neanderthal women. Today, the Basque (inhabitants of western Pyrenees between France and Spain, on the coast of the Bay of Biscay) are known to have the highest percent of Rh Negative Blood Factor (around 35 % Rh- ; the total percent of Rh Negative Blood for the whole World is only 7%). According to the scenario proposed by modern scientists, a swarm of Homo sapiens (modern humans) entered the Eurasian continent leaving the Neanderthals, who had thrived in the frigid conditions for 300 millennia, outnumbered by a massive 10 to one. Such an invasion, forced the local populations into fierce competition for food, fuel and other crucial resources. The researchers are based on archaeological evidence in Périgord, a former province of Southwest France, which is renowned for its Neanderthal and early human sites. Other scientists stress the importance of climate changes as key factors of their disappearance. The abovementioned ‘genocide’ could be, also, enhanced by the dispersion of killing parasites and pathogens, prior unknown to their organisms. On the other hand, a string of major volcanic eruptions about 40 000 years ago, affected the region between Italy and the Caucasus Mountains, contributing to the Neanderthals' final demise (their latest evidence around 29 000 years ago) by reducing their food supply. Studies of sediment layers at Mezmaiskaya Cave - Russia (in the northwestern foothills of the North Caucasus in the Caucasus mountain system) suggest a severe reduction of plant pollen and an absence of animal bones and human tools in the layers above the volcanic ash; this damage to plant life would have led to a corresponding decline in plant-eating mammals hunted by them. The latest research reveals that the Campanian Ignimbrite massive volcanic eruption in Italy caused a major environmental and climatic disruption in Europe, deteriorating even more the daily lives of Neanderthal populations who were already under stress. That super-eruption formed the notorious Campi Flegrei (Phlegrean Fields or Burning Fields) in Campania region, South Italy, situated to the west of Naples. In 2008 Current Era, volcanologists have discovered that the Phlegraean Fields and Mount Vesuvius have a common magma chamber at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi). 232

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Graphic of deposit dispersal during the Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption 40.000 years ago. Image Credit: Wikirictor - Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The author of this book suggested another environmental eruption, a world impact event. The Oruanui eruption of New Zealand's Taupo Volcano (central North Island) was the world's largest known eruption in the past 70 000 years, with a VEI of 8. It took place around 26 500 years ago, in the Late Pleistocene. The unusual and episodic eruption is divided into ten phases; the development of the caldera to its maximum extent occurred during phase 10. This scenario may, also, be combined with the geomagnetic excursions of Laschamp and Mono Lake, synchronous with the Neanderthalsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; extinction. Abrupt climatic deterioration, thus, could, finally, put Neanderthals to extinction. The suggested ozone depletion had significant impacts on health of human populations. But even though Neanderthals are extinct, they are not disappeared from the face of Earth, because their genetic imprint lives within modern humans by interbreeding (Hybridization Hypothesis). The first proto -Neanderthal traits in Europe had been appeared around 500 000-350 000 years ago, the complete ones around 130 000; they seemed to disappear from Asia around 50 000 years ago and from Europe around 25 000 years ago.

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The shelter of Lagar Velho, within the limestone valley of Lapedo, central Portugal. Image Credit: Nunorojordao - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The most recent archaeological evidence dates back to approximately 28 000 years ago and it is found at Vindija Cave in Croatia. The latest skeletal remains with Neanderthal traits come from Lagar Velho in southern Iberia, and are dated back to 24 500 years ago, and from the cave of PeČ&#x2122;tera Muierilor or PeČ&#x2122;tera Muierii (Romanian for "The Women's Cave" / "The Woman's Cave"), in Romania, dated to approximately 28 000 years ago, as well. According to the Human Genome Project, the nuclear genome of modern humans comprises approximately 3.2 billion nucleotides of DNA (= base pairs), divided into twenty-four linear molecules, the shortest fifty million nucleotides in length and the longest 260 billion nucleotides, each contained in a different chromosome. In December 2013, a high coverage Neanderthal genome was reported for the first time. It stemmed from a Neanderthal female bone fragment found in a cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia from around 50 000 to 100 000 years ago. The genetic difference between Neanderthals and modern humans is slightest, in nucleotide sequences (= the nucleotides are organic molecules, parts of the DNA and RNA, mainly responsible for the metabolism at the cellular level). 99.7% of the nucleotide sequences of the modern human and Neanderthal genomes are identical. 234

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The Neanderthals contributed up to 4% of modern Eurasian genomes. The interbreeding must have occurred early in the migration of modern humans out of Africa, perhaps in the Middle East, around 65 000 to 90 000 years ago. Nevertheless, no evidence for gene flow in the direction from modern humans to Neanderthals was found till now. In addition, there is no trace of Neanderthal DNA in the European gene mixture inherited through purely maternal lineage (perhaps it could be no detectable). Finally, a set of Y-chromosome (male chromosome) mutations in modern humans, not found in Africa and more than 100 000 years ancient, probably is indicative of Neanderthal and / or Homo erectus (the upright man) from Asia contribution to our genome.

Fossil Hominid Skull Display at The Museum of Osteology, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Image Credit: Sklmsta - Own work. CC0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The worldwide genetic research projects have revealed some fascinating facts about the organism of Neanderthal and how their genes expressed, in the same or in a different way in comparison to us, today. Hemochromatosis has the highest prevalence in Caucasian groups. Neanderthals would have had great advantage for efficient absorption of iron, due to their frequent injuries during close-combat hunting, as the cure of hemochromatosis is to lose blood. Factor V Leiden was introduced in the northern European population 35 000 to 40 000 years ago. After trauma, the formation of a thrombus is 235

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essential to stem bleeding. But any case of too little clotting results in bleeding disorders such as hemophilia, or an excessive clotting results in producing blood clots (thrombosis) that block the lungs; both equally dangerous. Cystic fibrosis is a very diverse genetic disease; researchers estimate that it has been introduced 50 000 years ago in Europe. The purpose of the mutation in humans probably was to protect against infection and parasites (for example, against cholera or typhoid fever). It is associated with high levels of salt in sweat, and this probably formed some sort of protection, if left on the skin. It seems to offer a selective advantage against Vibrio cholerae infections; it is a parallel case with the heterozygous carriers of Thalassaemia against malaria. Studies confirm, also, that at least some adult Neanderthals were lactose intolerant and gluten intolerant. In addition, if Neanderthals in their majority, had Rhesus negative blood group (meaning that they lacked a protein â&#x20AC;&#x201C; D antigen, on the surface of their blood cells), their wives should have serious problems with delivering many Rhesus positive children (if the father had Rhesus positive). On the other hand, today, over 50% of people with schizophrenia are rhesus negative, and there are indications of similar frequencies in the genes related to autism and Asperger syndrome. Another disease seems to have its genetic roots in Neanderthals, too. Bipolar Disorder is correlated with a cold-adapted build, and its moods vary according to light and season. The women of reproductive age are expected to manifest winter depression more than males or younger females. In fact, researchers have suggested a probable annual hibernation period for Neanderthals, who lived in the extreme cold conditions of higher latitudes! Huntington's Disease, which causes progressive damage to the nervous system (uncontrollable movements, dementia, and psychiatric disturbances), is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder of western European origin. It is rare in Asians and Africans. All humans have two copies of the Huntingtin gene. Even if only one of the two genes is mutated, the carrier develops the disease. The affected gene seems to protect against cancer and infectious disease (very much needed, because Neanderthals also carried Cystic Fibrosisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mutation gene). It might even play a key role in their abilities to hibernate.

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In addition, a gene variant that seems to increase the risk of diabetes in Latin Americans and East Asians appears to have been inherited from Neanderthals. In parallel, genes involved in lipid catabolism (= the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the break down or storage of fats for energy) detected in remains from Neanderthal sites, is three times more frequent in contemporary Europeans than Asian and African populations. Moreover, they contributed to our gene pool with human leucocyte antigens that lead also to auto-immune diseases among modern humans. Behcet's disease, a rare and chronic inflammatory condition, known also as Silk Road Disease (because it prevailed in the areas surrounding the old silk trading routes in the Middle East and in central Asia), is a prominent example. Thus, some of the HLA genes that had passed into the modern human genome from Neanderthal and Denisovan gene pools might lead to boosted immunity and, in parallel, to autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, rheumatism and eczema. Denisovans are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans They carry the temporary names Homo sapiens denisova, and Homo species Altai, from the Denisova cave in Altai mountains, Siberia. That cave was, also, inhabited by Neanderthals and modern humans. The Denisovans interbred with both Neanderthals and modern humans, and they ranged from Siberia to southeastern Asia. About 3-5% of their DNA lives in Melanesians, Aboriginal Australian and in Papuans. Denisovans and Neanderthals split from Homo sapiens around 600 000 up to 744 000 years ago and diverged from each other about 200 000 years later. But, the most recent and detailed genetic analysis of the existing data indicates that the divergence between modern humans and Neanderthals took place between 270 000 and 440 000 years ago, a common ancestor of which had lived within the last 500 000 years.

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The evolution and geographic spread of Denisovans as compared with other groups. Image Credit: John D. Croft at English Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Skin colour, hair colour, freckles and eye colour are related to three mutations found on chromosome 16. Their origin has been traced back to the period between 50 000 and 100 000 years ago, as a result of hybridization with Neanderthals. Recent research has demonstrated that people with red hair have different sensitivity to pain compared to people with other hair colours, and naturally occurring low vitamin K levels (= it plays a key role in helping the blood clot, preventing excessive bleeding). Moreover, Neanderthals had an elaborate system of communication, which was more musical than modern human language. In fact, they possessed the gene for language - FOXP2 variant, found in both Neanderthals and modern humans. They had sophisticated music, abstract symbolic art (cave painting) and tool craftsmanship skills, so they must have not been all that unattractive to modern humans at the time. Recent anatomical evidence along with archaeological evidence demonstrates that they made musical instruments. Neanderthals had a peculiar proto-music/language, that was holistic (= not composed of segmented elements), manipulative (= influencing emotional states and hence behaviour of oneself and others), multimodal (= using both sound and movement), musical (= temporally controlled, rhythmic, and melodic), and mimetic (= utilizing sound symbolism and gesture). 238

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Divje Babe Flute or the “Neanderthal flute”. A cave bear femur pierced by spaced holes, that was found in 1995 at the Divje Babe archaeological park located near Cerkno in northwestern Slovenia. It has been suggested that it was made by Neanderthals, as a form of musical instrument, with hole spacing and alignment. it is possibly the world's oldest known musical instrument. The National Museum of Slovenia (Ljubljana). Image Credit: dalbera from Paris, France - Flûte paléolithique (musée national de Slovénie, Ljubljana) Uploaded by sporti. CC BY 2.0. Image Source: Wikipedia. Illustration of the diatonic flute by Bob Fink. Image Credit: Greenwych / Artist: Bob Fink (c) 1996. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

It included, also, iconic gestures, dance, onomatopoeia (= formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named, for example the air sound denoted by the verb whisper), vocal imitation and sound synaesthesia (= association of sounds to colours). They had, also, as enhancing ‘emotional intelligence’. But some parts of their brain were somewhat different from ours today. Modern paleoanthropological research distinguishes at least four subgroups of Neanderthals, and it does not consider them as a homogenous group: one in western Europe, one in southern Europe, one in the Levant, and another in western Asia. Furthermore, genetic research has shown two periods of interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals; one period of interbreeding occurring around 60 000 years ago in the eastern Mediterranean, the other around 45 000 years ago in eastern Asia. According to a first approach of scientists involved in ‘1000 Genomes Project’, more Neanderthal indicators have been found in northern China 239

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population in relation to the southern China, and in the southern populations of Europe more than the northern, with the Tuscans (= inhabitants of Tuscany â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Central Italy; Florence is its capital city) having the highest level of Neanderthal similarity! â&#x2013;Ş The Quaternary extinction events: The Late Pleistocene or Last Ice Age extinction and The Holocene or Recent Extinction The Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2.588 million years ago to 11 700 years ago) and the Holocene (11 700 years ago to today). The Quaternary geological record is preserved in greater detail than that for earlier periods, and it is rich in archaeological evidence, too. Initially, Homo erectus and other hominids had been accused of hunting with their tools, the surviving megafauna (more than 900 kg) of the Pliocene Era in Africa. Now, the scientists propose a supernova explosion dated to 2.6 million years ago (almost 600 000 years after Lucy, the famous remains of an Australopithecus afarensis). When the debris of the explosion reached the atmosphere of the Earth, they showered iron particles, and DNA-damaging high-energy muons (= unstable sub-atomic particles, like the electrons; they are produced naturally in cosmic ray interactions with matter). Or, the dropped atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) caused expansion of grassland (fewer woody savannahs). The decline started around 4.6 million years ago and probably both the climatic changes and the cosmic phenomenon were guilty for that extinction. After the emergence of modern humans, few known extinctions occurred in those areas of longest human occupancy (Africa and Eurasia), since the migration of those human groups into other areas is linked to the loss of many large vertebrate species. For example, it is estimated that around 50 000 years ago, Indonesia lost about 50% of its large mammals, when modern humans migrated there; likewise, their appearance in Australia 60 000 to 40 000 years ago resulted in large mammals and other vertebrates disappearing. The Ice Age Extinction Event (from about 15 000 to 9000 years ago) is characterized by the extinction of many large mammals (mega-fauna) weighing more than 40 kg. In North America, around 33 out of 45 genera of 240

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large mammals went extinct, in South America, 46 of 58, in Australia 15 of 16, in Europe 7 of 23, and in sub-Saharan Africa only 2 of 44. Only in South America and Australia did the extinction occur at family levels or higher.

Chauvet cave art depicting a woolly rhinoceros. Image Credit: Inocybe at French Wikipedia - Transferred from fr.wikipedia to Commons by Bloody-libu using CommonsHelper. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Modern scientists have proposed various hypotheses for this extinction. The two main hypotheses are: (1) the animals died off due to environmental and climate change or (2) the animals were exterminated as a result of human activity - the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;prehistoric overkill hypothesisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), the Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus or Giant Deer), the cave lion (Panthera spelaea), the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus), and saber-toothed cats (Machairodontinae) were amongst the major mega-fauna species exterminated during that period. In ecological terms, mega-fauna species are generally K-strategists. Their growth pattern is characterized by large body, long juvenile period and great longevity, slow population growth rates, low death rates, and few or no natural predators capable of killing adults; population grows exponentially and then stabilizes around a max value. Their population size is characterized as smaller, but stable. Their environment is stable but characterized by diverse ecology. Their reproductive strategy is characterized by mate choice, pair bonds, large investment, parental care and few offspring. They are highly vulnerable to human overexploitation.

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Model of Megantereon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Picture taken at Natural History Museum of Basel. Megantereon was a genus of prehistoric saber-toothed cat that lived in North America, Eurasia and Africa. It may have been the ancestor of Smilodon. Image Credit: Ghedoghedo â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Own work. CC SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The prehistoric overkill hypothesis, though, seems not to be universally applicable and is imperfectly confirmed. For instance, there are ambiguities around the timing of sudden extinctions of marsupial Australian mega-fauna. In parallel, those populations of humans, such as the Clovis culture in Americas, were too small to be ecologically significant. Even more, recent research has demonstrated that the annual mean temperature of the current interglacial, at least, what we have seen for the last 10 000 years, is no higher than that of previous interglacials, yet some of the same large mammals survived similar temperature increases. And the mega-fauna was more abundant and more widely distributed during interglacial. Moreover, Second Order-Predation Hypothesis (which recognises an initial disturbance in ecological balance) is more consistent with extinction than is Overkill. And, the fossil record of Australia reflects the humandriven mega-faunal extinction.

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Size (red) compared to a human and other mammoths. Image Credit: User: FunkMonk - Based on shoulder heights given in: Lister, A.; Bahn, P. (2007). Mammoths Giants of the Ice Age (3 Ed.). London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 978-0-520-26160-0. This file was derived from: Woolly mammoths.jpg: Mammuthus columbi Sergiodlarosa.jpg: Southern Mammoth Mammuthus meridionalis.jpg: Mammuthus trogontherii122DB.jpg: Mammuthus exilis.jpg: Pioneer plaque humans.svg Image Source: Wikipedia

On the other hand, The Hyper-disease Hypothesis claims that the extinction of large mammals during the late Pleistocene was an indirect result of the newly arrived aboriginal humans, because animals and highly virulent pathogens travelled, also, with them (like chickens or domestic dogs, too). Nevertheless, the disease hypothesis is not applicable in any case of Pleistocene fauna, due to the absence of evidence and various, pathological, immunological, biological and other reasons. Finally, there is an alternative hypothesis, Tollmann's bolide theory. According to this one, the Holocene was initiated by an extinction event caused by bolide (asteroid or meteorite) impacts in 7640 Before Current Era (Âą200), event that triggered, also, the universal Flood. Recent research finds that there are many inconsistencies in such evidence. A much smaller impact event has been suggested to happen at 3150 Before Current Era (Âą200 years). Another perspective wants both parameters to be capable of the overkill: humans and climate. The mega-events that took place during the whole history of our planet were always the result of interdependent triggering mechanisms, phenomena and processes. New research seems to be in tune with the afore-mentioned statement. Drastic climate change may have caused severe changes in habitats and diets of animals. The lack of minerals could be the triggering mechanism for metabolic disorder and bone diseases (osteoporosis, 243

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osteofibrosis, osteomalacia, osteolysis, cartilage atrophy and fractures) resulting both in losing the ability to follow the herd and in high traumatism - in the formation of false joints, ulcers and friction grooves. This kind of change decimated, for example, the woolly mammoths, whose extinction has been debated already since 1700 Current Era. In fact, three major waves have been detected by scientists, the first dated around 24 000-20 000 years ago, the second dated to around 12 0009000 years ago and the third dated approximately to 3700 years ago, in the last small survived groups in Alaska and Russian northern areas. The reading of mammothsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; complete genome has just disclosed another genetic bottleneck during the period between 300 000 to 250 000 years ago. The extinction rates have been continued throughout Holocene. Well-known fauna extinction episodes have taken place in the islands of the Mediterranean Sea about 10 000 years ago, during the settlement of Madagascar starting with the arrival of modern humans 2000 years ago, in Hawaii between 1600 to 1400 Before Current Era, and, finally, in New Zealand after Polynesian settlers between 1200 to 800 Before Current Era. Notably, all terrestrial vertebrates outside Africa and Asia, that weighed more than 1000 kilograms, have become extinct! Today, a broad party of intellectuals believes that we are, at this moment, at the beginning of an accelerated anthropogenic mass extinction According to researchers, by keeping the current rates of human destruction of the biosphere, one-half of all species will be extinct in 100 year period! Other researchers are sceptical about the current mass extinction arguing that, even if the current rate of extinction is comparable or higher than the rate during a great mass extinction event, as long as the current rate does not last more than a few thousand years, the overall effect will be small. Thus, there is still hope that humanity can eventually slow the rate of extinction through proper ecological management and sustainable development. But, the man-made disasters of modern era, as well as a detailed analysis of the human impact on the environment are beyond the scope of this book.

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16. THE EFFECT OF ARCHAEODISASTERS ON HUMAN EVOLUTION & CIVILIZATION Apart from influencing totally the course of human history, disasters had, also, influenced the division and control of Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surface. The cooperation and conflict among people, the changes that occur in the use of resources and the migration of human populations had modified the natural and cultural landscapes of the past in a mutual way. Physical systems affect human societies and human actions modify the physical environment. Severe climatic and environmental changes, sudden deaths of a wide part of ancient population, the transformation of natural ecosystems and the geographical alterations, changes in settlement patterns, migrations and wars, major environmental events, other periodically expressed phenomena, all had long-term impact on the local communities worldwide. Thus, disaster dynamics had proved to be so powerful, that they changed the course of human history. Mighty empires collapsed and vanished from the face of Earth. Well-organized societies fell apart, when their normal coping mechanism failed. Drought or flooding, epidemic diseases, tremendous volcanic eruptions, cosmic phenomena, tsunamis and earthquakes influenced the circum-Mediterranean civilizations (cultures of the areas of Sahara and Sahel, Iberian, Egyptian, Hittite, Mesopotamian, Minoan and Mycenaean, Etruscan, Roman), the northwestern European, Asian (Harappan, Chinese, Oceanian) and American (Mesoamerican and Andean) civilizations. On the other hand, the positive response to hazardous phenomena promoted progression and innovation. During the aftermath of the catastrophes or the environmental changes: (1) technological innovations happened (for example, the rise of agriculture after Younger Dryas climatic crisis, obsidian trade correlated to volcanic landscapes, metallurgy correlated to impact areas), (2) new lands discovered (for example, opening of new waterways and early human migrations, the trips of Vikings to northern Seas, the European expansion after the Little Ice Age), (3) new 245

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subsistence strategies and more efficient techniques were adopted (for example in agriculture). In few words, crises stimulated rather than devastated the ancient societies, for example, the nutrient-rich volcanic tephras and alluvial soils counterbalanced the danger of volcanic eruptions and the spread of malaria in marshy areas, respectively. ▪ The Cosmic Impact Recent experiments disclosed that a Supernova exploded near Earth about 2.8 million years ago (or asteroid Eltanin impacted Earth). The existence of noble gases, for example Helium-3, and radioactive iron atoms traced in ancient samples of deep-ocean material, are likely the debris of that explosion. And, deep-sea material, a crust of manganese and iron deposits formed over millions of year on a rock in the deep ocean, as well. For the first time, sea sediments are used as a “telescope” for the detection of a serious past disaster; it opened the way to the evolution of human species after the climate changes in Africa due to this severe cosmic ray flux. Researchers detected an unusually high level of radioactive atoms in geological strata representing the ‘gold-plated signature’ of a nearby supernova. Supernova Archaeology was born! The scientists estimated that a supernova exploded at that time, in about 120 light years from Earth. The twenty-eight layers containing the Fe60 atoms were isolated in a single layer 2.8 million year- old, at a depth of 5.2 km (3.23 mi). This crust was taken from an area a few hundred kilometres southeast of the Hawaiian Islands in 1980. In 2002, other researchers proposed the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, a group of young bright O and B stars, as possible destructors which could have generated 20 SN explosions during the last eleven million years. OB associations are large aggregates of hundreds to several thousand young stars. They are the dominant birthplaces for stars in our galaxy. This Pliocene /Pleistocene event is now considered as the main mechanism behind the onset of last Ice Ages and the acceleration of Hominization (= the process of becoming human, also known as Anthropogenesis).

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Upper Scorpius is one of the nearest OB associations (about 470 light years distance from our Sun). Its age is only about 5 million years. The astrometry satellite Hipparcos identified about 30 high-mass members by their characteristic space motions. The image is a true color infrared image (12 micrometer emission is shows in blue, 60 micrometer in green, 100 micrometer in red) constructed from IRAS data (Infrared Astronomical Satellite). The asterisks mark the positions of the massive stars which belong to the association. The bright region left of the center is the R-Ophiuchus molecular cloud, a well- known “stellar nursery”. Several super-nova explosions happened in the Scorpius Centaurus association during the last few million years. Image Credit: Professor Dr. Thomas Preibisch – Observatory of the Ludwig- Maximilians-Universität / Munich. Image Source: Young Stars and Star Formation Group

Modern Genome researchers have discovered the gene SRGAP2 duplication (amongst a total of thirty in humans) that led to hominization and to the emergence of more advanced cognitive abilities. This specific gene was apparently duplicated at least twice over the past four million years, once about 3.5 million years and again about 2.5 million years. In addition, neurodevelopment disorders today, such as autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia, may be, also, related to disruption of that ancestral gene. Moreover, the Geminga super nova explosion first event (in the constellation Gemini) took place around 340 000 years ago. Bright as the full moon, it was one of the brightest celestial sources of gamma-ray radiation. That time, Homo erectus (our direct ancestor / from the Latin words Homo = human being + erectus = upright) prospered in Africa, 247

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Europe and Asia. This event caused another major Ice Age that lasted about 10 000 years. Neanderthals appeared and began to Ę˝replaceĘź Homo erectus. Around 37 000 years ago, a second Geminga shock wave reaches Earth, coinciding with their disappearance.

Fossil skull of Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalis and Homo antecessor. Image Source: Think Stock by Getty Images. Item number: 487078841. Collection: iStock. Release info: No release required. All of Thinkstock's images come with a royalty-free license.

Two other researchers from USA, R. Firestone and Allen Vest, wanted to prove the theory of Pleistocene mega-fauna extinction which was related to space-induced disasters. According to this hypothesis, the debris from a supernova explosion fused into low-density, comet-like objects that wreaked havoc on the solar system, long ago. The researchers found evidence of this impact layer in several archaeological sites throughout North America, where Clovis hunting artefacts and human-butchered mammoths have been unearthed.

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The Clovis culture was a prehistoric, Paleo-Indian culture, named after the area near Clovis at Mexico. There, archaeologists unearthed their distinct stone tools, in close association with Pleistocene fauna. Today, Clovis people are thought to be the ancestors of most of the indigenous cultures of the Americas.

A Clovis projectile point (fluted blade) 11,000 years old; it has been created by using bifacial percussion flaking (that is, each face is flaked on both edges alternately with a percussor). In archaeology, percussor is a stone, bone, or antler used to prepare stone tools. Image courtesy of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. This copyrighted image was published by an agency of the Government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is believed to be available for free use with a credited citation of its source. Image Credit: Locutus Borg. Image Source: Wikipedia

Firestone and West, also, found evidence of the initial shockwave of that explosion in the 34 000-year-old mammoth tusks, from Alaska and Siberia, that are peppered with tiny impact craters, apparently produced by iron-rich grains. These grains may have been emitted from a supernova that exploded roughly 7000 years earlier and about 250 light years from Earth. They found magnetic metal spherules in the sediment of nine Clovis sites in Michigan, Canada, Arizona, New Mexico and the Carolinas. Their composition is very similar to lunar igneous rocks, known as KREEP, which were discovered on the moon by the Apollo astronauts. They have been found in lunar meteorites, too, that fell to Earth in the Middle East estimated to be 10 000-years old. Meanwhile, the chemical element potassium-40 detected in the Clovis layer, is much more abundant than potassium-40 found in the entire 249

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solar system. All the above-mentioned physical evidence coincides, also, with radiocarbon peaks found in Icelandic marine sediment samples. The samples have been dated to 41 000 years, 34 000 years and 13 000 years ago. Other researchers speak about asteroidal debris and bolides. Their orbits were quite perturbed not only by close encounters with Earth – Moon system, but also with the orbits of Venus, Mars and Ceres. Those events are dated to 40 000 years and 20 000 years ago. A similar byproduct (a fragment of asteroid 2011 EO40) could be the Cherlyabinsk superbolide observed in the skies of Urals on February 15, 2013. Moreover, a Vela super nova explosion (known as the Vela Supernova Remnant or SNR) occurred between 12 300 and 11 000 years ago, about 800 light years away, in the southern constellation of Vela. The constellation represents the sail of the mythical ship of Argonauts (named Argo) in the ancient Greek mythology. This event may be responsible for the abrupt warming of Earth’s climate, by 20° C or more, and the of the last Ice Age before the Holocene; and for the ASPM mutation / Microcephalin mutation, as well. Extraterrestrial radiation could be the main cause of such mutations throughout human history. In ancient Greek mythology, the goddess Artemis (Diana in Roman mythology) symbolized the unseen forces of disease and sudden death. She was the goddess who brought sudden death to infants, girls and women, for she was not only the protector of girls, but, also by contrast, their destroyer too. Her brother Apollo brought sudden death, illness and disease to boys and men. Their wrath came in the forms of deadly arrows and they were related to the fires that came from the sky and the plagues. During the Late Bronze Age (from 1700 to 1200 Before Current Era), Hittite and Hurrian mythology (in Anatolia – Asia Minor) had Aplu as the god of plague.

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Artemis with a hind, better known as "Diana of Versailles". Marble, Roman artwork, Imperial Era (1st-2nd centuries CE). Found in Italy. Image Credit: Copy of the famous ancient sculptor Leochares (?) - Marie-Lan Nguyen (January 2005). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Greek God Hephaistos and the goddesses Athena and Hera were also related to the cosmic fires and plagues in ancient Greek tradition. Lions, dragons and other symbolic images represented the heat coming from Space and its consequences (for example, epidemics and droughts). The arrows were, also, correlated with falling ‘stones’, ‘fires’, and other objects from the sky. In many races, people believed that the stone axes fell from the heavens. In Japan, the stone arrowheads are rained from heaven by the flying spirits, who shoot them. Similar beliefs are found in Brittany, in Brazil, Madagascar, Ireland, China, the Shetlands, Scotland, Portugal etc., as well as from the Aztec prayer to Tezcatlipoca, and from the Bible. Throughout history, humans have been faced with disastrous catastrophes which must be endured in order to survive. One of the deathliest disasters for humanity has been the plague. This term in Greek (loimos) can refer to any kind of sickness; in Latin, the terms are plaga and pestis. In antiquity, two of the most devastating plagues were the Athenian Plague of 430 Before Current Era (during the Peloponnesian War, when even Pericles died) and the Justinian plague of 542 Current Era. Many 251

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disastrous epidemics probably occurred between the Athenian and Justinian plagues, too.

Map in English of Greenland ice sheet thickness. Thickness over 10 m above bedrock and mean sea level. Note: the shaded relief is a raster image embedded in the SVG file. Image Credit: Eric Gaba (Wikimedia Commons user Sting). CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The dendrochronologist Mike Baillie (Queen's University, Belfast, Ireland) had noticed some strange tree ring patterns that coincided with the historical catastrophe during the Justinian Plague. It seems that, there was some sort of environmental downturn that weakened the human population and made humanity susceptible to bacterial or viral death on a large scale. In parallel, at least four occasions in the last 1500 years, are linked with objects coming from Space and the layers of the chemical element ammonium (ammonia and ammonium are different forms of nitrogen) in Greenland ice: 539, 626, 1014, and 1908 (the Tunguska event 252

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which is now attributed rather to a comet than an asteroid impact) Current Era. Scientists propose a rise in the frequency of fireball activity between 400 and 600 Current Era. Similar conditions probably existed later on, at the time of the Black Death appearance in 1348 Current Era. The plague of Justinian I (Byzantine emperor who ruled between 527 and 565 Current Era), during which about hundred million people died, ravaged the city of Constantinople and then devastated whole cities and areas. Scientists confirm that in 540 Current Era, in different parts of the world, the climate changed. Temperatures dropped enough to hinder the growth of trees as widely dispersed as North Europe, Siberia, western North America and southern South America. A search of historical records and mythical stories refer to a disastrous visitation from the sky during the same period. There was one reference to a "comet in Gaul so vast that the whole sky seemed on fire". And, in the 530s, both Mediterranean and Chinese observers recorded an unusual meteor shower. Famine followed the crop failures and bubonic plague swept across Europe in the mid-6th century. Later on, during the 14th century Current Era, climate started to change seriously, again, causing widespread disturbances in seasons and crops. The result was widespread storms, rain, flood, droughts and of course serious crop failures. The worst, but far from the only one, was the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;universal famineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (1315-1317), which caused conditions almost too cruel to mention. Contemporary chroniclers reported that parents ate their children, that people dug up bodies from churchyards for food, and that it even was common for people to kill others for food! In Europe, North of the Alps and the Pyrenees, 10% of the population perished. Right before the Black Death another serious famine devastated nations, having affected 1/5 of mankind.

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A scene showing monks, disfigured by the plague, being blessed by a priest. From a late 14th century manuscript in Latin. Omne Bonum by James le Palmer, England (British Library MS Royal 6 E. VI f.301, 1360-1375 Current Era). This is a faithful photographic reproduction of an original two-dimensional work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain. This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. Image source: Wikipedia

The Genoese Gabriele de’ Mussi (14th century Current Era), described how the Black Death reached Europe from Crimea region in the Black Sea, as the result of a biological warfare attack. During the siege of the city of Kaffa (now Feodosija, Ukraine) the Mongol army hurled plague-infected cadavers into the besieged Crimean city. Modern researchers claim that the Black Death came in three forms, the bubonic, the pneumonic and the septicaemic. Each of them killed people in a vicious way. All forms were caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis. The bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form of the Black Death. The mortality rate of bubonic plague was 30-75%. The symptoms were flu like symptoms (headaches, nausea, aching joints and fever of 38°- 41°C, vomiting, and a general feeling of illness), plus muscle cramps, seizures, gangrene, and especially, swollen and painful lymph nodes (around arm pits, neck and groin). Patients with bubonic plague are not contagious to other people.

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But Ithis form can progress to lethal septicaemic plague in some cases, and more frequently, to pneumonic plague. Back then, when no antibiotics existed, death occurred typically within ten days, and up to 9 out of 10 patients died. Today, only 1 to 10 who receives the appropriate treatment dies from this disease.

Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) infected with the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which appears as a dark mass in the gut. The foregut of this flea is blocked by a Y. pestis biofilm, which is a prerequisite for efficient transmission. When the flea attempts to feed on an uninfected host, Y. pestis from the foregut, is brought up into the wound, causing infection. Image Credit: National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases-photographer not listed http://www.niaid.nih.gov/labsandresources/labs/aboutlabs/lzp/plaguesection/Pages/hi nnebusch.aspx. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The pneumonic and septicaemic plague was probably seen less than the bubonic plague, because the victims often died before they could reach other places. The septicaemic plague was the rarest form of all. The mortality was close to 100% (even today there is no treatment). Symptoms were a high fever and skin turning deep shades of purple due to disseminated intravascular coagulation. Victims usually died the same day symptoms appeared. That infamous pandemic killed at least seventy-five million people in Eurasia alone, from 1347 to 1351 Current Era. This is the worst pestilence ever experienced by humans. Around 1/3 of European population perished (25 million people). China, where the Black Death is said to have originated, lost around half of its entire population (going from around one thousand and twenty-three million to around sixty-five million). In Mediterranean Europe, where the plague ran for about four years consecutively, it was probably closer to 70% to 75% of the total population. Africa lost approximately 1/8 of its population (from around seventy to eighty million). Most modern scientists agree that the plague was originated in central Asia, or somewhere in Africa, where plague is endemic in some 255

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rodent populations. Of course, there were environmental factors, too, which accelerated the expansion of the disease. During that period, more than 100 plague epidemics swept across Europe. Other scientists, such as the epidemiologists Susan Scott and Christopher Duncan from Liverpool University, proposed the theory that the Black Death might have been caused by an Ebola-like virus, not a bacterium. Their research demonstrated, also, how the Black Death has made around 10% of Europeans resistant to HIV. The historian Norman Cantor suggested that the Black Death might have been a combination of pandemics, including a form of anthrax and cattle murrain (= various infectious diseases which affect cattle and sheep). On the other hand, Graham Twigg argued that rats and fleas couldn’t transmit the bubonic plague of the 14th century, because the climate and ecology of Europe, and particularly England, were not suitable for the spread of the pandemic. He proposed that the Black Death may have been an epidemic of pulmonary anthrax caused by Bacillus anthracis. Other epidemiologists and historians proposed a currently unknown pathogen. It is very interesting that the Black Death killed between 1/2 and 2/3 of the population of Iceland, although there were no rats in Iceland at this time (according to the researcher Gunnar Karlsson). But today, the identification of both DNA and protein signatures specific for Yersinia pestis is a fact. Scientist used human skeletons from mass graves in northern, central and southern Europe, that were associated archaeologically with the Black Death, and its subsequent resurgences. And, in 2013, scientists constructed the entire family tree of the bacterium that caused the Black Death. Today, plague is not rated as high as malaria and tuberculosis are, in killer disease climax. But which was the real hidden mechanism behind that pandemic? A contemporary writer in Padua (Italy) wrote: “... a dragon at Jerusalem like that of Saint George that devoured all that crossed its path .... A city of 40,000 ... totally demolished by the fall from heaven of a great quantity of worms, big as a fist with eight legs, which killed all by their stench and poisonous vapours”. In a story written by the Dominican friar Bartolomeo: “... massive rains of worms and serpents in parts of China, which devoured large numbers of people. Also, in those parts fire rained from Heaven in the form of snow (ash), which burnt mountains, the land, and men. And from this 256

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fire arose a pestilential smoke that killed all who smelt it within twelve hours, as well as those who only saw the poison of that pestilential smoke”. Philip Ziegler (1969) wrote: “Droughts, floods, earthquakes, locusts, subterranean thunder, unheard of tempests, lightning, sheets of fire, hail stones of marvellous size, fire from heaven, stinking smoke, corrupted atmosphere, a vast rain of fire, masses of smoke..”. And he reports of a black comet seen before the arrival of the epidemic: “heavy mists and clouds, falling stars, blasts of hot wind, a column of fire, a ball of fire, a violent earth tremor, in Italy a crescendo of calamity involving earthquakes, following which, the plague arrived”. Jon Arrizabalaga (1998) refers to the terms used by doctors and other medical people in 1348 Current Era, to describe the plague: “. Agramont […] split the term pestilencia up into three syllables, each having a particular meaning: pes = tempesta: 'storm, tempest'; te = 'temps, time', lencia = 'brightness, light'; hence, he concluded, the pestilencia was 'the time of tempest caused by light from the stars'”. So, inspired researchers today have understood that similar phenomena in the past gave birth to myths and legends. Cometary or planetary (like Mars and Saturn with Earth) near-encounter and solar outbursts brought falling of gases, hydrocarbons, burning pitch and stones. Especially, the planet Saturn was related with floods and disasters, in ancient legends. And Venus, a sister planet to Earth, has always been described as “Earth’s evil twin”. Ancient texts like the Manuscript Quiche of the Maya, the so-called Papyrus Ipuwer from Egypt and the Book of Exodus, all record the fact that the water in the rivers was turned into ‘blood’. The biblical plagues were: turning of rivers into blood, invasion of frogs, lice, mixed hordes of wild beasts, grievous pestilence, rain of naphtha, hail, locusts, dungeon darkness, death of the first-born children. The famous papyrus of Ipuwer, an Egyptian writing, laments for the plagues that devastated the fertile lands of Egypt: “Years of noise. There is no end to noise. The land turns round as does a potter's wheel. The towns are destroyed. Upper Egypt has become dry. All is ruin. Gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire. The fire has mounted up on high. Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere. The river is blood. Men shrink from tasting and thirst after water. Hair has fallen out for everybody. Women are barren; none can conceive. Trees are destroyed. Neither fruit

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nor herbs are found. The Desert is throughout the land A foreign tribe from abroad has come to Egypt Woe is me because of the misery of this time” In the ancient Greek mythology, the Sky-god Ouranos, the first ruler of the Universe, was castrated by his son Kronos and his blood fell to the Earth, impregnating it with several dreadful deities, along with ethereal Aphrodite. Don’t forget, also, the Sumerian myth of Inanna (later known as Ishtar, Aphrodite and Venus goddess, whose symbols were the lion and the 8-point star), who filled the wells of Sumer with ‘blood’, the Egyptians story of the goddess Hathor, whose visits to Earth were associated with the covering of the land with a blood-like ‘beer’, and the Norse legends of Valkyries who were accompanied with ‘raining of blood’.

The First Plague: Water Is Changed into Blood, watercolor by James Tissot. Image Credit: James Tissothttp://www.cts.edu/ImageLibrary/Images/June26_2000/TissNile.jpg. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Venus is also related to the 1918 flu pandemic! Influenza, commonly known as flu, is an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by an RNA virus of the family Orthomyxoviridae (the influenza viruses). In humans, common symptoms of influenza infection are fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and fatigue. In more serious cases, influenza may cause pneumonia, which can be fatal, particularly in young children and the elderly. An influenza pandemic is an 258

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epidemic of the influenza virus, that spreads on a worldwide scale and infects a large proportion of the human population. In fact, influenza is a reemerging epidemic disease recurring over centuries. In Europe, there is evidence as early as the 9th century Current Era, if not earlier. The respiratory disease known as febris Italica (Italian fever) existed in Charlemagne’s army in 876-877 Current Era. Later on, similar European-wide epidemics appeared between 1173 and 1387, two of them even called ‘influenza’ (a popular Italian term). Another disease known as ‘sweate’ (< sweat, Sudor Anglicus) was repeatedly epidemic between 1485 and 1551). In 1410, an explosive respiratory epidemic, known as horion or le taq, caused violent coughing and miscarriages among pregnant women. In contrast to the regular seasonal epidemics of influenza, these pandemics occur irregularly. The 1918 Spanish flu was the most serious pandemic in recent history. It was responsible for the deaths of over fifty million people. There have been about three influenza pandemics in each century for the last three hundred years. The most recent ones were the Asian flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong flu in 1968. The Spanish flu is recognised as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as ‘Spanish Flu’ or ‘La Grippe’ the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster. The flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40. An estimated 675 000 Americans died of influenza during the pandemic, ten times as many as in the world war. The influenza pandemic circled the globe. Most of humanity felt the effects of this strain of the influenza virus. It spread following the path of its human carriers, along trade routes and shipping lines. Outbreaks swept through North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Brazil and South Pacific. It seems that the 1918 pandemic virus is more closely related to the avian influenza A virus (Subtype involved: H1N1) than are other human influenza viruses.

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American Expeditionary Force victims of the Spanish flu at U.S. Army Camp Hospital no. 45 in Aix-les-Bains, France, in 1918. Image Credit: Infrogmation (talk | contribs). Uncredited U.S. Army photographer - U.S. Army Medical Corps photo via National Museum of Health & Medicine website at [U.S. Army Camp Hospital No. 45, Aix-Les-Bains, France, Influenza Ward No. 1.], Reeve 14682. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

And now comes the most intriguing part of the story.. Professor Louis Backman (Uppsala University, Stockholm), suggested, in 1944, that “It was entirely possible that organisms causing recent flu epidemics had come from Venus, Jupiter or Mars…”. Since then, laboratory workers know that bacteria and other living cells can survive the near-absolute-zero temperature of interplanetary space. Professor Charles B. Lipman (California University) once claimed, in 1933, that he had found living bacteria locked in meteorites millions of years old! Today many scientists support that life on Earth more properly started in the more favorable atmospheres, which contain methane and ammonia gases and surround planets, such as Jupiter, Venus and Mars. From them, living organisms may have been transported to our planet, by meteorites or by the propulsive power of the sun's rays. It was found that the onsets of six confirmed major microbial invasions occurred, on average, 55 days after strong geomagnetic storms nearest to inferior conjunctions of Venus. The shortest interval between geomagnetic storm and outbreak was thirty-five days and the longest was sixty-seven days. Invasion onsets occurred only during the months May through July. These Lockyer events (named after the scientist who first observed them) were bacterial in nature but, in 1918 an inferior conjunction of Venus took place approximately on February, 9. The first 260

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reported case of the 1918-1919 influenza outbreak in the United States (at Camp Funston), was 30 days later. Modern researchers observed that "the mortality rates due to flu peaked in Boston and Bombay in the same week. But New York, just a few hours from Boston, had its peak three weeks later". Doctors finally decided that "influenza must arise from some sort of changes in the atmosphere but that, once it got started, it could spread from person to person". Similar observations have been made on SARS and West Nile Virus Epidemics. And there’s more…The sun-flu connection: "Influenza epidemics are more likely to sweep the globe when the sun develops spots and sends its excess energy barrelling toward Earth”, according to Canadian researchers. The scientists have compared, also, the historical records of flu pandemics and the solar flare activity dating back to the early 1700s ... They found a definite tendency for pandemics to occur during periods of Solar Maximum! Finally, recent research has shown that even the milder geomagnetic field fluctuations may predispose humans to genetic and immunological alterations. This make them prone to the epidemic spread of influenza, as well as to the expression of infectious diseases (for example, HIV), chronic inflammatory diseases (for example rheumatoid arthritis, asthma), cancer, etc. Today, weather extremes, widespread volcanism and major earthquakes, along with the onset of glaciation cycles, are correlated with geomagnetic reversals. At least twelve magnetic reversals can be linked to glaciation events during the last three million years. In addition, the reversals can be extremely fast. A famous example is the Laschamp geomagnetic excursion (we have already mentioned it in previous chapter). It is related with the devastated Campanian Ignimbrite eruption of the Phlegrean Fields in central Mediterranean, around 41 000 years ago, with the climatic Heinrich Event 4, and the cultural stage of ‘Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition’. The duration of that event was only four hundred forty years, while the transition from the normal field lasted only two hundred fifty years. The reversed field was 75% weaker. Since 1978, scientists thought that there should be a strong correlation of the magnetic field behaviour in our planet, with the evolution

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of life. They checked the period between 125 000 and 10 000 years ago, during which, the Blake and Mungo reversals are known to have occurred. They proposed that: (1) During Blake excursion (114 000-108 000 years ago) the Lower Palaeolithic tools disappeared and the Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) tools appeared (2) During Mungo excursion (37 000 and/ or 32 000 years ago), was the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic boundary and the replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans. In the meanwhile, the interrelation between bio-electrical processes in the human body and electromagnetic processes in the Earth and Cosmos, have been investigated long ago. During the 19th century Current Era, physicists had evidence that light is merely a magnetic wave. Later, quantum physicists proved that the connection between light, electricity and magnetism is far more complicated. They recognized that the ancient Greek â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;etherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; probably represented it. Today, it is well known that: (1) the oscillations of certain electrical frequencies in even small quantities and for short durations, have consequences, which are influential even to the tinniest structures of matter (molecules, cells) and detrimental to health, (2) electromagnetic phenomena influence a human being's thinking, feeling and willing.

Photograph of Nikola Tesla, a slender, mustachioed man with a thin face and pointed chin (1856-1943) at age 40. Image Credit: Unknown - Downloaded from: https://historyrat.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/lighting-the-1893-worlds-fair-the-raceto-light-the-world/. This image is in the public domain due to its age; PD-OLD. Image Source: Wikipedia 262

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Nikola Tesla, a famous Serbo-Croatian inventor, electromechanical engineer and futurist, at his Colorado Springs laboratory in USA (18991905), first documented observations on global electromagnetic resonance. But the global electromagnetic resonance phenomenon was named after the physicist Winfried Otto Schumann, who predicted it mathematically in 1952. Schumann Resonance Electromagnetic Fields are correlated with the evolution of Life. There is a continuous extremely low frequency (ELF) process in the geomagnetic field (in Ionosphere, Plasmasphere and Magnetosphere). The peaks of them, are called the Schumann resonances, and reside approximately on 100, 21, 14.1, 7.8, 5.7, 4, 1, 0.1 and 0.001 Hz, while the most common geomagnetic frequency is 7.86 Hz. The unit of hertz represents one cycle per second in electromagnetic waves, and it was named after the German physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894 Current Era). In 1963, the pioneer of Electromedicine, and electrochemically induced cellular regeneration, the American physician Robert Becker, first proposed that the natural, geographically determined magnetic environment presumably has an influence on human behaviour. He believed that extrasensory perception could occur from extremely low frequency (ELF) waves. He established Electrobiology (the electricity and magnetism of living organisms). Since then, researchers broadened the significance of Schumann resonances beyond the domain of Geophysics, where it initially began, to the fields of Bioenergetics and Acupuncture. Many researchers found that the human whole-body fundamental resonant frequency varies accordingly day or night, being male or female, and in relation with body mass, mood and state of motion. The human brain waves range from 0.5 (deep sleep) to 40 Hz and more (high alert and focused). The Schumann Resonance 7.83Hz is one natural radio band in our atmosphere. Our planet pulsated in this frequency for thousands of years. On the other hand, music based on 432 Hz transmits beneficial healing energy, because it is a pure tone of mathematics fundamental to Nature. The Love Frequency, according to Dr. Leonard Horowitz, is 528 Hertz, the higher form of energy, which can even heal our damaged DNA. Modern scientists have made extended experiments in archaeological monuments, places and landscapes. Their results are 263

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fascinating! Our ancestors built their sacred sites in energetically vibrating places, and in a way suitable for evoking the healing properties of Nature (for telephony and telepathy, representing the structure and function of human brain), and as wireless antennae or provoked sounds used as weapons. It seems that since the Palaeolithic times, at least back to 30 000 years ago, humans instinctively chose the right chambers in caves, where they performed rituals and expressed their artistic skills. One very famous example are the Temples of Malta (island in central Mediterranean Sea), Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples, UNESCO World Heritage sites and architectural masterpieces.

Map of Temples, Malta. Image Credit: Stijndon - Own work. Translation to English of a French map of the Hagar Qim temples that was already on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia. Image Credit: Hamelin de Guettelet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plan_des_temples_de_Mnajdra.png. A schematic map of the Mnajdra temples (This is an English translation of a French map that was already on Wikipedia). Image Source: Wikipedia

They are considered the oldest free-standing buildings on Earth, being more than a thousand years older than the Egyptian Pyramids or Stonehenge. They follow the megalithic tradition of Neolithic period (4th millennium Before Current Era) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and beyond- and they had given birth to the ancient Greek mythology of Sirens, found already in the Odyssey of Homer. They were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.

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Odysseus and the Sirens, eponymous vase of the Siren painter around 475 Before Current Era. Image Credit: Siren Painter (eponymous vase) - Jastrow (2006). Odysseus and the Sirens. Detail from an Attic red-figured stamnos, ca. 480-470 BC. From Vulci, Italy. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Malta Temples were the worshipping centers of the Great Mother (female power of nature), astronomical observatories and oracles, but not burial sites. â&#x2013;Ş Volcanic landscapes, Hominization and human civilizations Even our remote ancestors used to choose, repeatedly, the risky volcanic environments, where they survived, lived, reproduced and evolved. There is no coincidence that numerous fossils and archaeological material of the earliest phases of human evolution, have been found in topographically complex volcanic landscapes (fault-bounded basins, uplifted terrain, volcanoes, lava fields) and water bodies. And the routes chosen by Hominins to disperse around the globe followed the same ways. But why? Laetoli is a site in the African country of Tanzania. There, scientists have found hominin footprints (from Australopithecus afarensis) dated to 3.7 million years ago! The location and the tracks were firstly tracked by the famous archaeologist Mary Leaky in 1976 (she excavated the area later in 1978). The analysis of the footprints disclosed that Hominins were bipedal 265

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(walked on their two feet)! This is the oldest evidence, till now, of bipedalism and sexual dimorphism (= when the two sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics beyond their sexual organs, for example in the height and weight). Till now, other researchers have also found more footprints and evidence for the paleoecology of this site (= how was the environment, where these hominins lived), and for the biology of them, as well. Australopithecus afarensis (meaning the Southern ape of the area of Afar, in Latin) is an extinct hominin that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago in Africa. Their most famous representative is a partial skeleton of a female found in 1974, in Hadar / Ethiopia, dated to 3.2 million years ago. The scientists who found her, named her Lucy, after the modern song played in the expedition camp, back then (song of the Beatles).

The famous Laetoli footprints (figure 8). Test-pit L8 at Laetoli Site S. In the northern part of the test-pit (at the top), the Footprint Tuff is particularly altered, damaged by plant roots and dislodged along natural fractures. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.19568.013. Image Credit: F.T. Masao and others, eLife 2016;5:e19568 doi: 10.7554/eLife.19568. Full replica of Lucy's (Australopithecus afarensis) skeleton in the Museo Nacional de AntropologĂa at Mexico City. Source: English Wikipedia. Placed in the public domain by its creator, en:User:danrha. Image Source Wikipedia

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The geochemistry of such environments includes many valuable elements, such as the naturally occurring Halogens (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine). Especially, chlorine, bromine and iodine are strongly enriched in the sea, while iodine and to a lesser extent bromine, are further concentrated in the marine algae. Minerals, sediments, clays and bedrocks in igneous environments (volcanic areas) and near the sea, are rich in such elements. Iodine and chlorine are essential elements for mammals, and fluorine has beneficial effects on bone and tooth formation. However, excess quantities of dietary fluorine can be harmful. It is possible that bromine has an unknown function in human and animal health, too. Volcanic landscapes contain a lot of other rare elements (lithium, rubidium, arsenic, boron, strontium, antimony, germanium, etc), iron, copper, zinc, and selenium, which are â&#x20AC;&#x153;brain selective mineralsâ&#x20AC;? (= human brain uses them for various functions). But no other species except of us, including primates, exhibits symptoms of iodine deficiency. The inability of humans to conserve iodine in the body, shows why hominids chose to live in dangerous highly active tectonic areas and shorelines. There, their bodies could find and absorb the needed amount of iodine in daily basis. 700 million years ago, thyroxin was already present in the lowest invertebrates (Porifera and Anthozoa), but it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t show any hormonal action, yet. Invertebrates are animals which neither possess nor develop spine. Thyroxine is a thyroid hormone, known as T4, which is produced and released by the thyroid gland in humans. Later on, when some primitive marine chordates (the blue whale is also a chordate, like humans) started to emerge from the iodine-rich sea, and they were transferred to iodinedeficient fresh water and finally to the land, their diet became iodine deficient. Therefore, those primitive vertebrates learned to use the primitive thyroxin in order to transport antioxidant iodide into their cells. This process led to better adaptation of the organisms to the terrestrial environment. Today, researchers have found the precious role of iodides in human and animal bodies. They have biological effects on our endocrine system (metabolism) and our physiology in general (against inflammation, because they help our special cells to kill bacteria and infections). They concentrate around tumours and granulomas (collection of immune cells as a mass 267

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around infected areas in our body) and they move, also, into areas of tissue injury for repair. In humans, the adult organism contains from 15 to 20 mg iodine, 70 % to 80 % of which is in the thyroid. But, the most important of all, they contributed to the evolution of human brain: (1) The human brain cannot develop normally without a reliable supply of several nutrients, especially iodine (ions of iodide), iron and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid = one of the most important omega-3 fatty acids = parts of every cell in our body), (2) The body weight of the human foetus is about 13 % of the whole body ; this insures that there will be enough energy to support brain development; this feature is not found in other primates; thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why the fattest babies survived and reproduced - and their brain was fully developed, (3) Although the genome chimpanzees is only less than 1 % different from ours, this difference shows that hominins and chimpanzees gradually lived in different environments, during the last five or six million years. Shellfish, fish and shore-based animals and plants are the richest dietary sources of the key nutrients needed by our brain. The consumption of most shore-based foods (seaweeds, green turtles, urchins, molluscs / shellfish /crustacean like snails, crabs, lobsters, little octopuses and squids, starfish, etc) requires no specialized skills or tools, whether it happens on the shores of lakes, marshes, rivers or the sea. So, the presence of body fat in human babies is the product of a long period of sedentary (= more stable living in an area, instead of being nomad), shore-based existence by the line of hominins who destined to become humans. Similarly, spring fed water sources provided potable water, adequate iodine and other micronutrients, such as cobaltium and selenium. Bedrocks and sediments contained iodine. The ideal spots to find big game in Pleistocene were soils underlain or surrounded by volcanic sediments. Later on, during the last five millennia, the cradles of the big civilizations were all related to volcanism and seismic faults, for example, the Mediterranean / Middle-East / Zagros area, the archipelago of Cyclades in Greece, the Indus river area, the Tancheng-Lujiang and Xingan-Taihang fractures zones, and the Taihang mountains in China, the Mexican volcanic Top-Plates, and the volcanic High-Grounds in Peru - Andes Cordilleras. 268

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The Massif Central area (known also as the French Highlands) is the largest magmatic province of the West-European Rift system. Its name means that it is right in the middle of France. Auvergne is at the heart of this area. The Massif Central is made up of extinct volcanoes, the largest group of volcanoes in Europe, in the area surrounding Clermont-Ferrand, the capital city of the region. The highest peak is Mont Dore (1885m. or 6184 feet). The volcanic cones are called ‘puys’ (pronounced pwee), the most famous and impressive of which, is the Puy de Dôme on the west of Clermont-Ferrand.

Volcanoes of Chaine des Puys in Auvergne, France. Image Credit: Alpha du centaure https://www.flickr.com/people/alphaducentaure/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/alphaducentaure/11912337466/. CC BY 2.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

During the Tertiary (66 million to 2.58 million years ago) -Quaternary (2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present) volcanism in the area, there were three magmatic phases, dated between 65 million years to 3450 years ago They can be divided, by geography and age, into twenty separate areas. Modern archaeoenvironmental research has disclosed that the Pleistocene volcanic activity in the French Massif Central was often brutal and devastating, with volcanic products dispersed far away into vast geographic zones. Prehistoric populations adjusted to the periodical pattern of such volcanic activity. In a second time, effects and products of volcanism favoured human settlement (crater lakes, rock-shelters under lava flows, etc). Human presence in the area dates to the Upper Pliocene, around 2 million years ago. Palaeolithic people just adjusted to the climatic cycles of glacial /interglacials. 269

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Between 40 000 and 25 000 years ago, a peak in the basaltic flows caused the geological formation of rock-shelters, which were occupied later, during the Magdalenian Epoch (= a late period of Upper Palaeolithic in western Europe, dated between 17 000 to 12 000 years ago). A final eruptive crisis with plinian / strombolian cataclysmic eruptions, took place between 11 000 and 7000 years ago; this probably explains the absence of Mesolithic tool industries in the area. But, the Pleistocene interglacial and Holocene landscapes were extremely favourable to humans, with lush vegetation, rich fauna, fertile soils and abundant tool-fit materials. The most recent stage of full exploitation of such biotopes comes with the Neolithic, around 5000 years Before Current Era. All these volcanic sceneries seemed to enhance the pastoral and agricultural processes. Furthermore, during Neolithic Times, Anatolia (modern Turkey) was the centre of an advanced culture. The excavations held during the years 1961-1965, brought to light Çatal Höyük in southern Anatolia (near the present-day city of Konya – ancient Iconium) as a major site in the area. The settlement consisted of brick houses with entry over ladders from roof level. The houses contained a hearth and stove and had platforms for sleeping and working. Researchers think that its population was around 7000 people, who cultivated grains and oil seeds and may practice animal husbandry. Eruptions from the volcano Hasan Daği were dramatically recorded, by the Neolithic inhabitants, in paintings that depicted an apparent caldera formation about 7600-7500 Before Current Era (the settlement was occupied between 7500 to 5700 Before Current Era). Other paintings illustrated eruptions producing pyroclastic flows and lava flows that destroyed towns and villages. The religious quarter of Çatal Höyük contains several shrines with wall paintings of outstanding quality. A vivid, nearly naturalistic wall painting from one of the shrines depicts the plan of the city and a remarkable Neolithic portrayal of the active twin-peaked volcano of Hasan Daği, eight miles to the east of the city. This is the earliest known visual record of a volcanic eruption, dated to about 6200 Before Current Era (plus or minus 640 years), according to a new dating technique. The mural shows a cinder cone, perhaps one of the cinder cones in the Karapinar volcanic field that lies about few miles east of 270

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Çatal Höyük, ejecting tephra from the summit vent. The volcano is depicted with only mild strombolian activity. This painting is not simply a landscape but is an icon of the Volcano Goddess. The contours of the volcano are breast-like and the overall shape of the volcano is closely like the "bison-woman" Palaeolithic designs and other goddess representations; it looks distinctly like a body, much more so than like a mountain. Many archaeologists claim that the goddess is the Mother Goddess of Obsidian. There are, also, hundreds of representations of bulls, rams, leopards, vultures, and other animals, like the animal art of Lascaux cave.

Seated Mother Goddess flanked by two lionesses from Çatalhöyük (Turkey), Neolithic age (about 6000-5500 BCE), today in Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. Doubts about accuracy of this description are presented in Wikipedia:Talk:Cybele #Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük. Image Credit: User:Roweromaniak - Archiwum "Roweromaniaka wielkopolskiego" No_B19-36. CC BYSA 2.5. Image Source: Wikipedia

The city had probably the religious control of the sacred obsidian trade, because the volcanic landscapes offered access to lava and other volcanic ejecta, as a raw material for tools. The Anatolian obsidian, ‘purchased’ in Çatal Höyük, was exchanged to Mediterranean seashells, black chunks of bitumen from the shores of the Dead Sea, and other goodies of that era. Obsidian, this black and shiny volcanic glass, has been one of the main features of Mesolithic / Neolithic and Bronze Age trade across the circum-Mediterranean world, because it was considered a semi-precious 271

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stone by the ancients. Initially, it was, also, a very important raw material for the manufacture of weapons and tools. Since prehistoric times, humans noticed that obsidian was more abundant and sharper than flint, later, more easily worked and even cheaper than copper. Melos Island in the Aegean Archipelago, and adjacent small islands have grown from submarine and subaerial volcanism that, initially, was dominantly andesitic and basaltic, but ended with predominately rhyolitic eruptions. Melian obsidian is found at many sites, as far as western Mediterranean, northern Aegean, and Egypt, and researchers have recognised the Aegean island as a very important trade centre of the ancient world. Modern archaeological and geochemical studies have revealed, too, obsidian of non-Melian origin, from the Carpathians (Danube area), central Anatolia, Antiparos Island in Cyclades, and, particularly, Yali of Nissyros; and, from western Mediterranean, Lipari Island, Palmarola, Pantelleria, and Sardinia. The largest number of wrecks has been found in the west Mediterranean - off Provence in France, Tuscany in Italy, Bonifacio in Corsica, the Balearic Islands, the Aeolian Islands, and southeastern Sicily. Elsewhere, exploration has been more sporadic, as in the Adriatic, or very limited, as off North Africa. The distribution of these wrecks speaks about patterns of ancient shipping. Mediterranean seafaring for colonization and trade was widespread before the onset of the Bronze Age.

Large amounts of obsidian imported from Melos (Milos), at various stages of the manufacturing process, were found at Poros Heraklion, 3000 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2300 BC. Image Credit: Zde - Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Thus, not surprisingly, volcanic environments, even if they were highly risky, they had a lot to offer to humans. The slopes of volcanoes and 272

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the surrounding regions are covered with rich, volcanic soil that gives lush vegetation and blooming ecosystems. Volcanoes also create brand new islands. Over hundreds of thousands of years, these volcanoes breached the surface of the ocean /sea becoming habitable islands, and rest stops during long sea journeys. Unique species of plants and animals evolved into new forms on these islands, creating balanced ecosystems. Another volcano benefit is the many precious gems and building materials that can only come from volcanoes. Opals and obsidian are produced in volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions produce pumice stones, which people have used to remove excess skin. Hardened volcanic ash, called tuff makes a strong, lightweight building material. The ancient Romans used tuff to make a strong, lightweight concrete for walls, and buildings. The roof of the Pantheon in Rome is made of pumice concrete because it’s so lightweight. Even more, regions of volcanic activity are enormous sources of geothermal energy with its healing properties, appreciated thousand years before modern era. Hominids and humans by instinct weighed the negative impacts against the positive impacts and repeatedly chose to live under the shadows of volcanoes. The physical traits of Obsidian (fire element) are associated with the relief of pain, and its energies enhance vigor, strength, stamina, constancy, permanence, tenacity, courage and self-control; it is considered as the stone of entrepreneurs and inventors. It prevents the flow of negative energy; humans perceived obsidian as a stone of protection and honesty, bringing out the warrior spirit. In Chakra healing, Obsidian reflects the base chakra that controls our ‘grounding’ to the Earth, since it is associated with all our survival instincts and self-preservation; it is related, also, to the physical body, individuality, stability and security. Chakra (< Sanskrit ‘wheel’) is like a vortex, a constantly revolving wheel of energy. The term and meaning firstly appeared in the Vedas. Chakras distribute the life force through the physical and subtle bodies. They are the source of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy. Traditionally, there are nine major chakras associated with the physical body, counting two above the head within the etheric field. They are aligned with the spine and located in the base of the spine, the lower

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abdomen (sacral), the solar plexus, the heart, the throat, the centre of the forehead (third eye), and the crown of the head.

Flower of an Indian Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera). Chakras are visualized as lotus flower, with different number of petals which represent each chakra. Image Credit: Hong Zhang (jennyzhh2008) - https://pixabay.com/en/lotus-flower-summer-zen-lake978659/. CC0. Image Source: Wikipedia

When our chakras are blocked, or not in balance, the free flow of energy is impeded, leading to physical, emotional, mental or spiritual disease. When the chakras are unblocked and free flowing, however, we enjoy optimum health. Each chakra is associated with specific colours and crystals and governs different aspects of human emotion and behaviour. Using crystals with the chakras can have a great healing effect. So, Obsidian aids the digestion and detoxifies. It reduces arthritis pain, joint problems and cramps. Moreover, it brings clarity to the mind and clears confusion; it dissolves emotional blockages and ancient traumas. Obsidian is a very powerful stone. It reminds us that Birth and Death are simultaneously and constantly present, one with the other, always as one, an experience lived by our remote ancestors in volcanic landscapes, both fertile and deadly. This is a stone that has always been associated with guardian spirits that watch over us, and is connected to protection on all levels. Although most people are familiar with the regular black obsidian, there are several other types including: Apache Tear, Blue, Blue/Green, Gold Sheen, Mahogany, Rainbow, Red, Silver Sheen and Snowflake. Obsidian can be found almost anywhere there has been volcanic activity in the past, but not all the sources are currently being mined. Most mining is done in Armenia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Java, Kenya, 274

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Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, Turkey, and United States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Utah). Mayan Priests used scrying mirrors made of obsidian for foretell the future. They called the mirrors, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;smoking mirrorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, as black Obsidian, is a diviner's stone. Volcanic environments are highly energy conductors and they the female power of Earth, which gives birth and death to its creatures. These highly active geotectonic areas were, also, connected to sacred places of divination. A famous example is Delphi Oracle (central Greece). It was the most sacred and famous sanctuary of ancient Greeks. Modern scientists proposed that the prophetic powers of Pythia at the Temple of the god Apollo, were induced by hydrocarbon vapours, specifically ethylene, which rise from bedrock fissures (at the intersection of two local faults), and produce neurotoxic effects, including trance and delirium.

Delphic tripod. Paestan (painting style from the Greek colonies in Italy) redfigured bell-krater, ca. 330 BC. Image Credit: Python (as painter) - Jastrow (2006). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Pythia lived next to the Castalian Spring, which had magical properties, according to the legend. Pythia was one of the female sibyls (= prophetesses) of the ancient world. She was seated on a tripod (= threelegged seat or stand, a piece of religious furniture) when she delivered her

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ambiguous oracles. She was consulted for various topics by individuals, kings and citizen, foreigners and city-states. The geothermal waters have medical properties, too, as they benefited diseases of the skin and blood, nervous affections, rheumatism and kindred diseases, and the "various diseases of women". Bathing in the lagoons has positive effects on rheumatics, psoriasis, acne, dermatitis, eczema, and Rosacea. Sulphur naturally occurs in volcanoes, hot mineral springs and underground steam vents, where surfaces upwards daily from. Natural Volcanic Sulphur is well documented in medicine for its antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and natural antiseptic properties.

The red of these rocks found near Naples, Italy, is created by S. solfataricus colonization. Image courtesy of Science@NASA (1998). Sulfolobus solfataricus from Vesuvius was first isolated and discovered in the Solfatara volcano. Image Credit: Makohonm (talk | contribs). Image Source: Wikipedia

Volcanoes were healing places. There can be, also, found enzymes with extraordinary properties (for example, virulence neutralization ability), which could replace antibiotics. In addition, they can be used in the depollution - decontamination of soils, or for the protection against chemical/bacterial pollution and biological war (neurotoxins). Such enzymes are detected in hot waters of volcanic origins.

â&#x2013;Ş Climatic Changes Pleistocene (the first epoch in the Quaternary geological period, just before Holocene, which we live in) climate was characterized by repeated 276

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glacial cycles, when continental glaciers pushed to the 40th parallel in some places. It is estimated that, at maximum glacial extent, 30% of the Earth's surface was covered by ice. In addition, a zone of permafrost, meaning rocks or soil that is at or below the freezing point of water 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, stretched southward from the edge of the glacial sheet, a few hundred kilometres in North America, and several hundred in Eurasia. The mean annual temperature at the edge of the ice was −6 ° C; at the edge of the permafrost, 0 ° C. During interglacial times, such as at present, drowned coastlines were common. Dramatic changes in early human evolution occurred in East and South Africa during the last five million years, for example, the gradual emergence of larger and bigger brained species, the first appearance of our genus, Homo, and the development of stone tools near 2.6 million years ago. The fossil record agrees completely with the paleoclimatic evidence. African fauna followed the drying of its climate, in series of ‘pulses’, near 2.8, 1.8, and 1.0 million years ago, when major ecological shifts took place.

The Oldowan is the earliest widespread stone tool archaeological industry in prehistory, both in Europe and Asia. These early tools of Lower Paleolithic, dated to 2.6 million years ago, were simple, usually made with one or a few flakes chipped off with another stone. This example comes from the Atlantic area of Sahara, named Guelmin-Es Semara, and is exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid. Image Credit: José-Manuel Benito Álvarez (España) —> Locutus Borg - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The evolution of hominids (= taxonomic family of primates, humans included) and other African vertebrates may have been strongly influenced by these past changes in African climate. Over the past three million years, giant lakes up to 300 m. (984 feet) deep, formed and then vanished with 277

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the changing climate. The anthropologists observed that the majority of new hominid species appeared during those climatic changes. The fossils of Hominids are relatively well known: Sahelanthropus tchadensis (7 million years ago), Orrorin tugenensis (6 million years ago), Ardipithecus (5.5-4.4 million years ago), Australopithecus (4-2 million years ago), Kenyanthropus (3-2.7 million years ago), Paranthropus (3-1.2 million years ago), and Homo (3 million years ago â&#x20AC;&#x201C;present), with species such Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis, Archaic Homo Sapiens and Homo floresiensis.

Artistic interpretation of Australopithecus afarensis in Cosmocaixa, Barcelona. Australopithecus afarensis and africanus are among the most famous extinct hominins. No machine-readable author provided. Esv assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Makapansgat figurine, reddish-brown260-gram jasperite cobble, known also as the pebble of many faces, is dated to 2.9 million years ago. It was found with the bones of Australopithecus africanus in Makapansgat cave in South Africa. It reveals some sort of capacity for symbolic thinking amongst early Hominids! Near 2.5 million years ago, a second lineage, Homo habilis (who had smaller molars and larger brains than the Australopithecines), appeared as 278

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an earliest member of our genus Homo, in East Africa. The earliest fossils of the Homo clade are characterized by much larger absolute cranial volumes than any prior hominid species. The earliest known stone tools (the first crude choppers and scrapers in the Olduwai Technology) are now also well dated to near 2.6-2.5 million years ago. Thus, at the beginning, Homo habilis and Australopithecines coexisted in an arid, varied environment. By 1.6 million years ago, Homo habilis became extinct and his immediate successor, and our direct ancestor, Homo erectus, first appeared in the fossil record near 1.8 million years ago. He was the first human ancestor to walk truly upright and to use fire to cook their meat. As early as 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus may have migrated to southeastern Asia, and, near 1.4 million years ago, the more sophisticated Acheulean tool industry (bifacial handaxes) appeared. By then, too, the ‘robust’ australopithecine lineage became extinct, and by one million years ago, Homo erectus had broadly expanded its geographic range and occupied sites in North Africa, Europe and West Asia. Today, Homo erectus is considered as a wide-ranging, polymorphous species. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis lived from about 250 to as recent as 30 000 years; Homo sapiens sapiens (anatomically modern human) lives from about 250 000 years to the present. The two shared a common ancestor back to 660 000 years ago and beyond. Later on, a transition from a time period with extreme droughts (135 000 to 75 000 years ago) to a stable, wetter climate, may have stimulated the expansion and migration of human populations. Archaeological data from northern Israel indicate that one of the major waves of early modern human expansion out of the African continent occurred between 130 000 and 100 000 years ago. Around 70 000 years ago, African lakes dried up completely and then refilled, so, plant and animal populations grew and died out. ●●●●●● Climate transforms the human body and causes physiological changes in relation with physical and intellectual performance (for example, blood flow, loss of energy and ability to concentrate, fluctuations of fertility rates, changes in gestation period). Natural selection was not 279

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always a matter of ‘survival of the fittest’ but, also, survival of those most adaptable to changing surroundings. Hominids experienced cyclical and predictable changes, and largescale unpredictable shifts, too, in temperature and precipitation. This caused vast changes in vegetation – from grasslands to forests, and from extremely cold to warm climates. On the other hand, various tectonic phenomena altered the topography and climatic conditions of vast areas (for example, volcanic eruptions and forest fires altered the availability of food, water, shelter, and other resources). This intense environmental instability was the key to the evolution and the important human adaptations, such as early bipedality, stone transport, and diversification of artefacts, encephalization, and cumulative culture. Regional populations have, also, evolved different physical and genetic characteristics in response to varying climates and lifestyles. Over thousands of years, cooler climates produced larger people, because their extra mass helps them retain heat. Moreover, skin colour is determined largely by the amount of melanin, a dark pigment, in the outer layer of the skin. In sunny climates close to the Equator, natural selection has favoured dark, melanin-rich skin, which protects its owner by absorbing harmful ultraviolet rays from the scorching Sun. But some ultraviolet light must penetrate the skin, so that the body can produce Vitamin D. Thus, at higher latitudes, where sunlight is less intense, pale skin with little melanin is the norm. Melanin, also, determines eye colour. Dark eyes are generally favoured by nature. In northwestern Europe, however, almost 50 percent of the population has blue, green, or gray irises, such people may see further in dim light. The eyes of the Chinese, Japanese, Eskimos, and other people of Mongoloid descent (1/3 of the world’s population) are protected by fatty tissue. This characteristic probably evolved among their forebears who inhabited the Arctic. It insulates the eye against freezing and provides an additional shield against glare from snow and ice. ●●●●●● Human societies have evolved through the interactions between climate and ecological conditions. The expansion of farming was enhanced during warm and wet periods, which caused sea-level rise. Before Last 280

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Glaciation Maximum (LGM), humans had spread all over the world, according to the anthropological evidence today. During the LGM (between 25 000 and 22 000 years Before Current Era), ice sheets covered the whole of Iceland and the British Isles, except for the southern extremity of them. Northern Europe was largely covered with ice, reaching to Germany and Poland. In North America, the ice covered essentially all of Canada and extended roughly to the Missouri and Ohio Rivers, and eastward to New York City, but parts of the Alaska remained unglaciated except at higher elevations. Ice sheets also covered Tibet and the Andean altiplano. In Africa, Middle East and southeastern Asia, many smaller mountain glaciers formed, especially in the Atlas, the Bale Mountains and New Guinea. The Indonesian islands as far East as Borneo and Bali, were connected to the Asian continent in a landmass called Sundaland. Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea and neighbouring islands were part of Sahulland. In these warmer regions of the world, climates were cooler and almost everywhere drier; in extreme cases, such as South Australia and the Sahel (south of Sahara), rainfall was almost 90% less than present. Most of the deserts in our planet expanded. It was a cold, dry, and inhospitable world, with frequent storms and a dust-laden atmosphere. LGM glaciers forced early human populations, who had originally migrated from northeastern Siberia, into refugia. This condition reshaped their genetic variation through mutation and drift, for example, among Native Americans. Late Pleistocene climatic periods of North Europe are: the Oldest Dryas (stadial = cold), the BĂślling (interstadial = warmer), the Older Dryas (stadial = cold), the AllerĂ¸d (interstadial = warmer), and the Younger Dryas (stadial). Then, the Holocene begun.

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WeiĂ&#x;e Silberwurz (Dryas octopetala). Image Credit: Steinsplitter - Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Dryas periods were named after the alpine / tundra plant Dryas octopetala (mountain avens or eight-fold avens), which was detected in the core samples of glacial ice and peat bogs. This flower flourished during the last and stronger stadial of the Pleistocene. The Oldest Dryas extended from 17 000 years to about 12 650 years Before Current Era. The European cultures of that period are known in archaeology as upper Palaeolithic and they are attributed to Cro-Magnon populations. The Magdalenian culture of reindeer hunters prevailed in western Europe, while, from the Carpathians Mountains eastward the Epigravettian continued the prior Gravettian.

Deep bowl, Incipient Jomon (11,000-7,000 Before Current Era) pottery from Hinamiyama site. At Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa. Lent by Yokohama City Board of Education. Kanagawa prefecture (part of the Greater Tokyo Are). Tokyo National Museum. Image Credit: User:PHG . Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

In the Far East, the JĹ?mon culture had already become sedentary, it produced some food, possibly growing rice (even though they were not at all urban), and manufactured pottery. During that period, also, the domestic wolf (a distinct breed of Canis lupus with smaller teeth) and the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) helped people with the hunting, gradually becoming adept at herding. The cultivation of cereal grains had begun already 14 000 years ago, in multiple

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regions in the Fertile Crescent, roughly at the same time, rather than just a single core area. The Older Dryas took place around 12 000 years Before Current Era. In North Europe, existed an alternation of steppe and tundra environments, depending on the permafrost line and the latitude. The first trees, birch and pine, had spread into North Europe 500 years previously, but during the Older Dryas, the glacier advanced again and the trees retreated southward, to be replaced by a mixture of grassland and cool-weather alpine species (arctic tundra). The great extinction, especially of mammals, continued throughout this period. The Younger Dryas, also referred to as the “Big Freeze”, was a brief cold climate period, between approximately 10 900 to 9 650 years Before Current Era. Isotope data from Greenland ice core GISP2 indicate that the summit of Greenland was almost 15°C colder during the Younger Dryas than today. In North America, there was a decline of the Clovis Culture and a final extinction of many Pleistocene species. In Asia, there was more dust in the atmosphere, originating from the deserts. But the Younger Dryas is mostly known, today, as the main mechanism behind the onset of agriculture. The cold and dry climatic conditions forced the sedentary Early Natufian population into a more mobile subsistence pattern. Further climatic deterioration has brought about cereal cultivation. Natufian was a Epipalaeolithic (a period between Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic in the Stone Age) culture of eastern Mediterranean, with an unusual characteristic: people built stone architecture before the introduction of agriculture. Natufians exploited wild cereals, they hunted animals – including gazelles, and enjoying beer (yes! the oldest known evidence) in their ritual feasting. They lived among the high mountains of Lebanon and the Anti Lebanon, the steppe areas of the Negev desert in Israel and Sinai, as well as the Syro -Arabian Desert. They had settlements, where they returned seasonally, since they were generally nomadic. ●●●●●● The transition into the Holocene was characterized by intense climatic oscillations. Gerard C. Bond (1940-2005), when he worked in the Lamont - Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, proposed the 283

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theory of 1500-year climate cycles (1470 Âą 500 years) of the Holocene. Those events had taken his name. Some of them were related to important events in human history, for example, to the collapse of the Akkadian Empire and the end of the Egyptian Old Kingdom; to the early 1st millennium Before Current Era drought in the eastern Mediterranean, which enhanced the collapse of Late Bronze Age cultures; to the Migration Period around 600 in Current Era; and to the Little Ice Age around 1500 in Current Era. Moreover, Bond Events may be related to the 1800-year lunar tidal cycle in the oceans (ocean waters seem to cool close to the predicted strong tides). Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels which are caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun, and the rotation of Earth. Bond events are the climatic cyclic patterns of the Holocene.

Tides schematic according to the monthly /annual variation. Image Credit: User:KVDP, SVG conversion by Surachit - Public domain image: File:Tides schematic.JPG which was based on an image in "Leidraad voor het Stuurbrevet" by Richard Vooren, Paul Van den Keybus. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Marine geologist Hartmut Heinrich first described in 1988, the natural phenomenon, during which large armadas of icebergs break off from glaciers and traverse the North Atlantic. This periodical melting (for example five times in the last 640 000 years of the last Ice Ages) causes extensive amount of cold, fresh water to the North Atlantic Ocean. In this way, the circulation of the waters changes along with the global climate. The events last about 750 years. Some scientists identify the Younger Dryas Episode as a Heinrich Event.

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A summary of the path of the thermohaline circulation. Blue paths represent deep-water currents, while red paths represent surface currents. This map shows the pattern of thermohaline circulation, also known as "meridional overturning circulation". This collection of currents is responsible for the large-scale exchange of water masses in the ocean, including providing oxygen to the deep ocean. The entire circulation pattern takes around 2000 years. Image Credit: Robert Simmon, NASA. Minor modifications by Robert A. Rohde also released to the public domain- NASA Earth Observatory. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

In archaeology, the time after Last Glaciation Maximum is roughly categorized into the Mesolithic Period, The Neolithic Period, Bronze Age and Historic Times. These are not exact dates, but general frames based on “material cultures”, which describe technologies identified by archaeologists. ●●●●●● The Mesolithic Period (a term used by archaeologists in the Old World), was the final period of hunter-gatherer’s cultures (early post-glacial communities) in Europe and West Asia, between the end of the Last Glaciation Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution. Archaeologists dated various sites in Europe between 13 000 to 3 000 years Before Current Era. In the other parts of the world, this period is known as Epipalaeolithic. In Southwest Asia, it lasted between 18 000 and 6 000 years Before Current Era. But the term is less used for areas further east, and not all beyond Eurasia and North Africa. People of that era needed to adapt successfully to changing environments and to rising sea levels, in order to find new food sources and develop new toolkits (microlith tools). The microliths were tiny in size, and smaller, sharper and more efficient than the Palaeolithic tools. Mesolithic 285

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people probably stuck them on to the handles of bone or wood, to make weapons such spear tips and points of arrows, or tools such as saws and sickles. They lived along the shores of rivers, lakes, and seas, and fish was their main food. So, they invented the fishhook, numerous types of nets, and learned how to hollow out logs to make boats. The settlements got more complex, with one large settlement and around it, satellite villages (first houses appeared). The leading Mesolithic adaptation trend was sedentism (in short-period seasonal pattern), simple burials and the fist small cemeteries, crude pottery, textiles, population growth and use of plant foods, as evidence for the transition to agriculture. The changing environments and the competition for food caused trouble and warfare between communities and intruders (huntergatherers). This is proven by the high percentage of skeletons with signs of violence. The first megalithic tombs (collective burial places constructed of large stone blocks) were constructed at the end of this period. Mesolithic communities found new ways to get food. They were, also, hunter-gathers, but, in parallel, they learned to tame animals (to have always availability of meat), such as sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle. And, they became food growers, meaning farmers by raising plants. They started to spin and wave. And, they learned to live in larger communities than the smaller cave groups of the Palaeolithic Age. The Neolithic Period was characterized by farming, herding, polished stone axes, timber longhouses and pottery. In Northern Europe, the Neolithic lasted until about 1700 Before Current Era, while in China it extended until 1200 Before Current Era. Other parts of the world (for example areas of the New World) remained in the Neolithic stage of development until European Contact. The broad adoption of agriculture is known today as the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Neolithic Revolutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The complex, larger, dense-populated settlements, and the large-scale constructions, such as towers, walls and ceremonial sites, firstly appeared. The planting and harvest processes led to widespread ground stone and polished stone artefacts, including tools for grinding, cutting and chopping. Other characteristics of the period were the specialization and division of labour, activities such as deforestation and irrigation, more trade

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and established trade routes, extended ownership, arts and spirituality. The major ancient civilizations were about to be born… The famous village of Skara Brae (in the largest island of the Orkney archipelago, Scotland), widely known as the ‘Scottish Pompeii’, contained stone beds, shelves, even an indoor toilet linked to a stream. Most Neolithic societies, they were hierarchical, but still relatively simple and egalitarian. During excavations, several enigmatic carved stone balls have been unearthed, along with lumps of red ochre (= pieces of natural clay earth pigment) for body painting (for example, as lip gloss in women), beads, knives and needles among other artefacts. The site is in the UNESCO Heritage Site List since 1999.

Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae, dated to Neolithic. Image Credit: John Burka. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The striking innovations that took place during the Neolithic Period are too voluminous in every aspect of culture. After periods of experimentation, changes or innovations were, almost instantly, shared through entire regions by using an active, efficient and complex communicative system. The ‘migrating agriculturalists’ spread this new way of life. Archaeologists have discovered many centers of agriculture, from where changes and innovations had been originated and spread all over the world, in eastern USA, central Mexico, northern South America, and subSaharan Africa, the Fertile Crescent (Middle East and Anatolia), the Yangtze and Yellow River basins, Amazonia, the New Guinea Highlands, and Melanesia. 287

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A short list of domesticated plants includes: barley, maize, millet, wheat, rye, oats, rice, soya, lentil, bean, pea, peanut, berries, grape, melon, strawberry, avocado, eggplant, pepper, tomato, carrot, potato, yam, apple, pear, citron, lemon, lime, orange, almond, hazelnut, chestnut, walnut, pistachio, grapefruit, banana, papaya, fig, alfalfa, clover, olive, coffee, tea, tobacco, cacao, cotton, flax and various herbs, spices and ornamental plants.

This map shows the sites of domestication for a number of crops. Places where crops were initially domesticated are called centres of origin. Image Credit: this file is a work of a United States Department of Agriculture employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. It is a work of the U.S. federal government. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Secondary Products Revolutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; occurred when ancient people recognised that animals, also, provided a number of useful products, such as primary consumption (meat), hides and skins (from no domesticated animals), manure for soil conditioning (from all domesticated animals), wool (from mammoths, llama, alpaca and Angora goats), milk (from goats, cattle, yaks, sheep, horses and camels), guarding and herding assistance (dogs), and traction (from oxen, buffaloes, onagers, donkeys, horses and camels). Then, after taming, people started to domesticate them. A short list of domesticated animals includes dog, cat, goat, sheep, domestic pig, cattle, donkey, water buffalo, domestic turkey, chicken, duck and goose, honey bee, dromedary camel, yak, llama, alpaca, horse, 288

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domestic silk moth, domestic rabbit, domestic red fox. Of course, many other species existed, which were semi-domesticated, captive-bred or under an unclear domesticated status.

Farmers with wheat and cattle - Ancient Egyptian art 1,422 BC. Image Credit: Maler der Grabkammer des Menna - The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202 . Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia.

The Chalcolithic Period from about 4500 years Before Current Era onwards was marked by the development of metallurgy, which led to the Bronze Age and Iron Age. The Chalcolithic was a period, in which copper is predominant in metalworking technology. During that period, the adding of tin to copper (to form bronze, a harder and stronger metal) was not yet discovered. The archaeological site of Belovode (Serbia), has the oldest securely dated evidence of copper smelting, from 5000 years Before Current Era. The VinÄ?a Culture (parts of modern Serbia and Romania) provides the earliest known example of copper metallurgy and proto writing. Many attempts have been made to interpret the symbols, but they still remain a mystery. We should remember that small amounts of natural gold have been found in Spanish caves used during the Late Paleolithic period (40 000 years Before Current Era). Silver, copper, tin and meteoric iron are, also, found in native form. This allowed a limited amount of metalworking in early cultures. The Copper Age in the ancient near East began in the late 5th millennium and lasted almost one thousand years before it gave rise to the 289

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Early Bronze Age. In Europe, the transition occurred about the same time, between the late 5th and the late 3rd millennia Before Current Era. ●●●●●● And now, let us learn the environmental evolution of one of the most famous and beautiful places on Earth, Sahara Desert in Africa. And especially, learn how climate transformed the landscapes during late Pleistocene and Holocene. The example of Sahara is one of the most striking climate changes in the past of our planet. During the Last Glaciation Maximum, the Sahara Desert covered more area than it does now, while the tropical forests of Africa were greatly reduced. This phase is characterized by high rates of wind-blown mineral dust, found in the marine cores collected from the northern tropical Atlantic. Later on, the West African sediments record the ‘African Humid Period’ between 16 000 and 6000 years ago (with an interval of a short dry spell associated with the Younger Dryas). Back then, Africa was much wetter, because the African monsoon system was stronger. These conditions peaked during the Holocene Thermal Maximum climatic phase around 6000 years ago, when the rainfall in the Ethiopian Highlands were, higher. During that period, the Saharan desert was full of numerous lakes with typical African lake crocodile and hippopotamus fauna. This lost paradise was the home for several extinct civilisations. Today, their traces are still preserved in the galleries of cave art across Sahara. Those cultures had advanced stone tools, art and dramatic anthropomorphic symbolism.

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Surrounding desert in Tassili n'Ajer today. Sahara, 1974. Image Credit: Septfontaine - Own work. CC BY-SA, 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia. Neolithic cave paintings found in Tassil-n-Ajjer (Plateau of the Chasms) region of the Sahara. Image Credit: https://www.loc.gov/item/94043019/ Source: Library of Congress Country Study of Algeria. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Especially, the area of Tassili n'Ajer (meaning â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Plateau of the Riversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, now a lunar landscape),is a mountain range in the Algerian section of the Sahara Desert, which encloses a vast plateau in southeast Algeria at the borders with Libya, Niger and Mali. Today covers 7000 km2 (28 000 square mi), and it is a national park, an archaeological site, and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Astonishing rock art paintings-pictograms and engravingspetroglyphs (over 15 000) reveal an interesting Neolithic past. In the eastern part of the Green or Wet Sahara, as it is called today, Nabta Playa area was located approximately 800 km (497 mi) south of modern-day Cairo or about 100 km (62 mi) west of Abu Simbel in South Egypt. It was once a large basin in the Nubian Desert. Starting around 12 000 years ago, this region began to receive more rainfall. The waters created a lake. Modern archaeological discoveries revealed that the prehistoric peoples who inhabited the area, lived in a high-level organization societies (for example, they had above-ground and below-ground stones constructions, villages designed in pre-planned arrangements, and deep wells that held water throughout the year). But the most astonishing discovery was one of the world's earliest archaeoastronomical sites! Around 7000 years ago onwards, these people constructed megalithic monuments, roughly contemporary to the Goseck circle in Germany and the Mnajdra megalithic temple complex in Malta. Archaeoastronomers think that the site was a representation of the motion of the sky over a precession cycle.

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Nabta Playa "calendar circle", reconstructed at Aswan Nubia museum. Image Credit: Raymbetz - Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia. The constellation Orion as seen above horizon. Image Credit: Ad_hominem. Royalty-free stock vector images ID: 516100180. Image Source: Shutterstock

Thus, it was probably a calendar circle, which was related with the constellation of Orion and the brightest star in Heavens, Sirius, between 6400 and 4820 Before Current Era. These dates match the dates from the radio-carbon chronologies of campfires around the circle. Measurements confirm, also, the possible alignments with Sirius, Arcturus, Alpha Centauri and the Belt of Orion. In addition, other researchers go even beyond this dating. They recognize a representation of the Milky Way as it was in 17 500 Before Current Era, even maps of Orion at 16 500 Before Current Era! Orion is a prominent constellation located on the Celestial Equator. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why it is visible throughout the world! It is one of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky, during human history. It was named after Orion, a hunter in ancient Greek mythology. Its brightest stars are two supergiants, the blue-white Rigel (Beta Orionis) and the red Beltegeuse (Alpha Orionis). The earliest depiction of this constellation is a prehistoric (of Aurignacian Period) mammoth ivory carving found in a cave in the Ach valley in West Germany in 1979 (dated to approximately to 38 000 -32 000 years ago). Many myths about Orion are found in all the cultures of the world. Orion has, also, been used as a symbol in the modern world. Another scientific research brought to light the Mega-Lakes of the Green Sahara. Megafezzan had a maximum lake area of 130 000Âą7000 km2 (50 193 square mi). It was the only lake that provided long term record of climate change in the central Sahara. Lake Tritonis and Lake Chad were the other two giant lakes of that period. At its peak (sometime before 7000 years ago), Lake Chad was over 173 m. (568 feet) deep with an area of at least 400 000 km2 (154 441 square mi), bigger than the Caspian Sea, the biggest lake on Earth today!

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The Sahara Megalakes Project. King’s College – London. Fig. 1: SRTM 1 km resolution digital elevation model (DEM) showing Saharan palaeolakes over 500 km2. Image Credit: Nick Drake. Image Source: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/geography/people/academic/drake/Research /The-Sahara-Megalakes-Project/The-Sahara-Megalakes-Project.aspx

According to the ancient Greek mythology, the Tritonian Sea was the mythical birthplace of Goddess Pallas Athena – goddess of wisdom (the protectress goddess of the city of Athens in Greece; Parthenon was the most famous temple dedicated to her worship). That area was, also, related to other great mythological cycles of ancient Greeks, such as the Argonauts, the Libyan Amazons and the Perseus / Medusa story. Lake Tritonis was a large body of fresh water, somewhere between Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and the Mediterranean coasts, described in many ancient texts by ancient writers, even in the Iliad of Homer. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the lake covered 2300 km2 (888 square mi), or, half the size of the contemporary, Rhode Island (state of USA). Nowadays, in the area of Tunisia, Chott el-Jerrid exists, a seasonal lake which is marshy and shallow; in the 1st century Before Current Era, Diodorus of Sicily reported an old myth saying that Lake Tritonis “disappeared from sight” during an earthquake; it drained to the sea of most of its fresh water. Thus, the Holocene Climatic Optimum (also known by many other names, including Hypsithermal, Altithermal, Climatic Optimum, Holocene Optimum, Holocene Thermal Maximum and Holocene Megathermal) was a warm period during roughly the interval 9000 to 5000 years ago. Scientists found that warming in Europe during the mid-Holocene was greater in 293

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winter than in summer. This was the warmest period in the last 125 000 years, with minimal glaciation and highest sea levels. During its final period, within decades, the worldwide climate conditions changed, causing a rapid drying out of the Saharan and Arabian regions, which quickly became desert. People flew to river valleys and the first complex, highly organised, state-level societies emerged (for example, Early Dynastic Period in both Egypt First Dynasty, and Sumer). In the Middle East, we have the invention of the wheel and the beginning of the Chalcolithic period. The rise of those first ‘modern’ societies, were characterized by patriarchy, institutionalised warfare, social stratification, abuse of children, the development of the human ego, separation from the body, the rise of anthropomorphic gods and the concept of linear historic time.

Detail of an onager-drawn cart on the Sumerian "battle standard of Ur" (c. 2500 BC). Image Credit: A depiction of an onager-drawn cart on the Sumerian "battle standard of Ur" (c. 2500 BC). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

By 3400 Before Current Era, Sahara was as dry as it is today, and it became a largely impenetrable barrier to humans, with only scattered settlements around the oases, but little trade or commerce through the desert... ●●●●●● At the beginning of the 3rd millennium Before Current Era, the Late Holocene started. In many areas of the world, the Bronze Age, also, officially started. The Piora Oscillation was an abrupt cold and wet period generally dated to the period of about 3200 to 2900 Before Current Era. Many modern scientists think that, during that epoch, happened the end of 294

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the Uruk period in Mesopotamia, the floods of the Gilgamesh Epic and Noah's flood of the Book of Genesis. The domestication of the horse took place in central Asia.

The vault of the Cappella Sistina Ceiling (Vatican) is covered by 800 m2 of fresco painting. It is Michelangelo Buonarroti’s masterpiece. The centre of the vault is decorated with nine scenes from Genesis, four large and five small ones, the Noah’s Flood being amongst them (created between 1508 and 1512 Current Era). The work of art depicted in this image and the reproductions thereof are in the public domain worldwide. The reproduction is part of a collection of reproductions compiled by The Yorck Project. The compilation copyright is held by Zenodot Verlagsgesellschaft mbH and licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Image source: Wikipedia

Later on, we had severe aridification, one of the most severe climatic events of the Holocene period. In South Asia, the Indian monsoons that provide 80% of the Nile flow were deflected. Similar phenomena of extended drought are registered near the sources of Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, Indus and Yellow Rivers. About 2200 Before Current Era, Old Kingdom in Egypt, the Harappan culture in India, the Neolithic cultures in central plains of China, as well as the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, all collapsed. Similarly, during the last Bronze Age centuries (about 1400 to 1100 Before Current Era), major environmental and social upheaval shook the circum-Mediterranean world. It was a turbulent period with climatic / geotectonic upsetting and fierce celestial events. Impacts, seismic storms, extreme El Niños, harsh and prolonged drought (even for a two hundredyear period) in eastern Mediterranean, wars and migrations, made many civilizations to collapse. But what is El Niño? We hear about it very often, lately... 295

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●●●●●● It is a global hydroclimatic (= coupled ocean-atmosphere), periodic phenomenon. It is a powerful mechanism, which linked climatic patterns between both hemispheres. Still now, the explanation of this oscillation remains under study. The vast area of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean (east / east central equatorial) is the birthplace of this phenomenon. El Niño is the warm phase (the surface waters get warmer than usual). La Niña is the cool phase (the surface waters get colder than usual). The name El Niño (it means "the little boy” in Spanish), refers to the Christ child, because the phenomenon is usually noticed around Christmas time, off the west coast of South America. Charles Todd, in 1893, and Norman Lockyer in 1904, noticed first, that droughts in India and Australia occurred at the same time. So, they understood the idea of “telecommunication” between the global hydroclimatic mechanisms. In 1923, Sir Gilbert Thomas Walker first coined the term ‘Southern Oscillation’, to dramatize the ups and downs of this "seesaw". He gave his name to the “Walker Circulation”, and he first predicted that weather is a global phenomenon. Today, we use the term ENSO. It is the name of the whole hydroclimatic phenomenon: El Niño as the Southern Oscillation. It is linked with floods, droughts and other disturbances in many areas around the world. It is the most important mechanism of inter-annual variability in weather and climate around the world. ENSO is observed in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It is very interesting that modern scientists have, also, discovered that ENSO existed even during near-peak glacial conditions! It existed at least for the past 130 000 years. But, it might, also, get disappeared for decades, causing cold episodes (for example, the Younger Dryas) or be permanent, for example during Pliocene. There is evidence, too, for strong El Niño events, at least, during the early Holocene, 10 000 years ago.

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Regional impacts of warm ENSO episodes (El Niño). During warm ENSO episodes the normal patterns of tropical precipitation and atmospheric circulation become disrupted. Related image: Image:La Nina regional impacts.gif. Image Credit: NOAA - http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/images/warm.gif. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Archaeologists think that the phenomenon had affected preColumbian Incas, especially the Moche and other pre-Columbian Peruvian cultures. Strong El-Niños during the years between 1789 and 1793 Current Era, caused poor crop yields and famine in Europe, which, in turn, provoked the French Revolution. The extreme weather produced by El Niño in 18761877, caused the deadliest famines of the 19th century. Major ENSO events were recorded in the years 1790-1793, 1828, 1876-1878, 1891, 1925-1926, 1972-1973, 1982-1983, 1997-1998, and 2010-2011. And, the most important, ENSO is associated with the intensity of influenza pandemics! ●●●●●● Another famous climatic phenomenon is the Meltemi wind, known by the old Greeks as the Etesian northern winds. This katabatic wind (= wind which flows from high elevations of mountains, plateaus, and hills down their slopes to the valleys or planes below) can bring harsh sailing conditions (from May to October / November). But, it provides, also, 297

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cooling, low humidity and good visibility. It is the cause of the very pleasant summers in the eastern part of Greece, throughout all the islands and coasts of the Aegean Sea. Furthermore, it can be characterized as one of the few Mediterranean winds that do not necessarily die out at the end of the day, because they can easily last more than three to six days.

Temple of Poseidon (from the West) – Cape Sounion, Attika, Greece. The image had been taken in October 2010, during a day with late meltemi winds. The atmosphere was amazing clear and the light, the brightest in the world. Photo by Amanda Laoupi

The winds start when the monsoons that lead to the intense heat trough over southern Asia, extend westward over the Anatolian plateau in Turkey. The strongest the Asian monsoon are, the strongest the meltemi winds are, too. Higher pressure dominates over the relatively cooler surface of the Mediterranean Sea, and dry weather persists. So, northerly winds prevail along the Greek coasts. Scientists have found that the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and the solar activity control their distribution, too. In the Andean regions, rainfall is seasonal and usually starts in October, but every few years the onset of the rains is delayed by up to several weeks. For hundreds of years, the farmers have observed the Pleiades (known as the “Seven Sisters” in the ancient Greek Mythology), which become visible in the South Hemisphere skies in June. If the Pleiades shine brightly in June, they can start planting their potatoes in October, as there will be adequate rainfall during the critical months of December through February. However, if the Pleiades look dim, planting is delayed until November. Every two to seven years along, when El Niño, normally, strengthens, thin cirrus clouds appear very high in the skies over the Andes 298

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in June. These cirrus clouds cause the Pleiades to appear dim to the naked eye.

The Pleiades, an open cluster, consisting of approximately 3,000 stars, at a distance of 400 light-years (120 parsecs) from Earth, in the constellation of Taurus. It is also known as "The Seven Sisters", or the astronomical designations NGC1432/35 and M45. Image Credit: . Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. The cirrus uncinus subform of cirrus clouds.Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121109. Image Source: Wikipedia

But, the Andean farmers were not the only people, who had made such meteorological observation several centuries ago. Ancient people of the Mediterranean region, at least two millennia Before Current Era, had also, observed the relationship between the clearness of the atmosphere and the amount of clouds, the intensity of seasonal climatic phenomena and the visibility of Pleiades. Theophrastus, the pupil of Aristoteles, wrote about it in the 4th century Before Current Era. In the ancient Greek mythology, Pleiades were associated with flooding events that gave them a chthonian and malignant character. And, in other cultures, Pleiades was related to catastrophe, to food, hunger, storming waters and destruction. On the other hand, in the Iliad of Homer, Sirius is characterized not only as the brightest star of the night sky, but, also, as a malignant symbol that causes suffering to mortals. The name of this star comes from the Greek epithet â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;seiriosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, meaning glowing or scorcher. He was, also, a destroyer, but with its summer heat, drought and disease. Sirius is a star system and its main star, Sirius A is the most famous of all-night stars, worshipped in all cultures around the world. It is, also, widely known as the "Dog Star", because it belongs to the constellation 299

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Canis Major (Greater Dog). It follows the giant hunter Orion (constellation). The three stars in Orion’s belt point directly to Sirius. The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in ancient Egypt and the “dog days” of summer for the ancient Greeks. Heliacal rising is the rising of a celestial object at the same time as the Sun, or its first visible rising after a period of invisibility due to conjunction with the Sun. In the Polynesians (South Hemisphere), the star marked winter and was an important reference for their navigation around the Pacific Ocean. In Keos, the small, picturesque island of Cyclades known today as Tzia or simply Kea, in the Aegean Sea, ancient inhabitants had a very interesting legend for this beautiful star. The island was, once, a beautiful place with lush vegetation; it was called “Hydroussa” (meaning full of waters). It was the home for the Nymphs. The Nymphs, spirits related to water (in the form of ocean, spring, lake or river), dwelled in the woods. In the remote past, the eastern coasts of Attica and Keos were characterized by the abundance of a specific species of Oaktree. Nowadays, only a tiny part of this oak forest has survived in the inner part of the island. This type of vegetation means that the weather conditions were wetter and colder. Unfortunately, the Gods kept a jealous eye on island’s prosperity, so they sent a ferocious lion to chase the Nymphs out of it. Then, deadly heat, drought and severe plague caused much suffering around the ‘islands of Minos’ (the name of Cyclades, because they were under the Minoan thalassocracy). A Delphic prophecy counselled Aristaios to sail to Keos, where he would be greatly honoured. The hero came to the island and sacrificed to Sirius and god Zeus Ikmaios (Lord of Moisture) on the highest peak, on behalf of all the Greeks. Zeus listened to his prayers and sent the Etesian Winds blowing for forty days after the heliacal rising of Sirius during summer. Since that time, the priesthood of the island established an annual celebration to honour Sirius the day of its heliacal rising, during which, they used to invoke for help and protection. In antiquity, Keos was considered as the main solar island – its protector was Apollo – Sirius and Aristaios.

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Inland, southeast of the ancient capital Ioulis, lays the statue of an enigmatically smiling Lion - known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Liontasâ&#x20AC;? by local people. The archaic statue is 6.40 m. long, dated about to 600 Before Current Era. It is carved on hard granite. Goethe described it in his travel diary. Image Credit: Cyclades Chamber of Commerce. Image of the constellation Canis Major in the night sky. Image Credit: Flaska Today, in August and early September, Orion and Sirius rise before dawn. Image Credit: EarthSky.org

All these climatic changes were, also, related to the outbreak of epidemic diseases. They were the Late Bronze Age plagues. Today, we cannot tell if they were outbreaks of bubonic plague or of other contagious diseases. They played a crucial role in the collapse of the Hittite empire and the problems of Pharaonic Egypt, and, generally, in the upheaval of eastern Mediterranean. The Ebers Papyrus (about 1534 Before Current Era) is the earliest written evidence of the symptoms of what we now recognise to be bubonic plague. 301

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Smallpox (Variola major and minor) is, also, an epidemic disease caused by a virus that plagued humanity for millennia. It is the first and only disease ever intentionally eradicated from the face of our planet. Historians think that it appeared around 12 000 years ago, in the agricultural settlements of northeastern Africa. From there, it probably spread to Egypt and India. It was known in China as early as 1122 Before Current Era. The first clear description of smallpox was recorded by a Chinese medic by the name of Ko Hung. In fact, two goddesses were worshipped in India and China, to prevent or cure the disease, Shitala (she literally means smallpox in Sanskrit) and T’ou-Shen Niang. It is mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts of India, too. In the 1500s, the Spanish and Portuguese transported it to the New World, where it decimated the Aztec and Inca populations in Central and South America. Today, researchers estimate that it may have killed 500 million people throughout history. The first known smallpox epidemic was recorded in 1350 Before Current Era. During the Egyptian / Hittite war, Egyptian prisoners spread the disease to their enemies. Even the Hittite king Suppiluliumas I the Great, and his heir, Arnuwandas II, fell victim to the virus in the years 13221321 Before Current Era. Soldiers, captives, officials and traders, handmaidens, needlewomen, musicians and slaves, who went directly into court circles, spread further the virus.

Map of the Hittite Empire (kingdoms) in 14th century BC. Image Credit: Javierfv1212 (talk · contribs) – Própria. CC0. Image Source: Wikipedia

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Hittites thought that the pandemic was a divine wrath upon them. This story was told in the Plague Prayers of Mursili II, a document found in the ruins of the ancient city of Hattusha, the Hittite Capital (near modern Boğazkale in the Black Sea region of Turkey). It was written by one of Suppililiuma’s son, Mursili II (about 1327-1295 Before Current Era). Eventually, the land of Hatti had been devastated by that plague. In the pharaonic Egypt, Amenophis III erected more than seven hundred statues of Sekhmet, the goddess of pestilence in Egypt, a symbolic prophylactic measure to ward off disease from his nation. During the Amarna Period, (from Akhenaten’s Year 11, to the remaining seven years of his reign), the Amarna Letters reported widespread pestilence and plague, along with devastating famine. Akhenaten was Amenophis IV or Amenhotep the Fourth, the son of the pharaoh Amenophis III. He is famous for his turning to monotheism (he dared to establish a new religion), and for his beautiful wife, Queen Nefertiti.

Relief of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and two daughters adoring the Aten (solar disc). 18th dynasty, reign of Akhenaten. Akhenaton Hall, Main Floor Gallery 8 – Cairo Museum, 2076972086 (1356-1340 Before Current Era). From Tell el Amarna. Image Credit: Unknown and Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. Model Bust of Queen Nefertiti made by Thutmose sculptor (about 1340 Before Current Era). Limestone and plaster. New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, Amarna Period (Egyptian Museum of Berlin and Papyrus Collection/Neues Museum, Berlin).

Alashia (a kingdom in Bronze Age Cyprus?), the mainland at Byblos and Phoenician Syria were also under epidemic attack... During that time,

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no new “temples” were built, food offerings were no longer shown, and the Egyptians showed off how fat they were! The virus which caused the pandemic hasn’t been yet identified for sure, and the disease could be smallpox, pneumonic or even septicaemic plague, malaria or even a virulent strain of influenza. Later on, the pharaoh Ramessses V died of smallpox in 1157 Before Current Era, at the age of 35. The scars of the disease have been found on his mummy, as well as on other mummies of the 18th to 20th dynasties. They are considered as the earliest credible clinical evidence of smallpox. There are two clinical forms of smallpox.

Head of the mummy of pharaoh Ramesses V. He was of the earliest known victims of the disease. Image Credit: G. Elliot Smith - http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/cgibin/eos/eos_page.pl?DPI=100&callnum=DT57.C2_vol59&object=182 (edited in GIMP). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Variola major is the severe and most common form of smallpox, with a more extensive rash and higher fever. Historically, 30% of patients with this type of smallpox die. Meteorological and other changing environmental conditions, always, turn the contagious diseases into an unpredictable agent in human history. Between 1206-1187 Before Current Era, eastern Mediterranean suffered from severe droughts. In Hittite and Ugarit records, requests for grain were sent to Egypt, probably during the reign of Pharaoh Merenptah. There was, also, a general abandonment of agriculture in favour of nomadic pastoralism in central Anatolia, Syria and North Mesopotamia, Palestine, the Sinai and northwestern Arabia. Modern scientists suggested that those 304

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droughts were of equal severity to those of the 1950s in Greece. This could be enough to cause the Late Bronze Age collapse. The ‘Greek Dark Ages’ that followed, occurred during prolonged arid conditions that lasted until the Roman Warm Period. At the end of the 2nd millennium Before Current Era, the Sea People migrated and caused the final collapse of the circum-Mediterranean empires. Today, scientists have detected at least a 300-year drought around 1200 Before Current Era in Eastern Mediterranean, and these data confirm the violent end of the Bronze Age. The raiding of migratory peoples and their subsequent resettlement was the main trend of the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean. Their identity remains enigmatic to modern scholars, who have only the scattered records of ancient civilizations and few archaeological data to inform them. Drought, scarcity of grains and, finally, famine and migrations, can be used as archaeological or anthropological evidence. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus portrays the wandering and migration of Lydians from Anatolia after a severe famine. The Egyptian Merenptah Stele mentions also shipments of grain to the Hittite Empire to relieve famine. In the Great Papyrus Harris, it is written that Ramesses III fought wars against the Peoples of the Sea, subdued them and made them subjects of Egypt. Modern climatologists have disclosed a general climatic crisis in the Black Sea and Danubian regions about the year 1200 Before Current Era. Probably, mid-winter storms from the Atlantic diverted to travel North of the Pyrenees and the Alps, bringing wetter conditions to central Europe, but drought to eastern Mediterranean. Other scientists claim that the climatic disturbance was a worldwide phenomenon, from the Danube valley to the plains of China. ●●●●●● The 1st Millennium was the era of Greek Colonization and the expansion of Greek civilization. It was marked by the Iron Age Cold Epoch (known also as Iron Age climate Pessimum or Iron Age Neoglaciation), which lasted from about 900 to 300 Before Current Era. The period was characterized by an unusually cold climate in the North Atlantic region. Especially, during the Homeric Minimum (800 - 500 Before Current Era), 305

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solar activity was less than usual, and the geomagnetic Etrussia-Sterno excursion took place. The climate changed from relatively warm and continental to oceanic in northwestern Europe. The fens and bogs extended, new salt marshes emerged, and cultivated land was lost. This led to migration from these low-lying areas, because they had become marginal for occupation. Temporary aridity stressed the tropical regions and the transport of warmth to the temperate climate regions was blocked. The Hallstatt culture (Early Iron Age) was the predominant central and western European culture from 8th to 5th centuries Before Current Era (Ha C and Ha D phases). It is commonly linked to Proto-Celtic and Celtic populations in its western zone and with (pre-) Illyrians in its eastern zone. To the South, the low-lying mountain ranges of Greece had already separated the land into individual communities (city-states), at least since Bronze Age. But, the small size and poor soil quality of the land did not allow the city-states to support large populations. The climatic deterioration during Homeric Minimum aggravated the situation. Thus, after a deep socio-economic crisis, dated from 12th to 10th centuries Before Current Era, and the improvements made between 900750 Before Current Era, a mass wave of colonization took place. A cultural renaissance in scientific breakthroughs, and other artistic, political and economic / commercial advances contributed to the great ancient Greek civilization.

Boats cup, detail of the interior showing a frieze of five boats in contest. Attic black-figured cup, ca. 520 BC. From Cerveteri (ancient Caere, near Rome, Italy). Image Credit: Leagros Group - User:Bibi Saint-Pol, own work, 2007-05-31. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

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Modern researchers estimate that, during the period from 800 to 400 Before Current Era, the Greek population of one million, increased to a total of ten million. Greek colonists spread around Mediterranean, Black Sea and beyond, forced by the limited resources in their homeland (for example, need for metals and grain). Gradually, they adopted a strong feeling of individualism and humanism, finally led to the rise of democracy. Later on, environmental factors had seriously damaged the famous Athenian supremacy. During the 5th century Before Current Era, the plague of Athens seemed to have a crucial impact on the outcome of the Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian War (431–404 Before Current Era) was a dreadful period in ancient Greek history, because the Delian League led by Athens fight against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. The ‘Plague of Athens’ is a medical and historical classic. It fascinates doctors and historians for centuries now. It was a devastating epidemic, which hit the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece, during the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 Before Current Era), when an Athenian victory still seemed within reach. Probably it entered Athens through Piraeus, the port of the city and the sole source of food and supplies back then, because the city was under siege by the Spartans. The epidemic broke in early May of 430 Before Current Era, with other waves, during the summer of 428 Before Current Era and during the winter of 427-426 Before Current Era. It lasted for 4.5 to 5 years. According to the description of the contemporary historian Thucydides, the disease was “virgin” (= happened for the first time), it had high attack rate, and affected persons of different ages, sexes, and nationalities. In his History of the Peloponnesian War, he described the coming of an epidemic disease which began in Ethiopia, passed through Egypt and Libya, and then arrived to the Greek world. A number of diseases have been proposed by modern scientists in their effort to explain the mystery (Cholera, Malaria, Smallpox, Bubonic Plague, Herpes Simplex, Toxic Shock Syndrome, Ebola, Influenza / toxin producing staphylococci, Measles, Ergotism, Rift Valley Fever, Anthrax, Glanders, Tuberculosis, Cowpox, Cat scratch). During the excavational season of 1994-1995 by the 4th Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities Ephorate (Athens), a mass burial pit had been

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discovered. It contained at least one hundred and fifty bodies with few burial offerings. So, was the secret well-kept deep beneath the Kerameikos cemetery in Athens? Professors, researchers and scientific teams worked on this, using the dental pulp extracted from victims buried there (the pulp is the part in the center of the tooth, made up of living connective tissue and cells). The samples had a positive reaction for Salomonella enterica serovar Typhi, identifying Typhoid fever as the main suspect of Athenian plague. The medical word typhus comes from the Greek typhos (τύφος) meaning smoky or hazy. This word describes the state of mind of those affected with typhus. But this hypothesis still remains controversial.

Bust of Pericles bearing the inscription “Pericles, son of Xanthippus, Athenian”. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original from ca. 430 BC. Even the general of the Athenian army, the famous Pericles, died during the plague. Image Credit: Copy of Kresilas - Jastrow (2006). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Although epidemics was a phenomenon always present in human history and society, most of them in the ancient world have not been recorded ,or perhaps information has been lost to time. The ancient descriptions, also, can have multiple translations and medical interpretation. Clinical observations may be different from modern terms and translations. 308

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Thus, the Kerameikos mass grave site probably contains the victims from a typhoid fever outbreak, perhaps due to a single contaminated water source, but not the victims of an extended epidemic that ravaged the whole Athenian population. The fact is that Athens lost perhaps 1/3 of its population, sheltered within its walls, 1/4 of its troops and 1/4 of its population over four years. Sudden, lethal and tenacious, the strange plague killed many of Athens' infantry, some expert seamen and their leader Pericles, who died during one of the secondary outbreaks in 429 Before Current Era, along with both of Pericles' legitimate sons. Pericles was one of the most powerful and influential Greek statesmen, orator and general of Athens during the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Golden Ageâ&#x20AC;? (= the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars). The disease weakened the dominance of Athens fatally. It was not until 415 Before Current Era, that the Athenian population had recovered sufficiently to decide the disastrous Sicilian Expedition. During the 4th century Before Current Era, prolonged dry spells and drought brought Athenian power to its knees. At least sixty-eight wells have been traced in the Athenian Agora, thirty-four dated to the 5th century, twenty-eight to the 4th century, and six unidentified (until the excavations of 1977). At least sixteen of them had been abandoned by 400 Before Current Era. Most recent excavations have been raised their number to four hundred wells! Especially, the extended drought between 350-325 Before Current Era, shook eastern Mediterranean. It was probably a repeated scenario since the late 8th century Before Current Era. But what caused the final breakdown of ancient Greek civilization? The silent killer, malaria, when the climatic phases were wetter and warmer and the marshes expanded. Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites (mainly by Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae). They are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes, usually, by only thirty to forty species. Vectors are living organisms (for example, mosquitos, ticks, flies, fleas and some freshwater aquatic snails) that can transmit infectious diseases between humans or from animals to humans. Most of them are bloodsucking insects, which ingest disease-producing microorganisms

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during their blood meal from an infected host (human or animal), and later inject it into a new host during their subsequent blood meal. The disease is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia and Africa. At least from postColombian times until the middle of the 20th century, especially P. vivax malaria extended throughout almost the entire inhabited world, with the exception, presumably, of West and central Africa. During 19th century, the affected areas included southern England, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Russia, Holland, and France, as well as large areas of Spain and Italy, most of Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, and beyond. Even today, there are approximately five hundred and fifteen million cases of malaria annually; it kills between one and three million people. Generally speaking, the malaria parasite has been responsible for half of all human deaths since Prehistory! 1 in 14 of us alive today, still carries genes that protect us from this serial killer. Malaria has infected humans for over 100 000 years and Plasmodium may have been a human pathogen for the entire history of the species. But, all species of human malaria and their vector mosquitoes were probably absent in Europe during the Glacials (= cold phases). Human malaria likely originated in Africa, but the first evidence of malaria parasites was found in mosquitoes preserved in amber from the Palaeogene period (thirty million years ago)! The term originates from Medieval Italian (mala aria < bad air; the disease was formerly called ‘ague’ or ‘marsh fever’ due to its association with swamps). It was probably first used by Leonardo Bruni in a publication of 1476 Current Era. The unique periodic fevers of malaria are recorded in ancient texts, beginning in 2700 Before Current Era, in Nei Ching, an important text of ancient Chinese medicine, edited by the Chinese Emperor Huang Ti. The disease was, also, described in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, as early as 2000 Before Current Era, later on in Vedic writings of India in 1600 Before Current Era. In Greece of the 5th century Before Current Era, the great Greek physician Hippocrates, often called ‘the Father of Medicine’ described the characteristics of the disease and related them to seasons and location. During the 2nd century Before Current Era, the Qinghao plant – Artemisia annua (it includes the active ingredient artemisinin, effective as 310

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antimalarial drug), is described in the medical treatise 52 Remedies. But only in 1972 Current Era, Chinese scientists isolated artemisinin and described its chemical structure. In parallel, during the early 17th century Current Era, the Spanish missionaries learn, from the indigenous people in the New World, about the medicinal qualities of bark of the Peruvian Cinchona tree (which contains quinine and cinchonine, effective antimalarial ingredients). But malaria was an Old-World disease, which was introduced into the Americas by Europeans only after 1492 Current Era.

Cortex peruvianus (Bark of cinchona tree) study by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 1706. Cinchona includes at least 23 species of trees and shrubs native to the tropical Andean forests of western South America. Few species are cultivated in other tropical areas, such as India, Java, Jamaica and Polynesia. Image Credit: Anthony Van Leeuwenhoek - Anthony Van Leeuwenhoek, F. R. S. I. Microscopical observations on the Cortex peruvianus Phil. Trans. 1706 25 2446-2455; doi:10.1098/rstl.1706.0056. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. Artemisia annua is an annual short-day plant, native to temperate Asia. Image Credit: Jorge Ferreira - Original work by Jorge Ferreira. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The young pharaoh Tutankhamun (1341 - 1324/3 Before Current Era) died of complications of cerebral malaria. The traces of malaria parasite in

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the pharaoh's blood are the oldest mummified genetic proof for malaria in ancient population that we have today. Malaria cause widespread anaemia during the period of rapid brain development, and, also, direct brain damage, especially in children. Moreover, it causes high death rates in neonates and high rates of miscarriages in pregnant women, as well. The term ‘phrenitis, related to cerebral malaria, was used by Hippocrates and his followers, who referred to the acute inflammation of mind and body. It was characterized by a mental confusion or continuous delirium, with fever, leading, if left untreated, to paralysis, coma, and death. In addition, the term ‘melancholy’, later known as ‘depression’ (from the ancient Greek words ‘melas’ = black + ‘chole’ = bile) was related to malaria’s extended neurophysical symptoms and it was used widely after the 4th century Before Current Era, in arts and texts. Modern scientist think that Cerebral malaria, a major syndrome of falciparum malaria, perhaps the most common non-traumatic encephalopathy in the world, was the main factor of the physical and spiritual decline of ancient Greeks. It was probably the main cause of the collapse of the Greek colonies in South Italy and Sicily, too. Some researchers believe, also, that epidemics of malaria greatly contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire (the other lethal cause was the lead poisoning). The Romans called malaria the ‘rage of the Dog Star’, because its fever and chills so often arrived during the caniculares dies (the dog days of summer, most commonly experienced in the months of July and August in the North Hemisphere); the symbolic term was used earlier by the Greeks. To avoid malaria, ancient Romans prayed for relief at temples dedicated to the fever goddess, Febris.

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The legend of the goddess Febris was probably born in the area of the haunting marshes of Camagna in Southern Italy. Local inhabitants become deathly ill, annually, by a mysterious disease called ‘marsh fever’. The cult of the goddess, then, spread to the whole country and established very early in history. People flocked to her sanctuaries. Fever is a symptom of various illnesses and diseases, usually characterized by increased body temperature, thirst, shivering, headache, and in severe instances, delirium. Image Credit: Gnostic Warrior

People, who are heterozygous carriers of Sickle-Cell Anaemia (known also as Drepanocytosis) and Thalassemia, have a selective survival advantage on both situations, against severe malaria and severe anaemia, and probably against other risk factors as well. It means that they are protected against the most dangerous forms of all these diseases. This phenomenon is called ‘heterozygous advantage’ in biology. Humans contain two copies of each gene, one from the father and one from the mother (the alleles of the gene). Majority of hereditary disorders are harmful if either copies or alleles of a gene are affected (dysfunctional). When one copy of the gene is healthy and can produce fine proteins, then these individuals are usually not affected and are considered just heterozygous carriers. Only in a few hereditary disorders, heterozygous individuals may suffer from a milder version of the disease. Sickle-cell disease is a group of disorders that affects hemoglobin (= the molecule in our red blood cells that delivers oxygen to our cells throughout the body). People with this disorder have abnormal hemoglobin molecules. It is called hemoglobin S. It can distort red blood cells into a sickle, or crescent, shape. 313

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The term thalassemia was first used in 1932 Current Era, and was named after two ancient Greek words being still in use today (thalassa = sea + Haema = blood). It is a group of hereditary haemolytic diseases caused by problematic haemoglobin synthesis, widespread in Mediterranean, African, and Asian countries. But, unfortunately, when a child inherits both a-thalassemia and the sickle-cell trait from its parents, then it is not protected anymore from malaria. That’s why these two diseases do not usually co-exist in most geographical areas with endemic malaria, such as Mediterranean. Malaria remains a major killer of children worldwide. Strangely enough, before the 20th century, and the effective treatment with penicillin, a single strain of malaria was used to cure late syphilis (neurosyphilis), because no other treatment was available. Without treatment, when syphilis starts to affect the brain, it is 100% fatal, while malaria kills only about 5% of the people who are infected. The prolonged high fevers associated with an outbreak of malaria, raises the temperature of the body enough to kill Treponema pallidum (the bacterium which causes Syphilis). This discovery was made by the Austrian physicist Julius Wagner-Jauregg, who won the 1927 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work in this field. ●●●●●● Roman Empire expanded during the period we now call the Roman Optimum, or Roman Warm Period, from approximately 250 Before Current Era to 400 Current Era. Roman Empire was a vast territory - from British Isles to Armenia, and from Central Europe to Nubia - conquered by ancient Romans, who were ruled by their emperors (Roman monarchy after the Roman Republic). It was one of the largest and strongest empires in human history. The city of Rome served as the capital of the empire, until the seat of the imperial government was shifted to Constantinople (modern Istanbul) by Constantine the Great in the 4th century Current Era. During that period, there was a peak of solar irradiance, an intense sedimentation process (known as the Younger Fill), warmer weather and fewer rainfalls (thus, highest salinity in the riverine runoff of central West Atlantic during summers).

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Paleoclimatologists studied: (1) the alpine glaciers, (2) the deep ocean sediments, (3) the introduction of vineyards in southern England by Romans (a successful cultivation option, also, during the early Medieval Period, and since the later 20th century), (4) the wine and olive oil presses that have been found at Sagalassos in Pisidia – southwestern Anatolia (modern Turkey), (5) the dendrochronological evidence, (for example the wooden joints of the interior columns of the Parthenon temple in Athens), and (6) the testimonies of ancient writers who describe the Greek climate in the 5th and 4th centuries Before Current Era. Back then, the climate was pretty much like the climate of the millennium (2000 Current Era).

Dates on date palm. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Image Credit: Stan Shebs (talk | contribs). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. After fermentation, Roman wine was stored in amphoras to be used for serving or further aging. Image Credit: M.Dirgėla - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Theophrastus wrote in his History of Plants that date palm trees (Phoenix dactylifera) could grow in Greece if planted but could not set fruit there. But the climatic conditions were significantly warmer during the crossing of the Alps by Hannibal (= general from Carthage – North Africa, one of the greatest military commanders in history) and its elephants. ●●●●●●

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The Vandal Minimum (VM) climate episode, known, also, as Migration Period Pessimum or Dark Ages Cold Period, was named after the Vandal invasion to the Roman Empire. It lasted between 400 and 800 Current Era. It was a cold and dry era, with increased frequency of severe weather. The solar activity and the geomagnetic field were weakened, meteor swarms hit Earth, intense volcanic activity took place worldwide (for example, in 416 Current Era, the first known eruption of Krakatau happened, and in 536 Current Era another eruption of Vesuvius), intense El Niños characterized the weather along with general atmospheric cooling, the lake levels rose, the bog growth intensified, in much of Europe. So, the retreat from agriculture, including pasturing and cultivation of crops, the reforestation in large areas of central Europe and Scandinavia, along with destructive droughts, ravaged whole areas, such as Sahel (South of Sahara) and Mesoamerica. In February of 535 Current Era, the submarine ancestor of Anak Krakatau erupted with devastating fury, an eruption now classified as VEI 7. Writers acted like modern reporters, who describe calamities and disasters. Flavius Cassiodorus (Roman senator and scholar) wrote about conditions that he experienced during the following year: "The Sun... seems to have lost its wonted light, and appears of a bluish colour. We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon, to feel the mighty vigour of the Sun's heat wasted into feebleness, and the phenomena which accompany an eclipse prolonged through almost a whole year. We have had a summer without heat. The crops have been chilled by north winds, [and] the rain is denied". Procopius (prominent Greek scholar) said: "...during this year a most dread portent took place. For the Sun gave forth its light without brightness...and it seemed exceedingly like the Sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear". The Roman Officer John the Lydian (known also as Lydus) described: "The Sun became dim...for nearly the whole year...so that the fruits were killed at an unseasonable time". The 6th-century Syrian bishop, John of Ephesus commented: "The sun became dark... Each day it shone for about four hours and still this light was only a feeble shadow' “In the sky there was the most dread portent of the hunger and pestilence to come. The sun gave forth its light without brightness like the moon during the whole of this year. God’s wrath turned

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into a wine-press, as it were, and pitilessly trampled and squeezed the inhabitants of the cities like fines grapes”. Finally, Michael the Syrian (Patriarch of the Orthodox Syrian Church during the 12th century Current Era) observed in his medieval chronicle: "The Sun became dark and its darkness lasted for eighteen months. Each day it shone for about four hours, and still this light was only a feeble shadow...the fruits did not ripen and the wine tasted like sour grapes". In China, "the stars were lost from view for three months", the expected rains did not eventuate, and snow was seen in the middle of summer, famine was widespread, and in the midst of the turmoil, the Emperor abandoned the capital. Furthermore, Chinese historical records of 540 Current Era, mentioned that "Dragons fought in the pond of the K'uh o. They went westward....In the places they passed, all the trees were broken".

A Han Dynasty silk comet atlas, featuring drawings of comets, believed by modern scientists Victor Clube and Bill Napier to be related to the breakup of Encke's Comet in the past. Image Credit: Ecemaml (talk | contribs). CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Modern scientists used archaeoastronomical calculations, and found that every 2500 years, Earth passes through the core of the Taurids meteor stream (the case of mid-5th century events). The Taurids are an annual meteor shower associated with the comet Encke. They both are probably the remnant of a much larger comet, which had disintegrated about 20 000 to 30 000 years ago. They occur in late October and early November and they, also, are called “Halloween fireballs”. Then, the dreadful plague came, the notorious Justinian Plague, named after the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, who contracted the disease 317

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yet survived. It was one of the greatest plagues in history; its social and cultural impact is comparable to that of the Black Death. In 6th century China, droughts followed by floods allowed rodent population to grow unchecked by predators that had died off. These rodent swarms invade trade ships, which then travelled from East to West to Alexandria and Constantinople. Plague bacillus was blocking the gut of the fleas making them voracious. Fleas bite any warm body multiple times and spread plague through Europe. The plague weakened the Byzantine Empire at a critical point. This fact may have contributed to the success of the Arabs a few generations later in the Byzantine-Arab Wars. After its last recurrence in 750 Current Era, major epidemic diseases did not appear again in Europe until the Black Death. The sharp agrarian decline, the social unrest, and the demographic disaster in Scandinavian lands was the catalyst for the Viking diaspora (= the expansion of Old Norse people). Vikings were Norse seafarers who raided and traded from their northern European homelands across wide areas of Europe, during the late 8th to late 11th centuries. They explored, also, westwards to Iceland, Greenland and Vinland.

Map of Europe after the death of Charles the Great (814 AD). Original map made by Charles Colbeck, The Public Schools Historical Atlas (1905). Image Credit: Bukkia (talk Âˇ contribs) - Own work based on: Europe 814.jpg. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

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In this era, during the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages, many people (such as the Goths, Vandals, Lombards, Suebi, Frisii and Franks, the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Bulgars, Moors) moved from Asia to Europe, because they had malnutrition and social unrest in their homelands. These movements changed the geographical and geopolitical landscapes of Eurasia. Water shortage and lack of supplies led even to the abandonment of the famous ‘Silk Road’. German and Slavic scholars use the term ‘migration’ instead of the term ‘invasion’, to denote the idea of dynamic changes through population movements. Arab writers, who lived during that period, described severe hailstorms and snowfalls in the Iraqi capital of Bagdad in 908, 944 and 1007 Current Era. This phenomenon caused even the rivers to being frozen, the temperature drop during the 10th century, immediately before the Medieval Warm Period.

El Señor de Sipán, original artifacts in the Royal Tombs of Sipán museum, Lambayeque, Peru. Image Credit: Antonio Velasco. Mayo de 2005, viaje turístico al Perú. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

In the West Hemisphere, El Niño impact on South America was tremendous. The previous period of flourishment was reflected on one of the most glamorous archaeological discoveries, the tomb of the Grand Lord of Sipan. This was the name given to the first of several Moche mummies found at Huaca Rajada in Peru, by the archaeologist Walter Alva. The skeleton of the Lord of Sipan indicated that he was 35-45 years old at the time of his death, and 1.63 m. (5.35 feet) tall. Jewellery, ornaments, 319

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ceremonial items and offerings, dogs, llamas and other animals, one child (about nine to ten years of age), three young women and three males (warriors), had accompanied the Lord in his tomb. Then, ecological disequilibrium shook the Moche culture. Known, also, as Mochica civilization, it was one of Peru's most important preHispanic civilizations; it was based on coastal sites in alluvial fans. Although periodic floods took place in northern Peru, there was 30% less rainfall in southern Peru. This phenomenon led people to abandon their homeland during the th 6 and 7th centuries Current Era. The strongest signals of El Niño (‘mega El Niño’) happened during the years 534-540 and 563-594 Current Era. The late 6th century Moche civilization suffered a 30-year drought in the mountains, followed by 30 years or so of heavy rain and snow. The Moche capital was destroyed, field and irrigation systems swept away, and widespread famine ensued. But some centres of this culture survived beyond 650 Current Era in Jequetepeque (district in northern Peru) and the Moche Valleys. Several scholars today strongly dislike the term ‘collapse’ in the case of another American civilization, the Maya. In fact, the Maya region had experienced three major drought episodes: between 475-250 Before Current Era, between 125 Before Current Era-210 Current Era, and from 750-1025 Current Era. The third was the driest episode of the past 7000 years in Mesoamerica. The periodical hydroclimatic conditions (50-year and 208-year cycles) caused the decline and abandonment of the Classic Period Maya cities of the southern Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica, during the 8th and 9th centuries Current Era. The centuries between 800 and 1500 Current Era the American West suffered repeating decade-long mega-droughts. This Mesoamerican civilization is a remarkable exception, because it had been prospering in the tropical swampland, not in ‘rainforest conditions’ as it is usually believed. Technically, their land was a seasonal desert without access to stable sources of drinking water. Thus, the Mayans were relying upon rainwater rather than permanent sources of water.

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Collage of pictures taken from Wikimedia commons to describe Palenque in a few pictures. Palenque was a Mayan city-state in southern Mexico. It flourished during the 7th century Current Era. Image Credit: Ricraider - Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The mega droughts that hit the Yucatán Peninsula and Petén Basin areas with particular ferocity were devastating for several reasons. The thin tropical soils become unworkable when they became deprived of forest cover. Even the regular seasonal drought dried up surface water. There was an absence of ground water. There was a rarity of lakes, especially in the Yucatán Peninsula, and absence of river systems, in the Petén Basin. Tropical vegetation required regular monsoon rain. Social and economic peace required water-based intensive agricultural techniques, particularly during the Classic period. And then, there is always the factor of epidemic diseases. Epidemics could explain some rapid depopulation. There are many candidates for that. Infectious diseases spread by parasites are common in tropical rainforest regions, such as the Maya lowlands, for example, malaria, American trypanosomiasis, ascariasis, and some enteropathogens that cause acute diarrheal illness, plus, yellow fever caused by the female Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus and other mosquito species transmission. 321

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This is a serious infectious acute viral hemorrhagic disease, characterized by jaundice (which gives the patient yellowish skin), occurring in tropical regions of Africa, Central America, and South America. Although there is no cure, a vaccine does exist to guard against yellow fever. Tens of major outbreaks happened in Americas, since yellow fever was first identified by Europeans in Yucatan in 1648 Current Era. Today, 10% of the people who contract yellow fever die from the disease. During the 20th century, yellow fever has been researched by several countries as a potential biological weapon. Archaeological evidence from the central Mayan lowlands shows an urban population decline from 2.5 -3.5 million, to around 536 000 individuals, during the 200-year interval between 800 and 1000 Current Era. This period is called the “Classic Maya Collapse”. Far to the South, between 1000 and 1100 Current Era, the Tiwanaku pre-Columbian ‘empire’ (Tiwanaku IV and V periods) collapsed after the deterioration of its regional agricultural systems. The ruins of the ancient city-state’s capital, known also as Tiahuanacu, are near the southeastern shore of Lake Titicaca in western Bolivia (La Paz Department), about 72 km (45 mi) west of La Paz. It was in the high river basins of the Tiwanaku and Katari rivers, at altitudes between 3800 m. and 4200 m. (12 467 feet to 13 778 feet) above sea level.

The Gateway of the Sun from the Tiwanaku civilization in Bolivia. It is a megalithic solid stone with an estimated weight of 10 tons! Some archaeologists believe that the main carved figure represents the Sun god, while others claim that he is the Inca god Viracocha (the creator, worshipped as the god of the Sun and storms). Image Credit: Mhwater - Transferred from nl.wikipedia. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

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During the wetter period from 1500 Before Current Era to 1100 Current Era, climate helped locals to develop specialized agricultural methods, which caused population growth because they could sustain large human settlements. The reverse of climatic conditions caused declining agricultural production, field abandonment, and cultural collapse. Chronic drought was too severe and long-lasting for the Tiwanaku agro-engineers. Perhaps the collapse may have occurred before the drought, due to rebellion, conflict, or other social problem, a generation or so previously. Either way, beyond the northern frontier of the Tiwanaku state, a new power started to emerge in the beginning of the 13th century, the Inca Empire. ●●●●●● Back to Europe, the climatic improvement that followed the Vandal Minimum occurred earliest in Iceland in 470 Current Era. The warming trend continued with another period of exceptional warmth from 600 to 760 Current Era. It was the onset of the Medieval Warm Period or Medieval Optimum in Iceland. In fact, the warming in Iceland begun earlier there than in the rest of western Europe, where the maximum warmth began in the period 800-850 Current Era. The warm episode had been detected in many areas of the world and lasted approximately from 950 to 1250 Current Era. Settlements, both in Iceland and Greenland, reflect climatic conditions favourable to sea voyages (for example, lack of sea ice, large farms and abundant crops). But, just after the settlement of Iceland, summer temperatures remained high, while winter temperatures decreased significantly. Finally, a warming trend occurred after 1120 Current Era. By 1320 Current Era, the average summer and winter temperatures were already 2.0 °C lower in just 70 years! Then, historical documents recorded severe weather and sea ice in the late 1300s and early 1400s, and the sailing route from Iceland to Greenland, that had been previously ice-free, was abandoned by 1342. So, by 1360, the western settlement in Greenland was abandoned, and by 1450, the eastern settlement equally. Both settlements, at their peak, had an estimated population of 3000 to 5000 inhabitants, and at least 400 farms, according to archaeologists. 323

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Respectively, in 793 Current Era, the major Viking expansions outward from Scandinavia had begun. Firstly they raid Lindisfarne, England. In 835, Vikings invaded England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and France, and by the mid-9th century most of these areas were permanently occupied by Vikings. In 874 Current Era, the settlement of Iceland began, and the Viking immigrated from Norway, England, Ireland, Faeroes, etc. Later on, during the period 1080-1180 Current Era, the winters were mild, and the summers dry in western Europe. By 1100, Iceland had at least 70 000 inhabitants.

Mount Hekla is the most active volcano in Iceland, with more than 20 eruptions since the settlement of the island, in 874 Current Era. The volcano has a shape of an overturned boat. The area around it was once forested with birches, willows and grass. Image Credit: Iceland Travel.

In the year 1104 Current Era, Hekla volcano erupted in Iceland, and since then, it become one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The eruption caused the complete destruction and abandonment of the rich farming region of Thjórsárdalur. The Norse colonization of the Americas began as early as the 10th century. According to the Icelandic sagas (= stories and tales in prose about the ancient Norse and Germanic history), all four of the children of Erik the Red visited the North American continent, his sons Leif, Thorvald – who died there, and Thorstein, along with their sister Freydis. The continental North American settlements, aimed to exploit natural resources, such as furs and lumber (known also as timber = a kind of wood used to make beams and planks). They were small and did not develop into permanent colonies. On the other hand, the Norse colony in Greenland lasted for almost 500 years. 324

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Leiv (or Leif) Eriksson discovers North America, by the Norwegian painter Christian Krohg (1893). Leif was the founder of the first Norse settlement in Greenland. Image Credit: Christian Krohg - Nasjonalgalleriet Oslo. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia The last written records of the Norse Greenlanders are from an Icelandic marriage in 1408, but recorded later in Iceland, at Hvalsey Church, now the bestpreserved of the Norse ruins. Image Credit: Number 57 at English Wikipedia Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons. CC0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Between the mid-to-late first millennium Current Era, and the 14th century, the western part of North America was struck by a wave of severe droughts. Each of them had multi-decadal duration and happened very often. Modern researchers have found compelling evidence for the impact of drought on Indian societies. The ancestral Puebloan settlements were successively abandoned during the first centuries of the last millennium. The great cliff cities in the Four Corners region of the West, such as Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde, were all abandoned towards the end of the drought. Unfortunately, when wetter conditions returned, the Spaniards had, also, arrived in America; they probably prevented Indians from the establishing of irrigation-based complex urban societies. Today, we can reconstruct the character and severity of those medieval mega-droughts. But the mega-droughts could not be the only cause of collapse. Deforestation and topsoil erosion, the conflict / warfare (because of the competition for limited resources (we observe the aggregated and defensive nature of many of the 13th century Ancestral Puebloan settlements), population growth and the decline of population health standards, had contributed to the collapse.

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Map of Hohokam, Ancestral Pueblo, and Mogollon cultures, circa 1350 CE. Image Credit: Yuchitown - Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia. Cliff Palace, at Mesa Verde â&#x20AC;&#x201C; National Park. The Anasazi (meaning the "Ancient Ones"), were probably the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians. They inhabited the Four Corners country of southern Utah, southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and northern Arizona from about 200 to 1300 Current Era. Lorax - Own work, initially uploaded at en:Image:Mesaverde_cliffpalace_20030914.752.jpg. CC By-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The environmental stress was huge. The southwestern communities turned into cannibalism. Some scholars interpret as evidence of cannibalism, the disarticulated, cut-marked and heat-altered human remains, from non-burial Anasazi archaeological sites, in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. Generally speaking, during the Medieval Warm Epoch (between 10th to 14th centuries Current Era) caused a series of socio-economic changes, such as the promotion of viticulture in England, cereal agriculture in Iceland, the collapse of Norse Greenland settlement and the demise of Anasazi agriculture in the southwest USA. Today, we have, also, the Nile gauge records (from nilometer, a structure that measured and gave a visual display of the amount, level, or contents of waters from river Nile). They show the variations in Nile floods from the 9th to the 15th centuries Current Era. Episodes of low Nile and high Nile flood discharge are recorded. And the historical data reveal that this period was characterized by the worst known famines. During the Medieval 326

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Warm Period, low levels of waters or extreme floods recurred at short intervals.

Nilometer on Elephantine island. Aswan, Upper Egypt (near the Tropic of Cancer). Image Credit: Hajor~commonswiki (talk | contribs) / photo taken on December 2002. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia.

In addition, climatic changes have encouraged alterations in building styles, artistic features and various technological innovations. One major example is the dramatic architectural change from the Romanesque to Gothic between 1150 and 1200 Current Era. The Romanesque style was characterized by small windows, low inclination roofs, and a general Classical Mediterranean design. It was more suitable to the dry, warm Mediterranean climates; it remained popular into the 13th and 14th centuries, in South and West France and Italy, long after the invention of the Gothic style. But, as rain, snow, cloudier weather, and colder temperatures became more prevalent in the North of Europe, architects were compelled to design churches and cathedrals that would provide more interior lighting (larger windows) and better roofing. Thus, the Gothic style (used between 12th to 16th centuries Current Era) was more suitable for the Little Ice Age climate, because it was characterized by high inclination roofs, large symmetric windows, and efficient drainage system. 327

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The Roman Catholic Church of Saint James in the village Lébény, Hungary (1208). Image Credit: vadaro - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. Tower of Salisbury Cathedral, the tallest in Britain (1220-1258). Image Credit: Antony McCallum: Who is the uploader, photographer, full copyright owner and proprietor of WyrdLight.com - https://www.wyrdlight.com Author: Antony McCallum. CC BY-SA 4.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Finally, modern scientists have detected a warm and dry interval in western Central Asia, and in the North of the Tien Shan Mountains in northwestern China, between 1100 and 1300 Current Era. Later on, the fluctuations of monsoons in Asia, between the mid-14th to 15th centuries Current Era, caused famines, mega-droughts (also known as “monsoon mega-droughts” or MMDs), and various societal changes, such as significant political reorganization within India, the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in China (the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan), the collapse of Rajarata civilization in Sri Lanka (named after one of the three historical regions of the island), and the collapse of the Khmer civilization of Angkor Wat in Cambodia (Southeast Asia).

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Sketch of Angkor Wat, a drawing by Louis Delaporte (French explorer and artist), c. 1880. Angkor Wat is a temple complex and one of the largest religious monuments in the world. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, but gradually it was transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century Current Era. Image Credit:. Maksim (talk | contribs). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

●●●●●● And then Little Ice Age or LIA started (and lasted from about 1250 to 1850 Current Era). The term “Little Ice Age” was initially used by the Dutch geologist and glaciologist F.E. Matthes in 1939, to describe the Late Holocene glacial fluctuations (= swifts between cold and warmer phases), which was analogous to those of the Pleistocene, but in more moderate form. Today, the period of 4000 years (started about 2000 Before Current Era and typically continuing) is known as the “Neoglacial Period”. The Little Ice Age was the cold phase. The LIA was a time of cooler climate in most parts of the world, with average global temperatures 1-1.5°C cooler than they are today. The cooler temperatures were caused by a combination of less solar activity and large volcanic eruptions. Fur trappers reported that southern Hudson Bay remained frozen for about three weeks longer each spring. Fishermen reported large amounts of sea ice floating in the North Atlantic. By 1350 Current Era, a series of disastrous wind-blown sand drifting started along the northwestern coast of Denmark. Those episodes of wind erosion and sand-dune migration occurred several times in the following centuries. During 1775 Current Era, there was the worst episode of sand-dune drifting. Many farms, villages, and churches were destroyed. In Great Britain and the Netherlands, canals 329

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and rivers were frequently frozen deeply enough to support ice skating and winter festivals. Alpine glaciers grew larger, engulfing mountain villages. The decade between 1810 and 1819 Current Era was the coldest of the last 1250 years in the French Alps, according to tree-ring data. Tree ring data and records of cherry tree flowering show that in general winters were longer and growing seasons shorter. This change led the farmers of northern Europe to desert their farms and villages; in fact, during the harshest winters, bread had to be made from the bark of trees because grains would no longer grow. By 990 Current Era, the cold trend was already present in Iceland, many centuries before the rest of Europe. Written documents from 1145 to 1572 Current Era mentioned incidents of severe sea ice. But the weather in the area of London during the year of the Great London Fire of 1666 was hot and dry. Consequently, limited crops and unhealthy livestock caused famine in areas of North and East Europe. In the late 1600s, recurrent famine ravaged Scotland, leading hundred thousand Scots to immigrate to northern Ireland. In Estonia, seventy to seventy-five thousand people died during the famine. Even more, when the weather was wet, disease that affected people, animals and crops, including the bubonic plague, was strongly favoured.

Changes in the 14C record, which are primarily (but not exclusively) caused by changes in solar activity. Note that "before present" is used in the context of radiocarbon dating, where the "present" has been fixed at 1950. Image Credit: Leland McInnes at the English language Wikipedia. Released under the GNU Free Documentation License. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Those fluctuations, which were described in the Norse Sagas, (in the Annals and the Book of Settlements) today have names: Oort minimum (1040-1080 Current Era), Wolf minimum (1280-1350 Current Era), Spรถrer 330

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Minimum (1460-1550 Current Era), Maunder Minimum (1645-1715 Current Era) and Dalton Minimum (1790-1830 Current Era). They are part of the natural cosmic cycle of solar activity (weak and strong). In 1257 Current Era, the volcano Samalas (Lombok island, Indonesia) erupted with devastating fury. The eruption was classified as 7 VEI, and it was one of the largest eruptions of the current Holocene Epoch. Bali and Lombok Island may have been depopulated by the eruption. Huge amounts of aerosols covered the atmosphere of the Earth and reduced the solar radiation reaching the surface of our planet. This process cooled the atmosphere for several years and led to famines and crop failures in Europe and elsewhere. Probably was the major cause for the start of Little Ice Age. Wolf Minimum was the dreadful period during which the Black Death killed millions of people. Before the onset of the pandemic, other natural disasters (for example, comet/meteor impacts, increased volcanic activity, earthquakes, noxious gases from the air, from the ground and the sea, locust invasions, decreased solar activity, extreme swifts between cold and warm /wet spells, and between droughts and floods) led to crop failure, abandonment of farm land, wars and the Great Famine that killed about 30% of the European population. The Renaissance was born in Florence, Italy in the late 14th century Current Era, after the first deadly Black Death pandemic. It spread to the rest of Europe by the 16th century. Many advances took place in literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. The Spรถrer Minimum was a 90-year span of low solar activity (= when sunspots were fewer or even zero), and it was identified and named by the American astronomer John A. Eddy in 1976. The period was named for the German astronomer Gustav Spรถrer, who studied the aurora borealis events of that time.

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Francesco Melzi - Portrait of Leonardo - WGA14795. Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath: inventor, painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, geologist, cartograph, historian, linguist and mathematician (1452-1519 Current Era. ) Image Credit: Francesco Melzi - Web Gallery of Art: Image Info about artwork. Public Domain worldwide and in USA. This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. Image Source: Wikipedia Galileo Galilei. Famous Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer and polymath, “the father of modern science” (1564-1642 Current Era).Portrait by Renaissance painter Tintoretto. Image Credit: Domenico Tintoretto - collections.rmg.co.uk. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Maunder Minimum (or the prolonged sunspot minimum) was a 70-year span of extremely low solar activity. Astronomers named the period after the British solar astronomer Edward W. Maunder.

The Frozen Thames, 1677. Image Credit: Abraham Hondius - Original painting in the collection of the Museum of London. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. Antonio Stradivari, 1893: a romanticized image of a craftsman-hero. Image Credit: Edgar Bundy (1862-1922) – Unknown. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

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The artistic works of that time reflect the climatic situation. Winter depictions before 1550 Current Era were rare. Gradually, winter sports, snowscapes, different colours of the sky, cloudiness and darkness were the main motif. Even the famous quality of Stradivarius violins was linked to the right properties of wood used for their productions (it grows denser during cold than warmer periods). The source of the wood used was the maple of Croatia. Its wood has extreme density because it grows very slowly due to the harsh Croatian winters. Antonio Stradivari was an Italian constructor of musical instruments, of the famous family of Stradivari (17th -18th centuries Current Era). It is estimated that he made one thousand-hundred instruments (violins, guitars, violas, and cellos), about six hundred of which survive today. The Age of Enlightment (also known as Age of Reason) begun around 1700 Current Era, during the harshest phase of the Little Ice Age. Some scientists think that this Age begun in 1620’s with the start of the scientific revolution. The motto of this era was the Latin phrase: “Sapere aude” (meaning dare to know).

Europe at the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, 1700. Map of Europe 1700. Based an image in G. M. Trevelyan's England Under Queen Anne Volume I Note: By 1700 Muscovy is Russia. Image Credit: Rebel Redcoat - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. The siege of Yorktown in Virginia (October 19, 1781) Current Era) ended with the surrender of a second British army, marking effective British defeat. Image Credit: John Trumbull – Unknown. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Knowledge and revolutionary ideas (liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, separation of church from state) 333

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circulated through scientific meetings and academies, literary salons and coffee houses. Printed books and pamphlets begun to be used widely. After the end of the Maunder Minimum, the American Revolution, also, happened. It was a colonial revolt (1765-1783 Current Era). The American patriots of the thirteen colonies won their independence from Great Britain. It gave birth to the creation of the United States Constitution. 60 000 Loyalists migrated to other British territories, especially to Canada.

Chichester Canal, Sussex, southern England. 1828 Current Era. J.M.W. Turner. The brilliant colors may have been influenced by atmospheric ash from the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. Oil on canvas. Commissioned by George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont. Accepted by HM Government in lieu of tax and allocated to the Tate Gallery 1984. In situ at Petworth House Reference T03885. Image Credit: J. M. W. Turner - Tate Gallery, 2012-03-26. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Likewise, the years of 1824, 1837, and 1847 may be linked to the large, cataclysmic volcanic eruptions of Galunggung (Indonesia) in 1822, Cosiguina (Nicaragua) in 1835, and, perhaps, Hekla (Iceland) in 1845. Generally speaking, there is no agreed beginning year of the Little Ice Age, as well as no agreed end. But there is a broad consensus on this climatic impact. The European peasants had repeatedly suffered from chills and hypothermia. Bread riots and severe famines triggered the appropriate conditions for two major revolutions: the French Revolution (1789-1799 Current Era), and the Industrial Revolution (1750- 1850 Current Era).

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Storming of the Bastille. The French Revolution was a period of extreme social and political upheaval in France and its colonies. The monarchy of king Louis XVI was abolished and the Republic was established. This political turmoil ended to the dictatorship under Napoleon. Image Credit: Anonymous - Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Histoire par lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;image. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. A Roberts loom in a weaving shed in 1835. Textiles were the leading industry of the Industrial Revolution and mechanized factories, powered by a central water wheel or steam engine, were the new workplace. The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes (from hand production methods to machines). Its main characteristics were the rise of the new factory system, the increasing use of the steam power, new chemical and iron manufacturing methods. It is considered as the most important event in human history, after the Neolithic Revolution. Image Credit: Illustrator T. Allom - History of the cotton manufacture in Great Britain by Sir Edward Baines. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

In other parts of the world, records described permanent snow on mountain peaks at levels where it does not occur today, both in Ethiopia and Mauritania, as well as repeated severe floods of Niger River in Timbuktu, an important city on the trans-Saharan caravan route. The cultivation of oranges, a warm weather crop, was abandoned in Jiangxi Province, in China. During two of the coldest and driest periods in North and Central China (1660-1680, 1850-1880 Current Era), the typhoon strikes in Guangdong were extremely frequent. Aggression wars, mostly from the northern pastoral nomadic societies led to the collapse of the agricultural dynasties of the Han, Tang, Song and Ming. The frequency of internal war within the Chinese dynasties was, also, associated with lower than normal temperatures, drought spells and locust plagues. In Americas, the Spanish/Mayan historical accounts of Chilam Balam of Mani and the Chilam Balam of Chumayel speak of drought, cold and famine during the period between 1441 and 1461 Before Current Era. The 335

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Codex Ramerez records that, in 1450-1451 season, a prolonged cold, dry period, with no rain, but heavy snowfalls and summer frosts, destroyed the annual harvest of Aztecs in central Mexico. Today, the phenomenon is attributed to El Niño. Later on, the early European settlers reported exceptionally severe winters. During Little Ice Age, northern South America experienced about 10% more rainfall than during the 20th century, because the spring sea surface temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic were cooler. Around 1320 Current Era and to the end of the 16th century, the stressful and extreme climate of the LIA began in the southern part of the continent. By the start of the 18th century, and for 100 years onward, both glaciers in the southern Andes advanced, and the plains of the central region of Argentina suffered intense droughts. Today, those two cold phases are identified to the Spörer and Maunder Minimum.

Three of the major groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean. Image Credit: User:Kahuroa - Outline: File:World2Hires filled mercator.svg; Map information based on Vaka Moana: Voyages of the Ancestors - the discovery and settlement of the Pacific, ed K.R. Howe, 2008, p57. Public Domain. Image Source; Wikipedia

Similarly, the Pacific Islands experienced cooler temperatures, often El Niños, and lower sea levels. Conflict increased during/after 1300 Current Era. The large coastal settlements on many islands were abandoned in favour of caves and/or smaller fortified hilltop settlements. Successful longdistance voyages and exchange within archipelagos ceased. 336

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Little Ice Age was as a global event. Its onset and termination are clearly defined in local regions around the world.

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17. DISASTER LITERATURE – WHO WROTE ABOUT DISASTERS IN THE PAST Today, how do we know about disasters that happened long ago? As we have already explained in previous chapter, specialists of all scientific fields have methods, techniques and tools to detect archaeodisasters. But there is, also, another very exciting kind of detection. When people write about disasters, become the reporters of them; either as eyewitnesses of the events, or as secondary narrators (co-villagers, storytellers, mythographers, philosophers, poets and authors, historians, naturalists, scientists, journalists, etc), even many generations after the events. Thus, we can tell that all those ancient testimonies can be included in a major field called Disaster Literature. Of course, human beings tend to blend the description of disasters with their own psychology, imagination and culture, usually giving colourful and different descriptions for the same events. Since disasters and crises of all kind were always present in history, humans tried to detect, also, the visible and invisible bonds between Nature and Society. The ancient Egyptians had a creation myth called the Sep Tepi (First Time) that meant the primordial golden age of the gods. According to the Egyptians legends, their ancestors enjoyed the exceptionally advanced technologies and mystical systems, which were the legacy of this elder culture, ended by a fierce catastrophe. The Edfu Building Texts recorded the history of the Sep Tepi, as it was passed down among the ancient priesthood. According to them, in the aftermath of a global flood, groups of creator gods with unusual characteristics and seven sages embarked on temple-building programs at wisely chosen locations. The Indian Vedas and the traditions from Easter Island are identical. The only Egyptian concept which was different was Akhenaten’s theology of ‘light without darkness’. The texts describe a temple surrounded by a possibly man-made channel of water with a nearby field of reeds. This is called the “Island of the Egg”, and it is associated with the point of First Creation, or the Island of the Twin Flames. Divine pillars (djed pillars), were situated around a 338

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sacred domain called the Wadjeset-Hor or Wadjeset-Neter (homeland). Its original divine inhabitants numbered 60, along with the Sages and an enigmatic figure known simply as “This One” (embodied bird). Then, the Eye wreaked destruction on enemy and allies alike, causing mass devastation. The first temple was destroyed and all the inhabitants died.

The sun rises from the mound of creation at the beginning of time. The central circle represents the mound, and the three orange circles are the sun in different stages of its rising. At the top is the "horizon" hieroglyph with the sun appearing atop it. At either side are the goddesses of the north and south, pouring out the waters that surround the mound. The eight stick figures are the gods of the Ogdoad, hoeing the soil. Image Credit: Original artist unknown - Scanned from the book Ancient Egypt, edited by David P. Silverman, p. 121; photograph from the Book of the Dead of Khensumose. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia.

There is a period of darkness where death and decay are everywhere, and the Island of the Egg is now renamed, being given titles like the Island of Combat, the Island of Trampling, and the Island of Peace. This is the end of the First Age, or Sep Tepi. Then, a second generation of divine inhabitants reclaimed this sacred area, the Shebtu (Eight of builder-gods). They inexplicably sailed away to another part of the world to continue their task of rebuilding. As time passed, the divine inhabitants of the Wadjeset-Neter were replaced by the Shemsu-Hor (“Followers of God Horus”), semi-divine beings who ruled predynastic Egypt and, eventually by the Horus-kings of the First Dynasty about 3100 Before Current Era. The ancient historian Manetho described a period of about 25 000 years before the rise of Menes, first king of the First Dynastic period in 339

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Egypt! The first rulers were the gods themselves, particularly Horus, who ruled for a period of about 13 000 years. Herodotus records that 11 340 years have passed since the reign of the first Pharaoh, placing the beginning of that reign in the 12th millennium Before Current Era. It is likely that this first Pharaoh was included among the Shemsu-Hor, who was recognized as being demi-divine, like the later Horus-kings. Around 3100 Before Current Era, Hor-Aha (Menes) united the Upper and Lower Egypt initiating the First Dynastic Period. Even more, the ancient Egyptians always feared the possibility that the world would return to a watery darkness, if the Sky and Earth reunited. The Book of the Celestial Cow, possibly originated from the Amarna Period, described the efforts of Man and God to keep the Sky from collapsing into the Earth. Nevertheless, eventually, according to their cyclic idea of cosmos' catastrophe and rebirth, our world would end and the watery darkness would return. In the Egyptian end of time, a snake will emerge when the sky collapses into the Earth and recreates watery darkness, returning to the Chaos where he originated. The book may have been inspired by the Pyramid Texts. During New Kingdom onwards, this main idea was developed to explain death and suffering in an imperfect creation. Modern researchers consider that the motif was thematically similar to more developed accounts of the destruction of mankind, in the Mesopotamian and in the Biblical stories of the Flood. Another written evidence is the Tempest Stele or Storm Stele. It was erected by the pharaoh Ahmose I, early in the 18th dynasty of Egypt (about 1550 Before Current Era). Its fragments were found in the third Pylon of the temple of Karnak at Thebes. It described a great storm striking Egypt during that time, destroying tombs, temples and pyramids in the Theban region, and the work of restoration ordered by the king. Modern archaeologists do not fully agree on its precise translation. The Ipuwer Papyrus contains an ancient Egyptian poem, called The Admonitions of Ipuwer or The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All (Papyrus Leiden I 344 recto). The sole surviving manuscript that is dated (as a copy) to the later 13th century Before Current Era, described how Egypt was afflicted by natural disasters. Then, chaos, warfare, famine and death prevailed, during the first or second Intermediate Period: â&#x20AC;&#x153;.. Indeed, the women are barren and none conceive.. Indeed, [hearts] are violent, 340

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pestilence is throughout the land, blood is everywhere.. Indeed, the river is blood, yet men drink of it. Men shrink from human beings and thirst after water. Indeed, the ship of [the southerners] has broken up; towns are destroyed and Upper Egypt has become an empty waste.. Indeed, [. . .] because of noise; noise is not [. . .] in years of noise, and there is no end [of] noise...”.

Ipuwer Papyrus. It is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus- with a literary incomplete work, dated to the Middle Kingdom (2050-1710 Before Current Era). Now it is held in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands. Image Credit: Unknown – Creator - tAFJ_SPMRYyDLQ at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

This peculiar text caused a huge and very interesting debate between interdisciplinary researchers. Some connect it to the Minoan eruption of Santorini’s volcano, the Hyksos invasion and the famous biblical Exodus. Others recognize a striking similarity to the Sumerian City Laments and to the Egyptian Laments of the Dead. The biblical book of Exodus explained the Ten Plagues of Egypt as calamities that Israel's God, Yahweh, casted upon the Egyptian Pharaoh, in order to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. But, the identification of the plagues and other analysis, is beyond the scope of this book. The series of events were: the Beginning of the curses, the Plague of blood, the Plague of frogs, the Plague of lice or gnats, the Plague of pestilence, the Plague of boils, the Plague of hail, the Plague of locusts, the Plague of darkness, and the Death of the firstborn.

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The Seventh Plague: John Martin's painting of the plague of hail (1823). Old testament bible story, "plague of hail and fire", Exodus 9:13-35. Image Credit: John Martin - www.mfa.org — The Seventh Plague. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Archaeologists believe that the plagues occurred at an ancient city of Pi-Rameses on the Nile Delta, which was the capital of Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled between 1279 and 1213 Before Current Era. This city appears to have been abandoned around 1000 Before Current Era. Probably, after a very favourable wet climatic period, the dramatic change into dryness caused the environmental onset of the plagues. The Sumerian King List, was an ancient manuscript originally recorded in the Sumerian language, that listed the kings of Sumer (ancient southern Iraq). It blended prehistorical, perhaps mythical predynastic rulers with implausibly lengthy reigns with later, more plausibly historical dynasties. The cuneiform tablet was found at the site of ancient Nippur, in the early 1900s, by the German-American scholar Hermann Hilprecht. It was published in 1906 Current Era. Up to now, none of the predynastic ‘antediluvian’ rulers (before the Great Universal Flood) have been verified through archaeological excavations, epigraphical inscriptions, or otherwise. After its discovery, at least eighteen similar items have been found. The antediluvian portion of the King List is very different from the biblical account. It only contains eight kings, while Genesis has ten patriarchs, but it does not include the Sumerian first man or the Flood Hero.

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Stone tablet inscribed with the Sumerian King List. The best existing Sumerian King List. Image Credit: 俞磊 - http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sumeriankinglist.jpg. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The earliest portions of the list were preserved in the later Babylonian and Assyrian king lists of the 3rd century Before Current Era, when Berossus (he was a Babylonian astronomer, writer and priest of the Hellenistic Era) wrote the work Babyloniaca. There, he popularized fragments of the list. The Enûma Eliš was the Babylonian creation myth, about 1000 lines (named after its opening words), written in Old Babylonian on seven clay tablets. It was discovered in 1849 Current Era, in fragmentary form, in the ruined Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (Mosul, Iraq). Researchers claim that the composition of the text probably dates to the Bronze Age, to the time of Hammurabi or perhaps the early Kassite Era (roughly 18th to 16th centuries Before Current Era). Other scholars favour a later date of about 1100 Before Current Era. As usually, it described the initial watery Chaos, the creation of the Universe, the battle between the gods and other beings and many other allegories. It is strongly related to the Book of Genesis. The latest includes, amongst other topics, the famous narration of the Creation (origin, order, 343

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meaning and destiny of Cosmos), the deluge of Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

First Day of Creation (from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle). Image Credit: Hartmann Schedel - Self-scanned language: Latin. This is a part of a scan of an historical document: Title: Schedelsche Weltchronik or Nuremberg Chronicle. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Erra or Irra Epos was named after the Akkadian plague god Erra and dated to the 8th century Before Current Era. At least thirty-six copies were recovered from five first-millennium sites (Assur, Babylon, Nineveh, Sultan Tepe and Ur). So, archaeologists consider it as a central poem to the Babylonian culture, perhaps more popular than the Epic of Gilgamesh. Other researchers believe that the disaster evidence from Sinai (broken and blackened stones) and Mesopotamia (windblown desolation) are linked to the tale of Erra Epos and the biblical tale of Sodom and Gommorah, during the 21st century Before Current Era. The ancient geographer Strabo states that locals living near Moasada say that: â&#x20AC;&#x153;there were once thirteen inhabited cities in that region of which Sodom was the metropolis, but that a circuit of about sixty stadia of that city escaped unharmed; and that by reason of earthquakes and of eruptions of fire and of hot waters containing asphalt and sulphur, the lake burst its bounds, and rocks were enveloped with fire; and, as for the cities, some were swallowed up and others were abandoned by such as were able to escape. But Eratosthenes says, on the contrary, that the country was a lake, and that most of it was uncovered by outbreaks, as was the case with the seaâ&#x20AC;?. 344

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The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by John Martin, 1852 Current Era. Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne. Image Credit: John Martin. This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. Image source: Wikipedia

The pioneer British assyriologist and linguist, Archibald Sayce, translated an Akkadian poem that described cities destroyed in a rain of fire. It was written from the view of a person who escaped the destruction, but the names of the cities are not given. Later on, Giovanni Pettinato disclosed (1976) that a cuneiform tablet that had been found in the newly discovered library at Ebla, contained the names of all five of the cities of the plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela). They were listed in the same order as in Genesis. The controversial researcher and author Zecharia Sitchin, proposed that Enûma Eliš was a Cosmology of our Solar System, where the names of the gods were the Akkadian names of our nine planets. According to him, Tiamat was the ‘old Earth’, an existing 10th planet called Nibiru (Marduk), and Earth’s moon was Kingu. When the intruder planet (Nibiru), entered the early Solar System made Uranus turn a 90° axis, pulled a moon of Saturn away (Pluto), and then had a moon impact with Tiamat, between Mars and Jupiter. Then, half of Tiamat becomes the Asteroid belt and Comets. The other half of Tiamat from a second impact was pushed to third position from the Sun as new Earth, keeping Tiamat’s old Moon (Kingu). Marduk now, as Nibiru, is locked in a counter clockwise 3600-year orbit. Thus, the Flood was an interplanetary not a planetary event.

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Neo-Assyrian clay tablet. Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 11: Story of the Flood. Known as the "Flood Tablet" From the Library of Ashurbanipal, 7th century BC. Image Credit: BabelStone (Own work). CC0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest surviving works of literature. It was discovered by Hormuzd Rassam, a native Assyrian assyriologist, British diplomat and traveller, in 1853 Current Era. The epic begins with the five old Sumerian poems, usually dated to the period 21502000 Before Current Era. Then, the ‘standard’ Akkadian version came (which consists of twelve tablets). It was edited by Sin-liqe-unninni sometime between 1300 and 1000 Before Current Era, later found in the library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh. In tablet VI, we learn that the goddess Ishtar, in order to revenge Gilgamesh, lead the Bull of Heaven to Uruk, causing widespread devastation. The waters of the Euphrates River lowered, the marshes dried up, and a huge pits that swallowed three hundred men, opened up in the ground! Tablet IX opens with Gilgamesh grieving for Enkidu. Fearful of his own death, he decided to seek Utnapishtim (‘the Faraway’), and learn the secret of eternal life; Utnapishtim and his wife were the only immortal humans granted by the gods, as were among the few survivors of the Great Flood. The whole flood account has similarities both with the biblical narration, and with the flood story that concludes the Epic of Atrahasis. The most complete surviving version of Atra-hasis Epic was written on three tablets in Akkadian, the language of ancient Babylon. According to this text, the hero Atra-Hasis (meaning ‘exceedingly wise’) was the 346

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protagonist of the creation myth and flood story of the 18th century before Current Era. The whole epic tradition continued to be copied many centuries later and in many versions. His name appears on one of the Sumerian king lists, because he was the king of Shuruppak in the times before the Flood. Tablet XI of Gilgamesh Epic labels, also, Atra-hasis, as the son of Ubara-Tutu, king of Shuruppak. The Instructions of Shuruppak (among the oldest surviving â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wisdomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; literature, dated to the early 3rd millennium Before Current Era), instead, labelled him under the name Ziusudra. He was a priest and ruler of the city of Shuruppak, son of the eponymous Shuruppak, and grandson of UbaraTutu. Sumerian King List mentioned: "then the flood swept over". The evidence came from the excavations in various archaeological sites in Iraq, the most famous being Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara), dated to about 2900 Before Current Era. The third surviving Babylonian deluge epic is the Tale of Ziusudra. Today, it is known from a single fragmentary tablet written in Sumerian dated, by its script, to the 17th century Before Current Era (about 2/3 of which are now lost). This personality was a heroic figure venerated, at least, by the middle of the 3rd millennium Before Current Era. The Chaldean account of the Flood was described by the aforementioned Berosus. Chaldeans were a Semitic-speaking nation, existed between the late 10th or early 9th and mid-6th centuries BC. After that era, they were absorbed and assimilated into Babylonia. They were in the marshy land of the far southeastern corner of Mesopotamia. The Babylonians believed in the existence of a patriarch named Sisit, the Xisuthrus of the Greeks (the Sumerian Ziusudra or Zin-Suddu), who was supposed to have attained to immortality without death. The story of the Great Flood is, also, told twice in the Quran, in Surah (= chapter in the Quran) 11 and Surah 71.1-28. The hero was Nuh, one of the earliest prophets and apostle of Allah according to Islam.

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Miniature from Hafiz-i Abru’s Majma al-tawarikh. “Noah’s Ark” Iran (Afghanistan), Herat; c. 1425 Leaf: 42.3 × 32.6 cm. Timur’s son Shah Rukh (1405-1447) ordered the historian Hafiz-i Abru to write a continuation of Rashid al-Din’s famous history of the world, Jami al-tawarikh. Like the Il-Khanids, the Timurids were concerned with legitimizing their right to rule, and Hafiz-i Abru’s “A Collection of Histories” covers a period that included the time of Shah Rukh himself. The style of the manuscript’s miniatures is slightly old-fashioned compared with the otherwise refined Timurid painting, but the scene on the stormy sea is quite dramatic, with the fluttering sail, the ark breaking out of the picture frame, and the swollen bodies. The animals that are to populate the earth are rendered both humorously and fairly realistically. Image Credit: Unknown. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

In various Hindu traditions, Manu was the flood hero, the progenitor of mankind and the very first king to rule this Earth; he was, also, the one who saved mankind from the universal Flood. As he was absolutely honest, he was initially known as ‘Satyavrata’ (One with the oath of truth). According to Theosophy, the ‘Vaivasvatu Manu’ was one of the most important beings at the highest levels of Initiation of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom, along with Gautama Buddha, and others. The myths of creation and the Deluge of Manu are cited in Mahâbhârata and in Shatapatha Brahmana. Vaivasvata, also known as Sraddhadeva or Satyavrata, was the king of Dravida (one of the kingdoms of southern India) before the Great Flood. He was warned of the flood by the matsya (fish) – avatar (one incarnation) of 348

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the god Vishnu. So, he built a boat that carried the Vedas, Manu's family and the seven sages to safety.

Matsya pulls a boat carrying Manu and Saptarishi during Pralaya. Image Credit: Ramanarayanadatta Shastri - https://archive.org/details/mahabharata02ramauoft. Volume: 2 Publisher: [Gorakhpur Geeta Press]. Language: Hindi Call number: AAO-3248 Digitizing sponsor: University of Toronto Book contributor: Robarts - University of Toronto Collection: robarts; toronto Full catalog record: MARCXML [Open Library icon]. This book has an editable web page on Open Library. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

In addition, Puranas were religious texts that included narratives about the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy and geography. The story of Manu is found in the Puranas. Ancient India had two Sanskrit epics. The epic Mahabharata was roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Ramayana. The epic Valmiki Ramayana has 24 000 verses and it is older than MB.

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An artist's impression of Valmiki Muni composing the Ramayana. Image Credit: Renebeto (talk | contribs). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Vedas, a large body of knowledge texts, were four in number the Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. Each Veda itself is composed of parts. The layers of text reflect the chronology of composition. Rigveda Samhita is by far the oldest part of the Vedas. The RV contains 1028 suktas (hymns dedicated to various deities), with a total of 10 552 mantras (verses) arranged in 10 Mandalas or books. Sanskrit literature of ancient and medieval India is rich in archaeoenvironmental information (meteors, impacts, eclipses, observation of astronomical phenomena).The ancient and medieval Sanskrit and Tamil works refer to the lands of South India lost to the ocean. Kumari Kandam legend is the most famous amongst other submerged lands traditions in Indian literature. It speaks about a lost continent, submerged under the waters of Indian Ocean, South of India. The inhabitants of this continent were Tamil. Their language is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. Hesiod's Theogony is written in the Epic dialect of Homeric Greek, as a large-scale synthesis of a vast variety of the first Greek mythical cosmogony. Today, the researchers recognize the influence of Anatolian, Near East and Mycenaean traditions. Works, such as the Babylonian Dynasty of Dunnum (Theogony of Dunnum or Dunnu or the Harab Myth), the Ugaritic Baal Cycle, and the Hittite mythical texts, notably the Anatolian Kingship in Heaven (or Kumarbi 350

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Epic), were common in the Bronze Age Mediterranean cultures. The main topics were always: (1) the transformation of Chaos into Cosmos, (2) the conflict of generations of the gods, who represent the various states of human civilization (fertility, agriculture and the seasonal cycle, wild and domesticated animals, herdsman, pasture, viniculture, etc), and, (3) the role of humans in it. The ancient Mesopotamian tale of the Dynasty of Dunnum spread across to Phoenicia and over the Aegean. The Baal Cycle, written on a series of clay tablets in a cuneiform alphabet, was an Ugaritic cycle of stories about the Canaanite god Baal (Hadad), the god of storm and fertility. Finally, Kumarbi was the Hurrian/Hittite god, son of Anu, and father of the Weather-God Teshub, who later deposed him. The ferocious wars between Earth and Sky gods on the Heaven’s kingship, were described by all the afore-mentioned epic cycles and other circum-Mediterranean cosmologies, such as Bundahishn (meaning ‘Primal Creation’), written in the 11th or 12th century Current Era. This name is traditionally given to encyclopedialike collections of pre- /Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology corpus (Avesta) written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known. Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest religions of the world that remains active still now (mainly in Iran, Iraq and India). It is a monotheistic faith but it is centred in a dualistic cosmology (good / light and evil / darkness). The Iranian (Persian)-speaking Prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra) taught people about the deity of Wisdom (Ahura Mazda = the Wise Lord). Major features of this religion have influenced other religious systems including Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Its roots date back to the 2nd millennium Before Current Era. It was the state religion of the preIslamic Iranian empires from 600 Before Current Era to 650 Current Era.

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The Zoroastrian Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent. Image Credit: William Robert Shepherd - http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/history_asia.html. Public Domain in USA and worldwide. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Epic of Manas (Kyrgyz: Манас дастаны) – heroic deeds in three books, in about sixty versions and in entirely oral form - is considered as the traditional epic poem of the Kyrgyz people, twenty times longer than the Homeric epics Iliad (15 693 verses) and Odyssey (1110 verses) taken together, and, 2.5 times the length of the Indian epic Mahabharata. The epic singers gave information about various things, such as past geological occurrences, natural phenomena and changes on the Earth. Its typical topics included the divine exemplary heroes, the battles against enemies (human and monsters), the talking and flying horses and the shape shifting. Flood stories, conflagration / impact and epidemics stories, upheaval and celestial combat stories, are, also, present in the ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine literature. The most famous myth of all, the legend of Atlantis and the Ages of Humanity will be presented in a following chapter (Gods and Myths). Many ancient Greek and Roman writers, such as Aeschylus, Apollonius Rhodius, Aristophanes, Diodorus of Sicily, Euripides, Herodotus, Hesiod, Homer, Kallimachos, Lucian, Pausanias, Pindar, Plato, Sophocles, Strabo and Virgil, mentioned, the Titans and the Giants, as well as the cosmic wars, generally known as Titanomachy and Gigantomachy. The Titans were the oldest race amongst the Gods, children of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Uranus = Sky). Often, their descendants called, also, Titans (for example, Prometheus – who offered the fire to the mortals and 352

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Epimetheus, Atlas, Helios, Hecate and the Olympian Gods). Respectively, Titanides were the daughters of Gaia or Tethys and Ouranos, sisters and wives of Titans, six in number. The agitation and the rivalry begun when Ouranos, first ruler of the Universe, hated his own offsprings, Hecatoncheires (they were three in number and they had one hundred hands each) and Cyclopes (they were three in number), so he threw them into Tartarus. Ouranosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wife and mother of the above - mentioned creatures, Gaia, who grieved at the destruction of her children, persuaded her other children, to attack and dethrone their father. The youngest son, Kronos (Cronus = time), mutilated his father with a sickle, evoking his curse. From the outflowing blood of the castrated god, were born the Furies, the Giants and the Nymphs of the beech-trees (Meliae); from his semen was born the goddess of Love and Beauty Aphrodite. All Titans together set their brothers free and enthroned Kronos, as the new leader of the Gods .Her sister-wife was Rhea. But again, Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes were thrown, unjustly, into Tartarus, by their brother, Kronos. He became equally paranoid with his father, afraid of losing the throne by his children. So, he started to devour his children one by one. Only Zeus escaped that terrible fate, because his mother managed to keep it hidden in a cave of the island Crete. When he grew up, Zeus with the other Olympian Gods by his side, begun a new war, against the older gods, the Titans, and his father Kronos. From the older order of gods, only Oceanos and Themis sided with Zeus, because they knew that neither the brute nor the violent would prevail, but the clever. After a long (ten years) and cruel struggle, known as Titanomachy, Titans were defeated on the Greek mountain Othrys by the Olympian Gods and their allies, Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes. During that turbulent period, the Hecatoncheires hurled stones, and the Cyclopes forged for Zeus his thunderbolt. Later on, Hecatoncheires were established as the wardens of Titans in Tartarus, before them being permanently condemned to exile in the furthest West. With the Titanomachy coming to an end, a new universal order was established, with Zeus being the prime leader of the Olympian Gods. But soon enough, his power was disputed and the equilibrium was about to reverse, due to the events of Gigantomachy. The ancient Greek myth of the Giantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Revolt was not mentioned in the poems of Homer and Hesiod. It appeared later, during the 6th century Before Current Era. 353

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The ancient Greeks distinguished: (1) the Giants who disputed the power of the usurper Zeus from the autonomous rebels (for example, the theriomorphic Typhoon), (2) the theriomorphic creatures from the anthropomorphic Giants, who were repulsive because of their strength, violence and stature, and (3) the god - fighter Giants who were children of Gaia (for example, Antaios) from the others who were not.

The goddess Athena (left) fighting the Giant Enceladus (inscribed retrograde) on an Attic red-figure stemmed dish, c. 550â&#x20AC;&#x201C;500 BC (Louvre CA3662). He was buried under the mount Etna in Sicily. According to ancient Greeks, Enceladus caused volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Image Credit: Oltos? (Louvre), circle of Psiax (Mertens) Marie-Lan Nguyen (2007). Image renamed from Image:Pallas Enceladus LouvreCA3662.jpg. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The names of several Giants are related to some physical phenomena and ecofacts: Enceladus < ancient Greek word kelados (the loud noise, the meteorological or geological crash), Mimas < mimichmos (the subterranean dull sound, the neighing), Rhoitos < rhoibdos (the deafening sound) and rhoisos (the hissing sound), Porphyrion < pyr (the fire, either as a mass of hot missile, or as a person who causes a fire destruction), Pallas and Pallene < pella (the stone and its correlating words), etc. The final battle of Gigantomachy took place in Pallene. Pallene known also as Phlegraean or "burning" fields, may be located: (1) in the westernmost of the three Macedonian peninsulas jutting into the Aegean Sea from Chalcidice, (2) in the mountainous Arcadia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Peloponnesus, or (3) in Campi Flegrei in Italy. 354

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During that battle, Zeus and Hera exterminated Porphyrion, Hercules beat Alcyoneus, Athena won Enceladus and Pallas, Apollo Ephialtes, Poseidon Polybotes, Dionysus Rhoitos, and Hecate Klityos. Hephaistos, who was saved by Helios, killed Mimas by throwing molten iron at him or by exhausting him and then by sinking him on the Phlegrean Fields. The brutal events narrated in both epics symbolized the long and ‘painful’ transformative process from the chaotic and primordial forces of Nature into a ruled Universe. They talked about the cosmic climax of clash and environmental upheaval. Especially, Gigantomachy was a sequence of different events and persons with a various symbolism, naturalistic, environmental, cosmic, religious, sociological, historical, anthropological, folkloric, linguistic, etc. It narrated the cosmic reordering that took really place in eastern Mediterranean Region, during a remote period of time. Shifts of the crust, submarine trenches, orogeny, erosion and sedimentation, the emergence and fragmentation of the mainland of Aegaeis (whose remnants are the Aegean islands), tectonic faults, volcanic eruptions and sea-level changes, expressed the perpetual struggle between the natural elements (fire, water, air, soil). The chaotic violent forces of the natural world with their primordial impetus (burning heat, the winter’s darkness, catastrophic phenomena like storms, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes) differentiate from the order of the beneficent natural periodicities (impact of the solar energy, rainfall, breeze, seasonality, formation of fertile lands). Later on, in Hellenistic Alexandria and afterwards, there was a tendency to allegorically interpret the archaic myths. The 5th century Current Era court poet Honorius (emperor Claudian regarded him as the last great poet in the classical tradition), composed a Gigantomachia, according to which, Gigantomachy was a metaphor for the catastrophic geomorphic changes in the past. Gigantomachy symbolized, also, the victory of civilization over disorder, especially the triumph of Greek over barbarian culture. Initially, it was shown in the sculptures of the West pediment of the temple of Apollo at Delphi (around 520 Before Current Era). After the Greek victories in the Persian wars (480-479 Before Current Era), its political and cultural allegory, was highlighted on the eastern metopes of the Parthenon (around 440 Before Current Era) and it was 355

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painted on the inside of the shield of the statue of Athena Parthenos made by Phidias. Plato in its famous work Republic mentions that Gigantomachy was narrated “woven on the peplos of Athena at the Panathenaic festival". The topic was amongst the most preferable in ancient artistic depictions and had a prominent role in Athenian lore and tradition. Another famous depiction of Gigantomachy was found on the East Frieze of the Pergamon Altar. It was a monumental construction on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient Greek city Pergamon in Asia Minor. It was built during the reign of the king Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century Before Current Era. The whole monument has been reconstructed and exhibited in the ‘Pergamon Museum’ of Berlin. The Kingdom of Pergamos occupied, periodically, the areas of Lydia, Lycaonia, Mysia, Pamphylia, Pisidia and Phrygia in Asia Minor. Its capital city, Pergamon, was a commercial, industrial and artistic centre, famous for its Library with 200 000 books, second only to Alexandria’s Library. The city of Pergamon declined from the 3rd century Current Era onwards, when a disastrous earthquake gave the final stroke to its gradual decline.

Pergamon Altar. Athena and Nike fight Alkyoneus (left), Gaia rises up from the ground (right). Gaia pleads with Athena to spare her sons. Image Credit: Gryffindor - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Gigantomachy continued to be popular into Roman and early Christian times, times, perhaps as an allegory of the victory of the soul over death. Other narrations were, also, popular amongst the ancient Greeks.

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The flood of Ogyges occurred during the reign of Ogyges in Attica (other say that he was the founder king of the city of Thebes in Greece and founder of the holy area of Eleusis). Plato reported that this flood took place in the 10th millennium Before Current Era, relating it to the famous Atlantis. Modern researchers date it to the 2nd millennium Before Current Era. During that flood the colour, size, shape and course of planet Venus changed - phenomenon that was reported by two famous mathematicians, Adrastus of Cyzicus and Dion of Naples, and by Marcus Terentius Varro. There was, also, no daylight for nine months and the volcanoes of the Aegean Sea were active.

Deucalion and Pyrrha, mythical figures, as portrayed in a 1562 Current Era version of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Image Credit: Virgilius Solis, a member of a prolific Germanic family of artists. His prints were sold separately or formed the illustrations of books. A faithful photographic reproduction of an original two-dimensional work of art. Public Domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. Image source: Wikipedia

The flood of Deucalion was the most popular of all. Deucalion was the son of Prometheus. According to the myth narrated by ancient writers, the king of Pelasgians, Lycaon of Arcadia, sacrificed a boy to Zeus. Zeus got angry for this savage act and decided to punish Pelasgians. Deucalion, with the aid of his father, was warned about the upcoming deluge. So, he built a chest, he provided it carefully. He was saved along with his wife, Pyrrha. After nine days of pouring waters, they were the only two surviving pair of humans, as their chest landed on a mountain. They wanted desperately to populate the Earth again, so, Deucalion asked an oracle what to do. He and 357

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his wife had to throw stones behind them. His stones were transformed to men, her stones to women. Usually, ancient writers and modern scientists date the event to the 2nd millennium Current Era. The flood of Dardanus was named after Dardanus. His ancestral roots were connected to the king Atlas and Hesperia. His name was, also, related to one of the severe Black Sea flooding episodes. When the deluge took place, he and his family were saved on the mountain of the island Samothrace. He left the island on an inflated skin and settled on Mount Ida, where he dwelled for fifty years, afraid of returning waters. His grandson Tros left the plains and built the city Troy. The Hellespont (narrow strait in northwestern modern Turkey that connects Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara) then took his name (Dardanelles). Fascinating observations for climatic, geological and astronomical phenomena, as well as epidemics, wars, famines, and natural disasters, continued to be present in the authors of Hellenistic, late Roman and Byzantine periods, such as Philo of Byzantium, Heron of Alexandria, Galen, Eusebius, Prokopius, John Malalas, Theophanes and Niketas Choniates. Collectively, the Egyptian, Roman and Byzantine empires provided, also, records of some 4000 years of environmental changes. They covered geographically a large part of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Other examples of oral traditions all over the World are the following. In Batak traditions, in Sumatra - Indonesia, the Flood legend narrated that the Earth rests on a giant snake, Naga-Padoha, which, tired of its burden, it shook the Earth off into the sea. Then, the god Batara-Guru saved his daughter by sending a mountain into the sea, and the entire human race descended from her; and the Earth was placed again, back onto the head of the snake. A different perspective is found in the Australian Aborigines story, according to which, during the Dreamtime, a huge frog named Tiddalik drank all the water in the world and a drought swept across the land. The only way to finish the drought being to make the frog laugh; the animals from all over Australia gathered together and one by one attempted to make the frog laugh. Only the eel succeeded, and the water poured from his mouth in a flood, filling the deepest rivers, covering the land, and drowning many men and animals.

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Stencil aboriginal art at Carnarvon Gorge (Central Queensland, Australia). It shows unique clan markers and dreamtime stories, symbolizing attempts to catch the deceased's spirit. Photo taken September 1985. Image Credit: Original Uploader Shiftchange (talk) at 00:53, 9 June 2006. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

In Malaysia, according to the legend of the Temuan (one of the eighteen indigenous tribes), the great flood was the ‘celau’ (storm of punishment), sent for the sin of the people who angered the gods and ancestors. Only two of the Temuan tribes, Mamak and Inak Bungsuk, survived the flood by climbing the Eaglewood tree at "Gunung Raja" (Royal Mountain), which thereafter became the birth place and ancestral home of the Temuan tribe. Finally, in Hawaiian tales, a human couple (Nu'u and Lili-noe), survived a flood, on top of Mauna Kea on the Big Island. Although they made sacrificed to the Moon, to which they mistakenly attributed their safety, Kane, the creator god, descended to Earth on a rainbow, explaining Nu'u's mistake, and accepting their sacrifice. According to the Marquesas legend, the great war god Tu was angered by his sister Hii-hia. His tears flooded the World, only six people survived. Another famous lore is the Maori ‘Mystic Fires of Tamaatea’. In New Zealand there is evidence for widespread forest destruction (over 90% of the tree cover and grass). For the locals, the Mahuika Comet impact would have been a dramatic event. Within 50 km (31 mi) of the southern coastline, it would have appeared as a fireball ten times larger than the Sun. The Maori place-names and legends agree with the 15th century Tunguska-type meteor impact in the South Island. But, modern scientists 359

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now believe that the Fire of Tamatea refers to an older volcanic catastrophe or conflagration before the Maori came to New Zealand. They are indigenous Polynesian people, who came in several waves of canoe voyages, from eastern Polynesia, between 1250 and 1300 Current Era.

A portrait of Rewi Manga Maniapoto, a Māori man, by Gottfried Lindauer, 1882. Image Credit: Rjg123635 (talk | contribs). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Asian meteorite records are the most complete. Of interest with regard to archaeodisasters, is The Chu Silk Manuscript; it is an astrological and astronomical text discovered in a tomb dated to about 300 Before Current Era, from the southern Chinese state of Chu. It is 47 cm (18.50 inches) long and 38 cm (15 inches) wide, with worn edges and folds. It consists of both illustrations and texts. Although the risks of its translation and interpretation are always high, researchers have identified in its contents, the synodic period of Jupiter, a lunisolar calendar, the creation myths of the Chu people, and a description of events when heaven is in disarray. According to the creation myth, the legendary emperor and culture hero Fu-Xi (or Fu-Hsi), along with his sister/wife Nüwa, were the only survivors of the great flood that swept the land of China. Fu-Xi taught his subjects to cook, to fish with nets, and to hunt with weapons made of iron, instituted marriage and offered the first open-air sacrifices to Heaven. He was the father of the Chinese Tai Chi Philosophy of Yin and Yang and thus of the ‘I Ching’.

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On the other hand, Nüwa, to stop the great disaster, mended the collapsed sky, repaired the Heaven with coloured rocks and killed the black dragon which caused floods and the brutal beasts that killed humans. She also used clay to create humans and human society, and created the marriage system to enable humans to multiply offspring. In this way, disasters were conquered, and mankind was saved.

Nüwa and Fuxi on the murals (rubbing depicted) of the Wu Liang Shrines (Shandong province, eastern China. Han dynasty (second imperial dynasty of China, 206 BC – 220 AD). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Many Chinese ancient books (for example, Book of Changes, Elegies of Chu, Writings of Prince Huainan, Book of Mountains and Seas) include the legend of this couple. Even today, the Miao and Dong peoples in the Chinese Yunnan Province, still worship Nüwa as their own primogenitor. One of the main themes in Chinese mythology and Classical Chinese poetry is the Great Flood of China, which continued for at least two generations, and was accompanied by storms, famine and great population displacements. This major flood event it is traditionally dated to the 3rd millennium Before Current Era, during the reign of the Emperor Yao / Gun and Yu. But, the Chinese versions of the worldwide flood myth have a different perspective from many other similar legends. Chinese people include the concepts of disaster planning, of control and mitigation, such as the hydrological engineering, the administrative reforms, the acquisition of the agricultural civilization, etc. 361

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In the Americas, in Inca mythology, Viracocha (the great creator god in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes), destroyed the giants with a Great Flood around the Lake Titicaca. Only two people repopulated the Earth, having survived in sealed caves. This event, known as ‘Unu Pachakuti’, was of paramount importance in local linguistic and cultural traditions. The chronicle of Fernando de Montesinos, Memorias Antiguas y Historiales del Peru (1642 Current Era) includes a very long list of pre-Incaic kings descended from Ophir, the great-grandson of Noah. Eclipses, comets, even supernovas are, also, included in the Chronicle, for example, during the period 800-850 Current Era. The Chibcha legends of Muisca Culture (in parts of present day Colombia and Panama), speak about Bochica. He was a culture hero and a spiritual/secular leader, a bearded man who came from the East. In American tradition, the Incan god Viracocha and the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl were also bearded. Bochica taught ethical and moral norms by giving a model by which to organize states, agriculture, metalworking and other crafts before leaving for the west to live as an ascetic. But local people later forsook the teachings of Bochica turning to a life of excess, so, a flood engulfed the Savannah of Bogotá, where they lived. Bochica, eventually, returned on a rainbow, when his people appealed to him for aid, and created the Tequendama Falls, through which the floodwaters could drain away. According to tribal legends, Bochica’s wife, Chia / Huitaca, goddess of sensual pleasure, was guilty for the great flood because she wanted to revenge her husband; he, in reverse, hurled her into the sky, turning her into the Moon. To the North, the Aztec Codices written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs are similarly valuable sources of narrations. Especially, the Boturini Codex, painted by an unknown Aztec author (around 15301541 Current Era), narrates the story of the legendary Aztec journey from Aztlán to the Valley of Mexico. In general, the Mesoamerican literatures are rich in information. Records that related religion, time and astronomy, carved monumental structures (such as stelae, altars and temples) that memorized history, power or legacy, oral and pictorial traditions of mythical and narrative kind, every day literature (such as graffiti inscriptions), all are valuable to disaster archaeology today. Many of the post-conquest texts are historical accounts 362

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(annals or oral accounts of aged community members and personalized literary accounts of the life of a people or state) sometimes incorporated prophetical material, for example the Mayan Chilam Balam books.

Depiction of the departure from Aztlรกn in the 16th-century Codex Boturini. Created by an unknown Aztec hand in the 16th century. Image Credit: Pirru~commonswiki (talk | contribs). This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art in USA and worldwide. Image Source: Wikipedia

Back to Europe, disaster literature is, also, rich in variety and symbolism. Snorri Sturluson, an Icelander poet, chief and diplomat of the early th 13 century Current Era, who believed that pre-Christian deities were real historical people, composed the Eddas and the Heimskringla. Today, scholars think that the Poetic Edda (also known as the Elder Edda) had been composed centuries earlier than its transcription. Eddas are collections of old Norse anonymous poems. Saxo Grammaticus composed the Danish Gesta Danorum; the Books 1-9 deal with Norse mythology. Supernatural creatures, heroes and heroines, kings and gods are all involved in epic deeds and fierce wars. The Prose Edda consists of a Prologue and three separated books; the first is Gylfaginning, which narrates the creation and foretold destruction and rebirth of the Norse mythical world. The two flood events (the one before 363

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the creation of this world and the final catastrophe) were related to the race of giants who lived on Earth. Similarly, the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, written in Old English around 1100 Current Era, describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior who lived between the late 5th century and before the beginning of the 7th century Current Era. The text, has similarities with the biblical flood, and, especially, with Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid. It is hero-centred and comprises heroic deeds, dragon fights and creation myths.

Remounted page, Beowulf, British Library Cotton Vitellius A.XV. Image Credit: Unknown medieval - British Library (Manuscripts blog). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The famous Ragnarök (meaning te Fate of the Gods) describes the future destruction of the gods, when fire and flood overwhelm Heaven and Earth as the gods will fight their final battles with their enemies. During this apocalyptic event, Jormungandr, the great World Serpent that lies beneath the sea surrounding Midgard, the realm of mortals, will rise up from the watery depths to join the conflict, resulting in a catastrophic flood that will drown the land. Then, a beautiful reborn world will rise from the ashes of death and destruction. The flood myth is, also, present in Finnish lore, in the Kalevala rune entitled ‘Haava’. The apocryphal history of Ireland Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland or the Book of Invasions / Conquests), recounts the mythical origins and history of the Irish from the creation of the world 364

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down to the Middle Ages. Noah's granddaughter Cessair and her people, the Gaels, were the first inhabitants of Ireland. They were wiped out by a flood forty days after reaching the island. Later on, another descendant of Noah, Partholon and his people, settled on Ireland, but ten years after their first arrival, and, in a single week, they are wiped out by a plague, which left only one survivor. Thirty years after the extinction of the Partholonians, Nemed's people reached the island, but another flood rose and killed all the inhabitants. The only survivors were only thirty, they scattered across the world.

The Tuatha Dé Danann as depicted in John Duncan’s "Riders of the Sidhe" (1911). Image Credit: John Duncan - MerlinPrints.com. PD-Art, over 70 years old. Image Source: Wikipedia

Finally, the Tuatha Dé Danann were a supernatural Irish race. Their name meant the peoples of the goddess Danu. Danu was the divine creator, the eternal energy of the Divine Feminine, and a goddess of the primordial waters of creations in Hindu mythology, too. Her descendants returned to Ireland from the far North, where they have learned the arts of pagan magic and druidism (spiritual and religious movement that generally promotes harmony, connection, and reverence for the natural world), on or about - May 1st. They were a pantheon of supernatural creatures known in all Celtic cultures.

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18. FIRES FROM THE SKY: GODS, MYTHS AND SYMBOLS The term ‘Disaster Mythology’ was firstly used by the author Dr. Amanda Laoupi, in 2005, as an interdisciplinary sub-field of Disaster Archaeology. It embraces all the ancient legends, myths, traditions and symbols that were related, directly or indirectly, to past ‘nature-induced’ disasters and catastrophes. Ancient people around the world seem to use a universal unconscious language. Tragic events, which were collectively experienced, were transformed into myths. In this way, people were relieved from the symptoms caused by disasters. The historical character of such myths demands a cryptographic detection many generations after the initial event. Perhaps both the myth-teller and the myth-hearer want the truth to remain concealed. The creation of disaster myths has a relieving influence, because it is a therapeutic mechanism. Dreams and myths bury the most intense memories under the conscious mind, by suppressing and controlling anxiety. Today, we can find several identical data and symbols across all the cultures of the world, even if there are many different stories about them. The use of common symbols makes the social system operating correctly. The heroes and the gods are known by many epithets that describe their traits. We have already write about the main creation and other cosmological myths, few flood myths and few heroic deeds. The figures depicted in mythical episodes represented socio-cultural archetypes, natural forces/events or historical events. In this chapter, we will talk about few famous universal myths, such as Atlantis, the fall of Phaethon, the Five Suns of Aztecs, and the Ages of humanity according to Hesiod. And, we will, also, present few gods and goddesses, related to beautiful or frightening stories, and symbols of disasters. ●●●●●● 366

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A fascinating archaeological hypothesis is the following. The megalithic culture of western Europe was related to comet catastrophes. Brittany (region in northwestern France: French Bretagne; name given by the ancient Greek explorer Pytheas), was the most important centre of this culture. The area was inhabited since the Lower Palaeolithic. Its first settlers were the Neanderthals. One of the oldest hearths in the world has been found in the area; it is dated to 450 000 years ago! Homo sapiens came around 35 000 years ago. In the proto-historic period, five Celtic tribes were the first inhabitants. Cairns (= human-made piles or stacks of stones), stone rows, menhirs (= large man-made upright stones), passage graves, stone cycles (= circular alignments of standing stones) and other megalithic monuments are scattered in the landscape. Other cultural centres of megalithic culture have been found in UK, Ireland and North Europe. One of the most amazing and archaic examples is Göbekli Tepe in modern Turkey, but the most famous of all is Stonehenge in UK. Megalithic monuments have been found all over the world.

Stonehenge, UK. Image Source: Pixabay. CC0

Modern researchers conclude that many of these monuments (along with the petroglyphs carved on them) were archaeoastronomical observatories and keepers of ancient knowledge given in a symbolic language. Observations of the Sun, the Moon, the stars and the constellations, eclipses, comets and meteorites’ predictions are all hidden behind these monuments. ●●●●●●

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In the Mediterranean, let us begin with the ancient Greek Gods Hephaistos (Vulcan) and Athena (Minerva). In later antiquity, many people believed in the Twelve Gods as a legacy from the Greek philosopher Plato. Hestia (Vesta) represented Earth, Poseidon (Neptune) Water, Hera (Juno) Air, and Hephaistos (Vulcan) Fire. So, Zeus (Jupiter), Neptune and Vulcan belonged to the Creators of the Universe, Vesta, Athena (Minerva) and Ares (Mars) to the Guards of the Universe, Demeter (Ceres), Juno and Artemis (Diana) to the Life-givers of the Universe, and, Hermes (Mercury), Aphrodite (Venus) and Apollo to the Uplifters of the Universe. The creative and paternal gods made the Universe, the life-givers gave Life, the uplifters harmonized it, and the guards preserved and protected it. Moreover, there were the luminaries, the solar deities (for example, Apollo, Hercules, Helios), the moon goddesses (Aphrodite Ourania, Hecate Hera - Artemis) - which represented the female reproductive force, and the cosmic ‘invaders’ (for example, Typhoon, Hephaistos, Phaethon). Especially, Hephaistos, the god of volcanic and thermal activity, of wild and destructive fires, the patron of smiths and metalworkers, builders, architects, stonemasons, carpenters and woodworkers, seems to represent not only the earthen / subterranean fires but this of extra-terrestrial origin, ever awful and uncontrollable. Divine smiths were peacemakers, too, because they were connected to celestial and subterranean fields, by acting as mediators between them. Astronomical evidence indicates that our ancestors viewed a much more active sky than we do. Particularly during the past 12 000 years, such deliveries were not uncommon. Strong evidence suggests that humanity witnessed the break-up of a very large comet over this time period. The ‘Greek’ god Hephaistos reflected some major celestial events dated back to the beginning of 2n millennium Before Current Era. Florence and Kenneth Wood (1991), Alfred de Grazia and NASA, first understood that Vulcan may be connected to meteoritic phenomena. First, the author of this book compared the Sanskrit literature (from ancient India) with the ancient Greek mythology in 2005. The conclusion was that during the Bronze Age, cultures had beautiful astromyths with common elements. The whole mythical cycle of impact events had specific symbols: fall on Earth, lameness, hair/serpent, mule/horse, river/sea flood waters, birds, swastika and darts. 368

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Crippled at birth, Hephaistos (known also as Hephaestus) was thrown from the divine mountain Olympus (Heaven) by his mother Hera, because she was ashamed of his deformity. Another version of the Greek myth makes Zeus himself as the responsible for the casting of Hephaistos from the mountain. Then, the ‘cosmic invader’ passed the ‘magic threshold’ (? the atmosphere of our planet), travelling ‘all day long’ before landing in the Aegean island of Lemnos ‘around sunset’. Or, he was landed in the sea near Lemnos, and was washed up on the shore. In fact, ‘there was not much life left in him’, as he was crippled in both legs. The Nereids Thetis and Eurynome (the fifty sea-nymphs, escort of the god Poseidon) rescued him. Secretly, Hephaistos lived with these semi-goddesses in their underwater caves for nine years. This nine-year hibernation symbolizes a second womblike incubation, which awoke his creative energy.

Dionysus and Hephaestus riding donkey, Caeretan black-figure hydria C6th B.C., Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien. Image Source: http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hephaistos.html

Physically, Hephaistos was a muscular man with a thick neck and hairy chest. He supported himself with the aid of a crutch, because of a shortened, lame leg (? lame = one - footed) and club foot (with feet facing backwards). Bearded, he most often dressed in a ragged sleeveless tunic and woollen hat. Most frequently, he was portrayed in art, holding the tools of his trade, especially the blacksmith's hammer, anvil, and tongs. Sometimes, he was surrounded by the Kabeiroi, the dwarf-like blacksmith servants of the Mother Goddess, who helped in his subterranean forge. His sacred animal, the ass / mule, was also among the 369

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sacred animals of Seth - the Egyptian parallel of Typhoon (a temple of Hephaistos existed in Egypt, too). Vase paintings show Hephaistos upon a mule, symbol of sexual barrenness. The Roman authors represented him in the form of a phallus in the hearth fire (phallus: like tail of comets). A comet in its typical apparition may be symbolized as an angel with wings, a helmeted head and a longhaired creature, a phallus with testes or as a head with two massive arms. His characteristics remind us of the coma, when comets are hit by the solar wind. The word comet derives from the ancient Greek epithet καρηκομόων (hairy), thus, comets were the ‘hairy stars’ (αστέρες κομόεντες). This epithet is already present in Homeric Epics. Philostratus the Elder (known also as Philostratus of Lemnos – around 3rd century Current Era) described an ancient Greek painting, and noticed that Homer inspired the ancient artist in the scene of Skamandros river and Hephaistos in Iliad: “... The fire which envelops Hephaistos flows out on the surface of the water and the River is suffering and in person begs Hephaistos for mercy. But the River is not painted with long hair, for the hair has been burnt off; nor is Hephaistos painted as lame, for he is running; and the flames of the fire are not ruddy nor yet of the usual appearance, but they shine like gold and sunbeams. In this Homeros is no longer followed...” This is a very useful observation, indeed, because speed, as an attribute is not consistent to his malformation. But the epithet lame in ancient Greek is also interpreted as strong-armed and ambi-dextrous. During the Middle Ages, comets were known as ‘hairy stars’, and their representation on coins often took the form of crude and irregularly shaped symbols, such as combs, bars, pyramids, etc. For example, the appearances of Comet Halley in the sky were often, in the years 530, 607, 684, 760, 837, 912, 989, 1066, 1145, 1222, 1301, 1378 and 1456 Current Era. Many of its apparitions were very bright and, thus, were well-observed in Europe and Asia.

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Bayeux Tapestry- Scene 32 : men staring at Halley’s comet- Scene 33 : Harold at Westminster. It was an embroidered cloth nearly 70 meters long and 50 centimeters tall, which depicted the events leading up to the Battle of Hustings and the Norman conquest of England. The Bayeux tapestry consisted of 8 long strips of unbleached linen, which have been sewn together to form a continuous panel. The events concerned William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England,. Date: 1070’s Current Era. Photograph: 2013-03-07. Image Credit: Myrabella – Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia You can enjoy, also, The Greatest Representations of Comets in the History of Art online https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-greatest-representations-of-comets-in-the-historyo-1648504019

It is difficult to represent the visual phenomena that such a large object could produce, as it neared the furnace of our solar system. Gases from such an object might produce a tail, which would span the orbits of the inner planets. When near Earth, the size of such an apparition would make the Sun and Moon appear as dwarfs. When our ancestors witnessed mega-comets activity, they would be strongly influenced both psychologically and physically. Hesiod and sources from the Roman Era claimed that the goddess Hera gave birth to Hephaistos parthenogenically, without Zeus' participation. She was angry at him for birthing Athena from his head without first procreating with her. So, there is a strange analogy between Athena and Hephaistos. They were of the same father; they are of the same nature. The Roman equivalent of Athena (Minerva) was Hephaistos (Vulcan). In the rustic calendar, the zodiac sign of Aries had Minerva as protectress and the astrological sign of Libra Vulcan as its guardian god, alternatively. Aries symbolizes the head, from which Minerva sprang. 371

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Athena is "born" from Zeus's forehead as a result of him having swallowed her mother Metis, as he grasps the clothing of Eileithyia on the right; detail from the side A; black-figured belly amphora. 550–525 BC. Fould Collection, F32, Louvre. Image Credit: Group E and User:Bibi Saint-Pol (photographer). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

In Iliad, Hephaistos was, also, the creator of the asterisms, a creative force in Universe. After his fall on Earth, when the god was hidden in the underwater realm, he symbolized the South Hemisphere of the night sky. It was the realm of the goddess Thetis (the asterism of Eridanus), where he created the asterisms of the South Hemisphere. In Iliad his workshop is in the heavens. The asterism of Perseus is more probably connected with Hephaistos not because of its shape, but to its relationship with the meteor swarms of Perseids, visible from July 25, to August 4. These flames are, also, described as burning the sky. The two gods were considered as grand teachers of humanity. Their archetypal symbolization is related to exo-terrestrial invaders that caused terror and destruction on Earth (comets, asteroids, plasma and planets’ outburst). Athena was a mistress of disguise, as the poet Homer constantly pointed out. Inspired modern researchers believe that, perhaps, Athena represented the proto-planet Venus (Typhon = the cometary tail of protoVenus), in her cometary behaviour. She was worshipped among the peoples of Mediterranean as Venus, too. It was the goddess Aphrodite who symbolized the planet Venus’ dual appearance in the sky (evening star = female = Hesperus and morning star = male = Phosphorus). She was 372

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Aphrodite barbata (bearded), or the Cyprian goddess Aphrodite with a beard. Athena had, also, an androgynous image, as male. Bearded serpents were found on a pediment of the Archaic Athenian Acropolis. Athena “she herself had no womb, for when she carried children, it was in a basket” She was ‘born both as male and female’, ‘agile and luminous’, as a ‘draco’ (dragon). Planet Venus was symbolized by the ‘crux ansata’ (Egyptian Ankh), a combined phallus and vulva.

Amulet ankh of Thutmose IV, made of Egyptian faience. Image Credit: This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons by as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. CC0. Image Source: Wikipedia

●●●●●● In the Vedas, the goddess Aditi, almost the only goddess mentioned by name in the Rig-Veda as the mother of any of the gods, was the original manifestation of the proto-planet Venus. She was 'born' out of the planet Jupiter, as the result of an enormous impact. The famous Agni (fire), the only deity to be born in Heaven, was an Aditya (a son of Aditi). The protoplanet Venus had distorted shape because it was still liquid. Agni had the epithet ‘the horse face god’. When it conjuncted with Earth, it caused turbulence (for example, continuous earthquakes, very high tides and even changes in the orientation of the spin axis of our planet). It was the god Mitra, the guardian of the day, and the god Varuna, the guardian of the night. 373

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Painting of the Goddess Saraswati by Raja Ravi Varma. Image Credit: Raja Ravi Varma - http://abhisays.com/art/selected-paintings-of-raja-ravi-varma-part-3.html. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Indian legends claim that the beautiful goddess Saraswati (or Sarasvati) sprung from the forehead of her father Brahma. It is said that as soon as Brahma looked at her beauty, he was filled with desire for her. Unhappy with the amorous attentions he bestowed upon her, she tried to dodge and hide. Therefore the River Saraswati flows underground. And the brief appearance she made above ground is the moment, when she stopped to rest from her tiring run. Saraswati is generally represented in Hindu mythology as the divine consort of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the Universe. Since knowledge is necessary for creation, Saraswati symbolizes the creative power of Brahma and the power of the wisdom (like the Greek Athena, who was, also, the goddess of wisdom). The goddess was always portrayed with water in background, blooming lotus, white swans, and bathing elephants. She was worshiped by all persons interested in art and knowledge, especially students, teachers, scholars, and scientists. Mahabharata mentions the drying up of River Sarasvati, connecting the river with Irina (place or region) or the Rann-of-Kutch (salt marsh in the Thar desert, in Gujarat, India / Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest white desert). The maruts (? 374

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meteor showers) were over Irina with their sparkling missiles. Later Vedic texts identify Irina with disaster. In Rig Veda, the river Sarasvatî was followed by the maruts, reporting the frequent sightings of them in the visible sky above the River Sarasvatî. In 1980, scientists (lead by Professor Yashpal) announced that they had recognised the palaeochannels of the River Saraswati using satellite imagery. In 1996, Professor Valdiya had traced the course of the river from West Garhwal in the Himalayas to the Gulf of Khambat in Gujarat, by using hydro-geological techniques. Saraswati is mentioned more than 60 times in the Rigveda. Thus, it is clear from the Vedic texts, that the Rigvedic people lived on the banks of a river called Saraswati. One of the major rivers of North-West India (areas of Punjab, Sindh, Rajasthan and Gujarat) was Saraswati. It changed its course since Vedic times; the river no longer exists. There were about three hundred cities (apart from so many supporting towns and villages, thousands in number) along the banks of Saraswati, once having a flourishing civilization. Mahabharata mentioned indirectly the underground Saraswati. And then, the “sky fire rain” came… The tearing weapons of maruts hit animals like well-aimed darts. Maruts were visible at a distance shining like stars or suns. They induced winds and rains before their arrival. The visible hair-like extension of the maruts is figuratively described as dishevelled hairs. They had wheels of gold and they rushed like boars with tusks of iron. They were self-born and always trembled in their path. They came in thousands like waves on water. They came down to Earth together effortless, with burning looks, shook the mountains and entered the sea. On their approach, gleamed like serpents. Their stormy shower was only like a water stream. The poet of Rig-Veda described, also, how he saw the reigns of the horse, then “he saw the head of the horse in the sky flying down towards the Earth” (comets were symbolized as horses, too).

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Dragons were legendary creatures of Chinese lore, usually depicted snake-like and fourlegged. During the period of the imperial China, the emperor used this symbol for showing his power and strength. A Chinese dragon on a wall at the Haikou Yazhou Gu Cheng, Hainan, China. Image Credit: Anna Frodesiak - Own work. CC0. Image Source: Wikipedia

In ancient Asian cultures (Japan, India), the sky goddess and the cosmic dragon were strongly interrelated. Swastika was the symbol of the dragon. The Japanese monk Kokei wrote the narrative of Enoshima Engi (EE) in 1047 Current Era. He mentioned spectacular phenomena that took place in the early summer of 552 Current Era (dark clouds covering the sea, earthquakes, boulders falling from the sky, lightning-bolts, rocks and sand spurting up from the sea, flames on the water, the emergence of an island). Then, the bright goddess appeared above the clouds (Benzaiten / Sarasvati) and descended on the island. Modern scholars translated the narrative and highlighted the historic coherence of Sarasvati’s legend in the symbolic language of Far East. ●●●●●● In Chinese folk memory, the birds (especially, the image of a onelegged fowl) are strong symbols, too, connected to comets apparitions. In Chinese lore, Ts'ang Chieh, the four eyed legendary inventor of writing, noticed the marks of birds' feet in the sand and inspired to create written symbols (around 2650 Before Current Era). His ancient style is known as “bird foot-prints”. He was a calligrapher and the official historian of the Yellow Emperor.

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Chinese characters. Image Credit: Asoer, Oppashi - File:Chinese characters logo.jpg. This is an image intended for on English Wikipedia. It was created from combining parts of Image:Shang-Orakelknochen.JPG, Image:曹全碑.jpg, Image:LantingXu.jpg, Image:KaishuOuyangxun.jpg, Image:齊書11.jpg, and an image of onscreen text. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The Chinese divine pheasant was closely associated with the fabulous, lame, raven-beak-nosed emperor, Yu, who could transform himself into this pheasant or a bear (he, who has been praised of attempts to stop floods in China, reined according to the standard chronology from 2205 to 2197 Before Current Era). The Owl was one of the emperor’s enemies. It invented thunder and lightning, and was, also, one-footed. Another representation of comets, which is evident in ancient lore, involves shapeshifting. A comet is three dimensional and could appear as quite a different animal, when viewed from a different angle. Our ancestors' stories speak of weakening gods and fantastic births, because comets can change spontaneously; a gas emitting area could become dust, or a piece of the comet could break away, creating another comet, perhaps initially more flamboyant than its parent. Symbolic bird tracks, even if they had not been recognized as such, appear on objects unearthed by Heinrich Schliemann from Hissarlik in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). More than seven hundred owl-faced idols and vases were, also collected from the third city of Troy, known also as Troy III (the city’s remains are one layer on the top of the other; the top being the most recent) as copies of the ancient Palladium. The fable said that it had fallen from heaven with joined feet... And Glaux is the little owl (Athene noctua), emblem of old and new Athens, as it was described vividly by Homer (‘owl-eyed or owl-face Athena’ = the goddess Minerva who had the eyes / form of the owl).

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Scene from the Trojan War: Cassandra clings to the Xoanon, the wooden cult image of Athene, while Ajax the Lesser is about to drag her away in front of her father Priam (standing on the left). Ajax the Lesser was a mythological Greek hero present in the Trojan War. Cassandra was a daughter of king Priam and queen Hecuba of Troy. She was cursed to utter prophecies that were true but none believed them. Roman fresco from the atrium of the Casa del Menandro (I 10, 4) in Pompeii. Image Credit: Wolfgang Rieger - Marisa Ranieri Panetta (ed.): Pompeii. Geschichte, Kunst und Leben in der versunkenen Stadt. Belser, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-7630-2266-X, p. 349. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

●●●●●● Swastika is another ancient world-symbol that is filled with occult meaning. It is an alchemical, cosmological, anthropological, and magical sign, and contains many keys to its inner interpretation. Its first interpretation could be the geographical one: Zenith and Nadir; North, South, West, and East; the Centre. The motif seems to have been used firstly in Upper Palaeolithic Eurasia. The earliest known swastika is engraved on the underwings of a flying bird. It was made of mammoth ivory and dated as early as 18 000 to 15 000 years ago. Native American cultures had, also, adopted the symbol, but it seems that happened independently. The swastika (from Sanskrit svastika in Devanagari, a writing system of northern Indian languages) is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at

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right angles, in either left-facing or right-facing direction. The swastika is a holy symbol of divinity and spirituality in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.

Bhubaneswar Swastika and Jain hand symbolizing the importance of ahimsa. Jain symbol (Prateek) at Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves (known also as Katak Caves) in central-eastern India. Ahimsa means “compassion” and ‘’not to injure”, “no violence” and “respect for all beings”; it is a key virtue in Indian religions. Image Credit: Steve Browne & John Verkleir - Flickr: Swastika and Jain hand symbolizing the importance of ahimsa. CC BY 2.0. Image Source: Wikipedia. NO NAZI SYMBOLIZATION

According to different modern researchers, the swastika represents: (1) the North Pole, and the rotational movement around a centre or immutable axis (axis mundi), and only secondly the Sun = a symbol of life, and universal order, (2) the Ying and Yang energies of Chinese spiritualism, (3) the letters Γ (gamma) and G = the Great Architect of the Universe, (4) the north ecliptic North Pole centered in ζ Draconis, with the constellation Draco as one of its beams, (5) the four-horse chariot of sun god Mithra in ancient Iranian culture = the world is pulled by four heavenly horses who revolved around a fixed centre in a clockwise direction., (6) the spinning constellations of the celestial North Pole, centered in α Ursae Minoris, specifically the chariots of Little and Big Dipper, known also as Ursa Minor and Ursa Major = their four phases of revolution around the Pole Star, and, (7) a comet approaching the Earth very closely. 379

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Archaeologically speaking, there is a profound relationship between the swastika and fire (Sun, wheel of Creation, architecture of Cosmos) through creation and evolution. The swastika is found all over Hindu temples, signs, altars, pictures and iconography where it is sacred. It is used in all Hindu weddings, festivals, ceremonies, houses and doorways, clothing and jewellery, motor transport, and even decorations on food items, like cakes and pastries. The word first appears in the Classical Sanskrit, in the Ramayana and Mahabharata Epics. It was a weapon of a snake king (dragon), Takshak. The association of the Sanskrit term ‘svastika’ with this symbol may be traced in the Mahabharata, where it related it with the birth of a cosmic bird par excellence--Garuda. This fabulous winged deity had radiance like the Sun, could change shapes at will. It destroyed other gods and kings by casting down fire and stirring up storms of reddish dust which darkened the Sun, Moon and stars. Clearly Garuda was symbolic of an Earth approaching comet. This creature is found in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain (ancient Indian religion) mythology. The Han Dynasty Silk Comet Atlas is used as a compelling explanation for the omnipresence of the swastika motif. Pioneering modern scientists claim that the reproduced portion of this silk atlas with its comet drawings was probably related to the breakup of the progenitor of comet Encke and the Taurid meteoroid stream. This object could have produced several very bright comets in short period (~3.3 years) orbits that crossed the path of the Earth. An outgassing comet that could produce a pinwheel appearance to someone looking down its axis of rotation would look very differently to an observer viewing the same comet along its Equator. According to the Comet / Bird hypothesis, when a comet approaches so close to Earth, the jets of gas streaming from it, bent by the comet's rotation, became visible, looking like a swastika. This observation is drawn from an ancient Chinese manuscript, which shows comet tail varieties. Respectively, the swastika-like comet on the Han Dynasty silk comet atlas was labelled a ‘long tailed pheasant star’. Thus, many swastikas and swastika-like motifs may have been symbolized by bird tracks, like many of those found by Schliemann in Troy. Ancient Greek architectural designs are replete with interlinking swastika motifs. A swastika border is one form of meander. The Greek

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goddess Athena, traced in Minoan religion, Artemis and Astarte, were sometimes portrayed wearing robes covered with swastikas. ●●●●●● The ‘flame of Hephaistos’ or his ‘red breath’ (purest flame) was a usual motif among ancient people of Eastern Mediterranean. In antiquity the red earths were four in number: the Keian (from the Aegean island of Keos), the Cappadocian (modern Turkey), the Sinopic (modern Turkey) and the Lemnian (from the Greek island of Lemnos in eastern Aegean = place where the god Hephaistos was hidden, after his fall from the sky). The ancient writer Pliny described the Lemnian Earth (terra lemnia, rubricata or sigillata) like cinnabar, with a pleasant taste, while Galen added that “it differs from miltos (from Keos) because it doesn’t leave a stain when handled”. The same writer, during his visit to Hephaestias (capital city of the island), analysed the myth of Hephaistos and his relationship with Lemnos, because the god himself cured his awful trauma (from his landing on the island) by using this earth. He said that: “the mythical hill, also known as Mosychlos, appeared to be burnt due to its colour and from the fact that nothing grows on it”. The local inhabitants had a peculiar ritual for its extraction. The god was known as an ‘aithaloeis Theos’, meaning the sooty god. In Lemnos, Hephaistos was worshipped as a god of healing, and his priests possessed antidotes to poisons. Later on, the priestesses of Artemis had the right to use this earth. This Artemis was connected to the Anatolian nucleus of Amazons. The hydrothermal and volcanic activity in the island could explain many of the above-mentioned observations. But, hydrocarbon presence in destruction layers, the sweet taste of cinnabar and other characteristics like losing its power with the time passing over or being periodically recharged, may be evidence of impact events (combustion residues, chemical fusion). Heinrich Schliemann (German businessman and amateur archaeologist of the 19th century Current Era) was searching for the legendary Troy in the northeastern mainland Turkey, near Dardanelles. He excavated a large area hoping to find the Homeric Troy. He observed the mysterious melted copper and lead which covered a large area, and 381

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explained them as deposits of lightning discharges. So, he called it ‘burnt city’. Today, archaeologists agree on the following dates for the layers of the ancient city:             

Troy I 3000–2600 Before Current Era Troy II 2600–2250 Before Current Era Troy III 2250–2100 Before Current Era Troy IV 2100–1950 BC Before Current Era Troy V: 20th – 18th centuries Before Current Era Troy VI: 17th – 15th centuries Before Current Era Troy VIh: Late Bronze Age, 14th century Before Current Era Troy VIIa: about 1300–1190 Before Current Era = Homeric Troy Troy VIIb1: 12th century Before Current Era Troy VIIb2: 11th century Before Current Era Troy VIIb3: until about 950 Before Current Era Troy VIII: about 700–85 Before Current Era Troy IX: 85 Before Current Era – about 500 Current Era

Troy IIg (layer of the second settlement of Troy, earlier than the Trojan War) contained evidence for conflagration, which produced a bed of ashes up to 6 m. (20 feet), and a layer of calcined debris up to 3 m. (10 feet) high. Experts on wildfires claim that they had never seen “red ashes of wood in natural fires, because ash residue from the burning of a city is measured in inches, rather than feet”. The Cincinnati archaeologists, under the leadership of Carl Blegen, who came after Schliemann in the 20th century Current Era, examined closely the ruins of the Burnt City-Level IIg. The stratum of Troy IIg had an average thickness of more than 1 m. (3.28 feet). It consisted mainly of ashes, charred matter, and burned debris. This deposit apparently extended uniformly over the entire site, eloquent evidence that the settlement perished in a vast conflagration from which no buildings escaped ruin. The catastrophe struck suddenly, without warning, giving the inhabitants little or no time to collect and save their most treasured belongings before they fled. The last Homeric Troy of Odysseus now can safely be dated to the beginnings of 12th century Before Current Era. It was known as the second sack of Troy by the Achaeans around 1190. The poet wrote in Odyssey 382

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about the total eclipse of the Sun on the day that Odysseus supposedly returned on at Ithaca, April 16th, 1178 Before Current Era, close to noon local time.. Other researchers suggest the date of 1207, October 30, for this event.

The layers of the ancient city of Troy, from its establishment till the age of Homer. Image Credit: Ancient Greece in SlideShare by Melissa Fischer

In addition, the Cincinnati team mentions several places of greenishyellow discoloration (? sulphur oxides). The calcinated debris of the old city was strong enough to become the foundation of the new city walls of Troy III. Later on, other prominent archaeologists, who excavated sites in Near and Middle East and elsewhere, dated to the 2nd millennium Before Current Era, observed, too, the permanent destructions of settlements from Troy and Egypt to Persia, and even beyond into China. Falling of gases, hydrocarbons, burning pitch and stones are common when comets and planets come near the Earth. Such events may be unknown to modern experience but are described in ancient legends from many places in the world. 383

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The Mexican Annals of Cuauhtitlan spoke of an “age which ended in the rain of fire”. The Popul-Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayas, narrated about an endless fiery rain from the sky. The Manuscript Quiche from the people of Mexico is more detailed, as it spoke about a rain of bitumen and a sticky substance. The Papyrus Ipuwer noted that the fire almost ‘exterminated mankind’, ‘naphtha, together with hot stones, poured down upon Egypt’. Naphtha means ‘petroleum’ in Aramaic and Hebrew. Until now, archaeologists have not found any evidence than people of ancient Indus (river) civilization made glass. But there was a substance called ‘Vitreous Paste’, which had a smooth (conchoidal) fracture in various colors and contained fine spherical air bubbles. It showed a hardness of ‘6’ on Mohr’s scale. Indus faience was made by pounding vitreous paste and heating the powder for molding and coating. The naturally formed glass, which is a mixture of silica and metal oxides, occurs in three types- Obsidian (of volcanic origin), Impact glass (formed due to high pressure and temperature generated due to meteorite impacts) and the glass derived from lightning and atomic explosions (when small glass particles are formed). Researchers, who studied the ancient city of Harappa (today in Pakistan), found that many, if not all, of the faience specimens had been fired at a very considerable heat and probably for a long time. So, they looked like the quartz grains, coarse or fine, and they were thoroughly well cemented together in the faience. Many modern scientists consider this grey-ware, vitreous paste to be a vital physical evidence of past impactism. The Late Harappan Period was represented by the Cemetery H culture (1900 - 1300 Before Current Era). Experts have noticed that the technology of faience manufacture became more refined, possibly in order to compensate for the lack of raw materials such as shell, faience and possibly even carnelian. The reddish pottery, painted in black, with antelopes, peacocks, sun or star motifs, had different surface treatments to the earlier period. Other researchers claim that the Harappan culture began around 2000 years earlier than previously thought. Local legends narrated that the city of Harappa was destroyed by flood (in Punjabi, ‘harr’ means flood and ‘paa’ means place, remains). But, the falling stars, the flying birds and the mysterious objects with long tails or plumes of smoke, are usually symbols of comets fallen on Earth. They are strongly present in the iconography of the area. The area 384

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was excavated by Madho Sarup Vats from 1926 to 1934 Current Era. He revealed two distinct levels of burials, but all of which were dug into a thick layer of debris that covered the ancient land surface to the South.

Geography of the Rigveda, with river names; the extent of the Swat and Cemetery H cultures are indicated. We can, also, see the river Sarasvati. Image Credit: Dbachmann. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The demise of the site after 1900 Before Current Era (it was one of the largest urban centres of Indus Civilization), is now characterized as collapse. Intense climatic changes due to a weakened monsoon system, socio-economic upheaval and evidence of declining health (for example, cases of lepra and tuberculosis) caused increased interpersonal violence. Respectively, the whole plain in modern day Pakistan (in Larkana District, Sindh), is now an arid area known as the Thar Desert. But thousand years ago, it was a very fertile plain traversed by the great Sarasvati river. Those were the days of Mohenjo-Daro. The prehistoric city of Mohenjo Daro was among the key centres of the Indus Valley civilization, too. In fact, it is the largest and most extensively excavated Indus city in Pakistan. The ruins of the cities in the valleys of those rivers are immense. They are thought to have contained over a million people each, with a system of town planning with straight streets and rectangular blocks, as well as wide main streets like modern boulevards, and heated public baths,

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a network of canals, pipes and sewers, with inspection peepholes, and an efficient drainage system with a highly efficient piped water supply.

Excavated ruins of Mohenjo-daro, with the Great Bath in the foreground and the Buddhist Stupa in the background. Image Credit: Saqib Qayyum - Own work. CC – BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

Surprisingly, the ruins of the ancient cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa are extremely radioactive. In Mohenjo-Daro, in an epicentre 50 m. (164 feet) wide, everything was crystallised, fused or melted; 60 m. (197 feet) from the centre the bricks are melted on one side, indicating a blast. The excavations down to the street level revealed forty-four scattered skeletons, flattened to the ground. A father, mother and child were found flattened in the street, face down and still holding hands. The scientists D. Davneport and E. Vincenti proposed an amazing theory: the ancient town had been ruined with a nuclear blast; technology already known by ancient people! After thousands of years, they are still among the most radioactive human remains that have ever been found, comparing with those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Later excavations unearthed more skeletal remains in other Indus valley ruins like Harappa (‘all the bones found were discolored green, and most of them had become very hard’), Dholavira, Lothal etc., now numbered, more than three hundred... Furthermore, in the forest areas between the Indian mountains of Raj Mahal and the Ganges, the explorer De Camp came upon charred ruins, several huge masses fused together and hollowed at various points. But there is not any evidence of an instantaneous mass death, as it was in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or of any major war or invasion; in fact, 386

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some of these skeletons were buried at different ground level, pointing to different periods of time. The whole archaeological setting remains a mystery. Mahabharata Epic describes the catastrophic event of the 2nd millennium Before Current Era: brightness of the blast, column of rising smoke and fire, fallout, intense shockwaves and heat waves, appearance of the victims, effects of radiation poisoning. Mohenjo Daro, in Sindi, is analysed into two words: "mohenjo" meaning dead, and "dero" meaning place, settlement… ●●●●●● There is, also, a correlation between metallurgy and impactism: “iron, though that is the strongest substance, melts under stress of blazing fire in the mountain forests worked by handicraft of Hephaistos inside the divine earth”. Once again, the sacred knowledge came from both gods, Hephaistos and Athena. In ancient Greek mystical tradition, initially, the ‘Idaioi Daktyloi’ were an archaic race of male beings associated with the Great Mother, ancient smiths and healing magicians. They were well known in Minoan Crete, the island of Samothrace, and in Asia Minor - especially in the area of Phrygia. They were the escorts of god Hephaistos, and they had the technical skills of metallurgy in the mountainous regions that contained iron ores. They taught metal working, mathematics and the alphabet to humans (the legend reflects the changes made during the Bronze Age societies). The ancient texts distinguished between the ‘creation of iron’ and the mining activities. In Delphi, pilgrims, at the beginning, venerated an ovoid / cone stone (probably of meteoritic origin) which was believed to come from the sky god Kronos and later replaced by the famous ‘Omphalos’. Similarly, the Ephesians worshipped in the temple of Artemis, her sister goddess, “that symbol of her which fell from heaven”. And in Heliopolis / Baalbek (modern Lebanon), they venerated black conical stones. There was, also, the meteoric benben stone, in the famous Temple of the Phoenix at Heliopolis (Egypt). In Egypt, they believed that the Pharaoh could magically control celestial events. He was a fleshy god, often directly equated with a cosmic 387

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object. The Egyptians called the iron ‘the bones of Typhon’, ‘the metal from heaven’, or ‘the gift from Seth’ and meteoritic iron was known to the early dynasties. As for the Hebrew, they called it ‘nechoset’, meaning ‘dropping of the (cosmic) serpent’. Often, the meteoroid falls were soft landings. In this case, an iron ore may be formed. Similar masses of iron (ore-mountains that are evidently foreign to their surroundings) are found in Greenland, Austria, Sweden, Russia, India, North and South America, and West Australia. Tube-shaped beads excavated from grave pits at the prehistoric Gerzeh cemetery, dated approximately to 3300 Before Current Era, represent the earliest known use of iron in Egypt.

Tutankhamun’s pendant with Wadjet. The scarab was carved from desert glass. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Inventory number: JE 61884. 18th dynasty. Image Credit: Jon Bodsworth - http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/html/cairo_museum_58.html. This file was transferred from Egypt Archive website under the license Copyrighted free use. Image Source: Wikipedia

Around 30 million years ago, an impactor generated a blistering atmospheric fireball, created surface temperatures of 1800◦ C, and left behind a field of glass in the area of today’s Southwest Egypt and Southeast. The Libyan Desert Glass (LDG), also known as the Great Sand Sea Glass, is made of silica (silicon dioxide), and it is the largest known deposit 388

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of a natural silica glass on our planet (about 98% SiO2). The transparent-totranslucent pieces are clear-to-opaque white or yellow-to-green in colour, which glitter like gems in the bright desert sun. A piece of such glass had been worked out by ancient Egyptian jewel makers; the end product was the scarab pendant of the famous pharaoh Tutankhamen. Great tradition in metallurgy exists, also, in central South Asia, and especially around the Sarasvati – Sindi areas. The first metallic objects came from a burial excavated at the Neolithic site of Mehrgarh (Kachi plain, Baluchistan - Pakistan), dated to the first part of the 7th millennium Before Current Era! Hammering of unalloyed copper was the exclusive technique used to manufacture these small ornaments. Apart from Dvaraka, more than thirtyfive sites in North India gave archaeological evidence (copper utensils, iron, seals, gold and silver ornaments, terracotta discs and painted grey ware pottery), and are identified as ancient cities described in the Mahabharata. Similarly, in Kurukshetra, 160 km (99.50 mi) from new Delhi, the scene of the great Mahabharata war, iron arrows and spearheads have been excavated and dated by thermoluminence methods to 2800 Before Current Era. The earlier iron found in the archaeological sites of middle East was essentially meteorite material, sculptured as rock/stone carvings, and was not metallurgically processed at all. But it was well known in ancient India, since iron can be a by-product of copper technology. Rust-free steel was, also, an Indian invention, and remained an Indian skill for centuries. Another important Indian contribution to metallurgy was in the isolation, distillation and use of zinc.

●●●●●● As we saw, in the Sanskrit tradition, the Maruts or Marutas were violent and aggressive, they were armed with golden weapons (for example, lightning and thunderbolts), and they had iron teeth roaring like lions. They resided in the North, and ridded in golden chariots drawn by ruddy horses. Apart from their missiles, they showered, also, medicines. But, the material they rained was not ordinary water. It is described as soma, ghee, milk, honey or a liquid coloured like honey. Soma (like Greek 389

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ambrosia and Hebrew manna) was a ritual drink and had some specific characteristics: (1) today no one really knows its identity, (2) it was lost due to unknown reasons , (3) various substitutes were used by ancient people, (4) it was linked with light (jyoti) or it emitted light and came from Heaven, (5) it was an intoxicant or a hallucinogen, (6) its juice was supposed to give immortality, (7) it was a divine plant or an impact glass.

Marutas. Lintel (horizontal support across the top of a door or window). Sambor Prei Kuk S7 (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Kompong Thom, Cambodia. First half of the 7th century Current Era. Guimet Museum, Paris. Image Credit: Vassil - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

People did not drink Soma, because it was considered as harmful for human consumption; but, it is possible that supernatant water mixed with milk, honey etc. was consumed initially. Modern researchers of ancient Indian culture claim that Indra (Vedic deity in Hinduism; a guardian deity in Buddhism; the king of the highest Heaven in Janaism) was a bright comet visible in the sky from the 8th millennium Before Current Era onwards. The birth of this God and the terror that he created in the minds of people was a catastrophic event. Shortly after his birth, Indra battled and eventually slew the dragon Vritra, who concealed the Sun and imprisoned the waters. Very often, also, in the Vedic texts, the life-giving waters are compared to cows. Indra was notorious, too, for his thirst for Soma. Upon drinking it, Indra's body swelled to a gigantic size, filling Heaven and Earth. 390

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Some scientists think that soma is a climbing plant (Sarcostema viminalis or Asclepias acida), a hallucinogenic plant, an ambrosia-like herb, etc. In the Vedas it is explicitly identified with the milk of the celestial cows. Other researchers discovered that in Vedic religion honey was associated with the cult of Ashvins (divine twins, gods of medicine, sons of the sun-god Surya), the charioteer gods. Moreover, the southern central Asia worship of Indra was associated with the drink called *Sauma. It was probably prepared out of plants of the genus Ephedra sinica. Other hallucinogenic candidates for those psychoactive beverages were cannabis, a fermented alcoholic drink, Syrian rue (Peganum harmala), rhubarb, ginseng, the fly-agaric mushroom, opium and wild chicory. ●●●●●● And now, let us narrate a beautiful legend coming from ancient Greece, Phaethon’s fall on Earth. In 1927 Current Era, Franz Xaver Kugler, a Jesuit scholar who had devoted over thirty years to the study of cuneiform astronomical texts, published an essay entitled The Sibylline Starwar and Phaethon In the Light of Natural History. He claimed that a large impact event in the Mediterranean Sea inspired ancient legends such as Phaethon's ride. By chance, it was, also, in 1927 that Leonid Kulik, a Russian Scientist, located the area which was devastated by the 20 MT aerial explosion during the Tunguska event of June 30, 1908. People started to believe that this kind of fires from Heaven were true. Phaethon (meaning the “shining one”) was the son of the Oceanid nymph Clymene and the sun-god Helios. His playmates questioned that he was the real child of the Sun. Her mother told him to ask his father for confirmation. Then Phaethon, asked his father to prove the truth. Helios promised to grant him whatever he wanted. He wanted to drive, by himself alone, the chariot of his father for one day. Of course, the horses were wild, and the young man was not able to control them. When the horses climbed too high, Earth got frozen, and when they approached too much, Earth was scorched (Africa was almost turned into desert and rivers, lakes and sea were almost dried up; whole cities were burnt; peopled kingdoms turned into ashes). Zeus had no other choice but to strike him down with his

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thunderbolt. Like a falling star, Phaethon plunged blazing into the river Eridanus (one of the eighty-eight modern constellations). The closest friend of Phaethon, Cygnus (king of Liguria, Italy), profoundly mourned his death before turning into a swan by the gods. And his sisters, the seven Heliades, also mourned his loss before turning into poplar trees and their tears into amber.

Chariot of the sun-god. Helios or perhaps his son Phaethon, rises into the sky at dawn. The god is crowned with the aureole of the sun and drives a four-horse chariot of winged horses. The Astra Planeta (gods of the wandering stars) dive into the sea before him. Selene (the Moon) and Eos (the Dawn) chasing the hunter Cephalus (not shown) complete the scene. Athenian red-figure krater calyx. Around 430 Before Current Era. British Museum London. 1867,0508.1133. Beazley archive no 5967. Image Credit & Source: http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Phaethon.html

First the ancient Greek philosopher Plato deciphered the famous myth. He understood that it was a symbolization of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Star Warsâ&#x20AC;?, of periods when the cosmic order was altered bringing havoc on Earth. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed that Phaethon caused a meteor shower. In ancient Greek tradition, the Pythagoreans also believed that Phaethon was a comet. Another version of the myth can be found in the work Metamorphoses of the Latin poet Ovidius. The myth inspired many cultures and people and extended literature has been written on this. In ancient tradition, Phaethon fall was related to the Deluge of Deucalion. Homer in his famous poems did not quote Deucalion but did mention Phaethon and Lampos as visible at sunrise. Perhaps the one body Lampos 392

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crashed over Africa (Mauritania, southern Egypt?) while Phaethon spiralled towards Earth, fragmented over Arabia, entered atmosphere over eastern Mediterranean Sea, fired palaces of Minoan Crete and forests of central Europe, and finally exploded over Eider in northern Germany. Various modern scientists proposed various dates for this celestial catastrophic event: 1447, 1369, and 1159 Before Current Era. Perhaps Phaethon was one of the fragments of the initial giant comet Encke, which first appeared 20 000 years ago, approached the Earth every 1000 years or so, causing various environmental disasters. The Bronze Age years were around 1200, 2300 and 3300 Before Current Era. Perhaps the goddess Athena was the female appearance of Phaethon (Phaethoussa) like the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet (protectress of the pharaohs; her breath formed the desert; she was depicted with the head of a lioness). The devastating fire of Sekhmet torched the lands of the ninth cycle. During antiquity, our planet was divided into nine parallels, the ninth being comprised of the northern lands, such as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, North Germany and Iceland. Inscriptions and texts from the Near East civilizations referred to 'the fire -star that was wandering in the sky and then, fell on Earth, causing death and devastation'. The Egyptians during the reign of Ramesses III claimed that Sekhmet (Greek name Sachmis) disturbed the harmony of the world. According to an Egyptian myth, the god Horus, himself, was burned by the lethal fires of the goddess Sekhmet, a warrior goddess. Sekhmet was simultaneously the bringer of disease and the provider of cures to such ills. The ancient Egyptian disaster symbolism included, also, Apep (Greek name Apophis), the demon - dragon, who was born from Neith (the parallel of the Greek goddess Athena). He was the constant rival of the Sun's itinerary in Heavens. His blood turned the sky's colour into red. He was the symbol of all evil things, the personification of darkness and chaos. Other modern researchers are convinced that Phaethon was a comet. Velikovsky remembered that the planet Venus was treated as a brilliant cometary body, from ancient people. In another version of the Greek myth, Phaethon was the son of Eos (aurora) and Cephalus. He had exceptional beauty. Aphrodite stole him away, while he was no more than a child, to be the night-watchman at her most sacred shrines. So, he was, also, called the â&#x20AC;&#x153;star of Venusâ&#x20AC;?. 393

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Other scientists proposed that the planet Venus (Hesperus) was one of the fragments of the exploded planet Phaethon (being between Mars and Jupiter) by a comet from Jupiter Belt. Phaethon was related to the motif of charioteer. Auriga is a constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for 'charioteer', from the ancient Greek Heniochos. In ancient Greek tradition and until the 17th century Current Era, he was the personification of Erichthonios (< eris = strife + chthon = Earth). He was a mythical king of Athens. He was the son of Hephaistos and Athena. Athena reared this being without the knowledge of the other gods. She had him guarded by a dragon, and then entrusted him to the three daughters of the mythical king of Athens Cecrops, concealed in a chest, and forbade them to open it.

Erechtheion temple, the holiest of all Athenian temples (from the South) – Acropolis of Athens, Greece. Photo by Amanda Laoupi, September 2013. There is a strong correlation between night skies (constellation of Draco), nocturnal festivals and the chthonic cults in Athenian Acropolis. The historian Herodotus reported that the great snake (of the goddess Athena), (living at Erechtheion), guards the Acropolis and monthly receives offerings made of honey cake. But, when the snake occasionally refused to eat the cakes, this was a disastrous omen. At the time of the Persian invasion, the snake refused to eat the offering. 'And when the priestess announced this, the Athenians deserted the city the more readily because the Goddess herself had deserted the acropolis".

He invented the chariot drawn by four horses, in order to be able to travel because he was, also, ‘lame’ as his father. The lower part of his body 394

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was snake-formed. In the statue of goddess Athena, in the Parthenon temple (Athenian Acropolis), he was the snake hidden behind her shield. His daughters, too, were a constellation known as Hyades. Early Greek texts do not distinguish between him and Erectheus, his grandson, but by the 4th century Before Current Era, during Classical times, they were distinct figures. Later on, Erichthonius established the Panathenaic festival in honour of Athena. Erichthonius was associated with Bellerefon (the dragon slayer), Phaethon and Absyrthe (known also as Apsurtos). Bellerophon, a great hero, had tamed Pegasus, the winged horse (horses were symbols of comets), and killed the dragon fire-breathing Chimaera. Chimera was a monster, which combined various animals, such as the lion, the she-goat and the snake. Her sight was an omen for disaster.

Chimera. Apulian red-figure dish, ca. 350-340 BC. Louvre Museum, Paris. Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Sully, 1st floor, room 44. Campana Collection, 1861. K 362. Image Credit: Lampas Group - Jastrow (2006). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

So, Erichthonius, Bellerophon and Phaethon were the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cosmic charioteersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Deucalion was the son of Prometheus, the creator of mankind, while Pyrrha was the daughter of Pandora, the first woman. Ancient Greeks believed that Zeus, pretending that he wanted to put out the fire caused by Phaethon, let loose the rivers everywhere, and all humans perished except Deucalion and Pyrrha. The mythographer Apollodorus wrote that Zeus 395

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wished to destroy the men of the Bronze Age. The devastating waves of the flood were ordered back by Triton's blowing the conch. The conch had been used by Aigokeros (Capricorn, the goatfish), constellation who ruled the winter solstice in the world-age when Aries ‘carried’ the sun. Aquarius was called ‘Deucalion’ in Astronomy. In ancient Athens, he was, also, called ‘Cecrops’. He was born from the Earth itself; he had his top half shaped like a man and the bottom half in serpent or fish-tail form. Thus, the charioteer (Phaethon / Erichthonius) and water-bearer (Deucalion / Cecrops) were strongly related, too. According to the Parian Chronicle, or Parian Marble (= inscribed stele from the Greek island of Paros, with a chronology of ancient events), Cecrops reined between 1581/0-1531 Before Current Era, and Erichthonius between 1422-1372 Before Current Era, respectively. In Indian mythology, the lame Aruna (or Arun) was the charioteer of Surya (the Sun) in his chariot, drawn by four horses. In Graeco-Babylonian times, the constellation of Auriga was called “Rukubi” meaning the Chariot. A Turkish planisphere shows Auriga's stars depicted as a Mule. In Norse mythology, Surt (from the Old Norse, meaning black or the black one) is found in the Poetic and Prose Edda. In both sources, Surt would be a major figure during the events of Ragnarök (a series of future events like the prophesized Armageddon); carrying his bright sword, he will go to battle and afterward the flames that he brings forth will engulf the Earth. He comes from the South, and he is mentioned as having a female companion. ●●●●●● In all the cultures of the world, many spirits/ creatures/gods and goddesses represented cosmic forces, natural disasters and hazardous phenomena. As we saw, Phaethon is a breath-taking myth. His parallel in the West was Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent). The Annals of Cuauhtitlan (they record the pre-Cortésian history and mythology of the Valley of Mexico) narrate that how he burnt himself - as a sacrifice - on the shores of the eastern sea, and from his ashes raised birds with shining feathers (symbols of warrior souls mounting to the Sun, or meteor debris), while his heart became the Morning Star! Tezcatlipoca, his enemy, had defeated Quetzalcoatl in ball- play (a game that symbolized directly the movements 396

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of the heavenly orbs), and casted him out of the land into the East, where he encountered the Sun and got burned. His planet symbol was Venus. He represented the morning star (‘lord of the star of the dawn’), while his brother Xolotl represented the evening star. His animal symbol was the snake. He was known as the inventor of the books and the calendar, as a god of wisdom. He symbolized, also, the death and the resurrection. Initially, this bird unfit to fly was associated with the meteor bombardment from comet Encke, because, until recently, scientists believed that this comet was the sole source for the Taurid meteors. However, other large contributors (once active comets) are now, also, possible candidates.

Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent deity, as depicted in the 16th century Current Era Codex Telleriano-Remensis. The Legend of the Five Suns is a corpus (ancient texts, calendars, oral traditions, pictographs on stone) of Creation Myths, describing the doctrine of the Aztec and other Nahua peoples. The present world was preceded by four other cycles of creation and destruction. This cycle couldn't continue for ever; there would only be five ages or ‘Suns’, each of them having its own name, sign and ruling divinity. It comprises the mythological, cosmological and eschatological beliefs and traditions of earlier cultures from Central Mexico and the Mesoamerican region in general. Image Credit: Unknown - http://www.crystalinks.com/quetzalcoatl.html. This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. Image source: Wikipedia

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The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl was known primarily, as a boundary maker (and transgressor) between Earth and Sky, a creator deity who had contributed essentially to the creation of humankind and of the Fifth Sun. That’s why his symbolization was widely used in shamanic rituals and visions of the Underworld. He had an essential cross- culture character, ranging from demon to mythical deity or to a European foreigner coming to Mesoamerica. The first culture, which used the symbol of a feathered serpent as an important religious and political symbol, was Teotihuacan. The Maya equivalent of Quetzalcoatl was Kukulkan (from the words ‘kukul’ meaning feathered, and ‘kan/chon’ meaning snake). This serpent deity related to the sky, the planet Venus, the creation, the war and the fertility, was prominent in Mesoamerica, as god of culture and civilization.

Kukulkan at Chichen Itza during the Vernal Equinox. The famous descent of the snake (as a shadow of Sun’s light on the pyramid). March 2009. Image Credit: ATSZ56 - Own work. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The royal authority symbols of Sun and Venus were adopted by the hierarchical states in the pre-Classical Maya period. But, Kukulkan was a post-Classical deity. He was illustrated in the Venus pages of the Dresden Codex, which was compiled in the post-Classical period, probably after 1200 Current Era. Six pages of the Dresden Codex and a plethora of inscriptions were devoted to planet Venus, the two-headed Maya ‘cosmic monster’, showing Venus deities armed with spears to pierce their victims. According to Popol Vuh manuscript, which describes the Maya mythology, Huracan (‘one-legged’), a wind-fire-storm god, who lived in the 398

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windy mists above the floodwaters, caused the Great Flood after the second generation of humans angered the gods. Only four men and four women survived repopulating the Quiche world. He was, also, one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. We will learn more about the Mesoamerican legend of the Five Suns, in the following chapter.

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19. THE END OF THE WORLD Death and Rebirth as cosmic, environmental and social phenomena ruled human lives, fates and civilizations. These two topics are the most intimate and sacred agonies of the human soul and spirit. The word ‘Utopia’ (from the Greek οὐ-τόποι, no-where), coined by Thomas More, usually has an ‘illusory,’ ‘imaginary,’ ‘idealistic’ or ‘visionary’ meaning. The first natural / social myths were made to explain about creation of the world and primal creatures. Euhemerus (a late 4th century Before Current Era Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, king of Macedon), in his main work, Sacred History, claimed to have travelled to a group of islands in the waters off Arabia. Panchaea, one of these islands, was home to a utopian society made up of several different ethnic tribes. There, the births and deaths of many of the gods were inscribed on a golden pillar in a temple of Zeus Triphylius. The main cult was the Sun cult; it was a ‘Sun state’. In fact, some ancient writers mentioned that Arabia was not the deserted hot land of the South (Asian Arabia), but the area of the North, between Aimos peninsula and the Black Sea (Carpathians – Istru – Euxine Pontus), where absinth meadows existed all over the vast plains . Other legendary idealized society were the Hyperboreans, of the Scythian philosopher-traveller Anacharsis, and the Meropes of Theopompus (ancient Greek historian and rhetorician) as a parody of Plato’s Atlantis. There were, also, the exotic seven tropical isles of the Sun described by Iambulus (ancient Greek merchant), as well as the perfect and paradigmatic society as, described in the last part of Heliodorus’ (ancient Greek writer) Aethiopica. The most famous account of antiquity is, nevertheless, Atlantis (the island of Atlas) of Plato. Ιt has generated thousands of written works, research projects, expeditions and various controversies throughout the world and through the centuries. Since then, researchers and scientists have claimed that they had spotted it in many places of the world (for example, in Caribbean, Indian Ocean, eastern Atlantic, and North Europe, under the Mediterranean Sea or even under the sands of Sahara). 400

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In his dialogues, Timaeus and Critias, Plato described a prosperous island that had a very developed civilization and technocracy, somewhere beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Its protector god was Poseidon, the lord of the Sea. But its inhabitants, gradually, became disrespected to the gods. Then disasters stroke with violent earthquakes and floods, and the island finally submerged into the Atlantic Ocean. Plato, who wanted, also, to teach his compatriots about the ideal republic, he tried to incorporate political messages in the legend. Plato claimed that the narration was based on the words of Solon (famous Athenian lawmaker, statesman and poet; his reforms lead to the Athenian democracy), who had a similar discussion with Egyptian priests in the land of the pharaohs. He spoke about ancient disasters which were following periodic patterns and great catastrophes, such the deluge of Deucalion and the celestial ride of Phaethon.

A fragment of Atlantis by Hellanicus of Lesbos (ancient Greek historiographer and chronicler). P.Oxy. VIII 1084. Image Credit: Unknown Image:POxy1084_Hellanicus_Atlantis.jpg (APIS Project). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The author of this book considers Atlantis as one of the leading worldwide disaster mythical cycles with various interpretations. In fact, the worldwide legend of Atlantis is a multi-layered 'anthropological' myth, with 401

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strong cross-cultural parallels, that echoes humanity's experiences on mega-archaeodisasters, expressed in different symbolic languages. So, in this point of view, Atlantis as described by Plato may have not existed exactly as a whole. But it had hidden information of different origin (chronological, topographic, environmental, archaeological, astronomical, etc), like the Homeric Epics and other famous literature of the ancient world. According to the Hindu myth of Manidvipa, the Hindu trio, Shiva, Shava and Shakti (Kali), are often depicted fleeing their destroyed world, the ‘Island of the Jewels’ (Manidvipa), as the sole survivors. The island was situated in the middle of an ocean called the Sudhā Samudra (The Ocean of Nectar). Trimurti is the triple deity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, because it personifies the triple cosmic energy of the Universe: creation – maintenance – destruction, in one triad. The white colour symbolizes Brahma (creation), black or blue symbolizes Vishnu /Krishna (preservation) and red symbolizes Shiva (destruction). Perhaps, this is an allegory of the survived three races (red, white and black). In Indian mystical symbolism, the Dravidian races (Kshatryas or Warriors) adopted reds for their heraldic colour (symbol of blood, gold and copper, the ruddy metals) while the Brahmans adopting white or silver. Generally speaking, the devils (asuras) are black and the gods are white. In the epic poem Mahabharata, Tripura was the Triple City built in a concentric cyclic way; they were three cities of prosperity, power and dominance over the world. They were made by the Asura architect Mayasura. The three cities were made of iron, silver and gold and were located on Earth, in the Sky and in Heaven, respectively. Unfortunately, their inhabitants got impious, and gods punished them with annihilation by fire. During the war between the Devas (angels) and the Asuras (demons) Tripura is sent burning to the bottom of the 'West Ocean' by Lord Shiva.

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Trimurti, painting from Andhra Pradesh. Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma (from right). From the Story of the Sages Markandeya and Bhavana, circa 1850-1900. Painting; Watercolor, Opaque watercolor on cloth, 22 x 34 1/2 in. (55.88 x 87.63 cm). Made in: India, Andhra Pradesh from LACMA Public Domain in USA and worldwide. Image Source: Wikipedia

Atala (the white island or sveta dwipa) was one of the seven dwipas (islands = symbolic realms) belonging to Patala (in Sanskrit mythology and astronomical texts, it represented the Netherworld or the South Hemisphere). Ancient Hindu texts located Atala in the 7th climatic zone. The inhabitants of the white island were devoted to Narayana (another name of Vishnu the preserver), they believed and worshipped only one god. He had the divine blue colour of water-filled clouds. The translator of Surya Siddhanta, an ancient Sanskrit text on astronomy mentioned an 'island' (dwipa), called Jambu Dwipa, surrounded by rings of alternating land and water (exactly like the description of Atlantis by Plato). The Dravidian traditions, too, spoke of a vast sunken land known as Rutas, located in the southeastern part of India. The Dravidas, the later Indian caste of Kshatryias (Warriors), whose heraldic colour is red, claimed to have moved to India from that land, once sunk under the sea, during a great cataclysm. The name of the sunken land probably derives from the Sanskrit word â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;radix rudhâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (red) and the Dravidian word "ruta" (to be red, to burn). Archaeological evidence in central Asia continues the memory of the concentric cities and its symbolization. The Tantric mandala (from the Sanskrit word meaning circle), is a spiritual and ritual symbol. It represents 403

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the ritual ‘palace’ of the god or goddess, which is paramount in the Hindu cult. Its meaning has three levels: the outer, the inner and the secret. It can be symbolized by the wheel, the lotus or the bell.

Examples of mandala. Image Credit: CC0. Image Source: Pixabay. In the disaster psychology of ancient people, it was not unusual for a destroyed or sunken land like Atala, to re-emerge in later religion as a ‘land of the departed’ (either hell or paradise). Take as example, among the Egyptians, Amentet or Imentet (Land of the West) eventually symbolized the ‘realm of the dead’. She was a goddess (meaning She of the West) and wife of the god Aken (the ferryman of the dead). ●●●●●● All ancient cosmologies examined the concept of Time, as well as the idea of birth, catastrophe and rebirth of the wolrd. And all of them agreed on the following: humanity has decayed from an earlier age of bliss. When the three great astronomical cycles— of the Milky Way, the Ecliptic, and the Equator—coincided at the Vernal Equinox, the World was in its right shape and humans lived in a state of eternal spring. The three Gorgons (meaning “pivot”?) were standing at that point, where the three circles of the Cosmos used to meet. But the ancient Greeks claimed that two of the Gorgon sister were immortal and one, Medusa, was mortal, because by their times, the Milky

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Way met no longer at the same point with the Ecliptic and with the Equator. Thus, there should be a great cycle, both cosmological and planetary. When its elements change, human societies and human consciousness change too, entering a different level of existence. The ‘Great Year’ of the Precession (also known as the Platonic Year, after the ancient Greek philosopher Plato who talked about it) is computed by the round figure of 26 (25 776 years). Thus, the happy state of mankind existed 6000 year before the Age of Pisces. Today, NASA defines the term: “The period of one complete cycle of the equinoxes around the ecliptic, about 25 800 years”. But, according to the Platonic Cosmology, there is also a SupraCelestial Sun, a Central Sun, identified with the galactic center. The Galactic Coordinate System has been established in 1958 by the International Astronomical Union. It is a spherical coordinate system with the Galactic Plane as the Equator, where Galactic Latitude is the angle above or below this plane, and Galactic Longitude is measured along a line running through the Milky Way using 0◦ for the Galactic Centre in Sagittarius.

Approximate orbit of the Sun (yellow circle) around the Galactic Centre. Image Credit: Milky_Way_2005.jpg: R. Hurt derivative work: Cmglee (talk) Milky_Way_2005.jpg. Artist's conception of the Milky Way galaxy as seen from far Galactic North (in Coma Berenices) by NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt [2] annotated with arms (colour-coded according to Milky Way article) as well as distances from the Solar System and galactic longitude with corresponding constellation. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. 405

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The Galactic or Cosmic Year is the time it takes Earth's solar system to revolve once around the galactic centre, ranging from 225 to 250 million Earth years! When we look up to the constellation of Sagittarius, who, with its arrow aims directly at the galactic centre (located at 2° Sagittarius), we can locate an extraordinarily intensive point of infra-red light recently discovered. This is the actual centre of our Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A*. It is an energy source, approximately 50 light years in diameter, some 25 000 light years from our solar system, about 500 million times more powerful than our Sun. The Stoics (philosophers who followed the Stoicism during the Hellenistic Era) even come to explain the Milky Way as the itinerary of the souls of the dead, who travel between the Heavens and Earth. Dante, in his The Divine Comedy, wrote that all the stars that we see in the heavens are Suns, like our Sun; all of them rotate slowly in a clockwise direction around the Central Sun, "Like a wheel that is evenly moved by the love that moves the Sun and the other stars". Our solar system, also, seems to bounce up and down the Galactic Plane, passing through it every thirty-five to forty million years. When this happens, the impact risk gets ten-fold for our planet to suffer from cosmic invaders. Another relationship between cosmic and human change, found in ancient cultures, is the following. Egyptians greatly celebrated their New Year’s Day, which coincided with the reappearance of the beautiful goddess Sothis (= the famous Sirius’ heliacal rising) after seventy days of invisibility (the solemn ceremonies of mummification lasted for seventy days too) and the beneficent annual flooding of River Nile. It functions as the basis of Egyptian chronology (ascensions of pharaohs), and it is the only method that allows modern scientists to date ancient events down to the year. Moreover, decans (= time division of the ‘twelve’ hours from sunset to dawn using the rising of the brightest stars) of Sirius and the stars of Orion Belt are the only decans that Egyptologists have safely identified. Consequently, the beginning of the year in Egypt, as it was later in Classical Athens, is not in Aquarius as among the Romans, but Cancer, for the star Sothis (Sirius) borders on Cancer. When this star was rising, they used to celebrate the calends of the month and the beginning of their year. So, this is the place of the Heavens where generation commences (birth). 406

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On the other hand, the doors of the Homeric cavern, are not dedicated to the East and West, nor to the equinoctial signs (Aries and Libra), but to the North and South, to those ports or celestial signs which are the nearest of all to these quarters of the world (the two platonic ‘gates’ : Cancer / Moon = the gate through which souls descend on Earth = birth and Capricorn / Saturn = the gate through which souls ascend = death). Consequently, the sacred cave described by Homer, was sacred to Nymphs (immortal souls of beings), because it had the two gates of the Sun. Plato, referred to repeated cycles of catastrophes; all the ages were included in the AION; its symbol was the Ouroboros (= the self-sustaining, tail-eating snake / dragon). It symbolized: (1) the returning cyclical nature of the seasons, (2) the oscillations of the night sky, (3) the self-fecundation, (4) the disintegration and re-integration, (5) the complete truth and cognition, (6) the Androgyne,( (7) the primeval waters before the spark of creation, (8) the Totality / the primordial unity / the self-sufficiency, (9) the idea of the beginning and the end ('My end is my beginning'),and (10) the half-light and half-dark (like the symbol of the Chinese Yin-Yang). It was a Jungian archetype and the ultimate symbol for the life-cycle philosophy all over the world. The infinite energy of the Ouroboros means in fact the creation and recreation of energy, the eternal present or the eternal return, the inner ‘sun’, even the spiritual travel, without ‘moving’, from one reality to another. Python cult (known also as the cosmic rainbow snake) was amongst the most pristine Palaeolithic cults, as evidence suggests. The Ouroboros is a cosmovisional idea; it includes the catastrophe and the periodicity both in Universe and human civilizations, and the eschatological symbolism. It, it was already present in Chaldean Astronomy (related to the lunar nodes and the eclipses), because the North Pole of Moon’s orbital plane around the Earth, lies in the constellation of Draco.

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Illustration from an ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscript showing the god Set spearing the serpent Apep (demon snake) as he attacks the sun boat of Ra. Image Credit: An unknown workman - Egyptian Museum, Cairo. http://socyberty.com/history/the-history-of-the-evil-god-apep/. Public Domain in USA and Worldwide. Image Source: Wikipedia

Of all the monsters of the world, the dragon is the most universal, because it is related to chaos and disaster, as well as to the processes of fertility and rebirth, and the revolutions of the Cosmos. The ancient Greek symbol of Caduceus (the staff carried by the god Hermes), the Egyptian Uraeus (representation of the sacred serpent, emblem of supreme power, worn on the headdresses of deities and pharaohs) and the Hinduistic Kundalini (form of primal energy; electric current running along our spine; bliss and enlightment) had, also, serpents as their strong symbols. Ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, Greeks and Maya thought that the Time is cyclic. Firstly, there was the legendary commission of the Emperor Yao in 2357 Before Current Era, to set the seasons by particular stars.

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A Han-dynasty pottery tile emblematically representing the five cardinal directions. Image Credit: Guillaume Jacquet - Own work. A pottery tile of the Han Dynasty, depicting hunting and battle scenes containing emblematic figures of the "five cardinal directions" (more precisely, the "five squares", äş&#x201D;ć&#x2013;š, i.e. the four cardinal directions - N S E W -, plus the center). The five sacred mountains of China were also associated with these "5 cardinal directions". Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France. A description of this item can be found e.g. in Chinese Mythology by Anthony Christie. CC BY.SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

But, the outstanding Chinese astronomy scholar and planetarium director Julius Staal (1917-1986 Current Era), claimed that the Chinese idea of the Four Beasts or the Four Symbols probably dates to 15 600 Before Current Era! The heart of the Blue Dragon is Antares (in the constellation of Scorpio), the heliacal rising of which marked the spring equinox in 15 500 Before Current Era. The figure of the dragon reaching for a pearl is a very important Chinese symbol, representing the full Moon caught in the horns of the Blue Dragon. We have, also, archaeological evidence, dated to the Neolithic Period, around 6000 years ago. It is one burial (tomb M45), found in 1987 in a Neolithic site in Puyang (Henan, China). Inside the tomb, a tall adult male (thought to be a shaman by some archaeologists) and three young children had been found. The tomb included mosaics formed from white clam shells, depicting a tiger, a dragon and the Big Dipper, too. In brief, there were four huge constellations, roughly centred on the celestial Equator: the Blue Dragon (TSHANG-LUNG: western constellations 409

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known as Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius), the Red Bird (TCHOU-NIAO: western constellations known as Gemini, Cancer, Hydra, Crater and Corvus), the White Tiger (PAI-HOU: western constellations known as Andromeda, Aries, Taurus and Orion), and the Black Tortoise (HIOUENWOU: western constellations known as Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pegasus). The Blue Dragon of the Spring (East) represents Wood, the Red Bird of the Summer (South) represents Fire, the White Tiger of the Autumn (West) represents Metal, and the Black Tortoise of the Winter (North) represents Water. The Yellow Dragon of the Center represents the Earth. Each beast had its seasonal palace, the Blue Dragon its Spring Palace, the Red Bird its Summer Palace, the White Tiger its Autumn Palace, and the Black Tortoise its Winter Place. Each of these beasts, included seven sections (Houses or Mansions), which roughly define the path of the Moon. Even though these Four Beasts were not created to show the path of the Sun, the space covered by them in the sky, included the Ecliptic, since the house sections identified the Moon’s path, and the Moon’s path includes the Ecliptic. Other mystical archetypes of Death and Rebirth are found in all the ancient cultures. One common motif is the soul bird (phoenix) which revives from its own ashes. Another motif is the resurrection issue, for example the myths of Osiris / Isis, Ades / Persephone and Adonis / Aphrodite. Nature dies and lives in perpetual cycles. Cosmos, as contrasted to Chaos, was the Universe considered as a harmonious and orderly system, in several Mediterranean religions. Under this perspective, the Cosmos was a complex system of relationships between gods, humans, political entities, ancestors, and others. Especially, Hesiod, and later, Plato and Ovid, narrated the Ages of Man: the Golden (within the rule of Kronos), the Silver (within the rule of Zeus), the Bronze (came to an end with the flood of Deucalion, who ruled the Pelasgian land), the Heroic (heroes and demigods who fought in Thebes and Troy) and the Iron Ages (“the gods will have completely forsaken humanity"). We are the creation of Prometheus, when this Titan shaped man out of mud, and goddess Athena breathed life into his clay figure; Pandora was the first mortal woman of the Fifth Age. God Hephaistos made haste, mixing Earth with Water, and put in it the voice and strength of

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humankind, fashioning a sweet, lovely maiden-shape, alike to the immortal goddesses; this was the revenge of Zeus towards impetuous men.

The Golden Age by Lucas Cranach the Elder, around 1530 Current Era. Alte Pinakothek, München. Image Credit: This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. Image source: WikiArt

In the Calendar Year of the Ages of the Zodiac, the First Age of Leo dawned on the Vernal Equinox of the North Hemisphere, on June 21, 10 948 Before Current Era. Other scientists claim that the Great Year started in 10 909 Before Current Era, when the centre of the Milky Way Galactic Plane was culminated northerly on Vernal Equinox sunrise (the Giza pyramids marked also this astronomical event). This Precession of the Ages of the Zodiac is based on the fixed cross of the four zodiac signs: Leo/Lion – Taurus /Bull – Aquarius/Man – Scorpio/Eagle. A revolution through the heavens in twelve 30-degree segments can take one year, or, in the case of Precession of the Ages of the Zodiac, around 26 000 years (thus, the sky is divided into twelve constellations; each zodiac moves 1° on the horizon every seventy two years). A further division into 15° segments creates the 24-hour day. Within this Great Year are four Seasons, which are defined by the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter Equinoxes and Solstices, respectively; within each Season, are three Ages, comprising a 90° right-angle like a setsquare, one fourth part of the circle (for example, within the Zodiacal 411

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Season of Aquarius there are the three Ages of Aquarius /Man, Capricorn /the Sea Goat and Sagittarius /the Archer). Similar concepts can be found in the religious and philosophical traditions of the South Asian subcontinent, too. In the Vedic or ancient Hindu culture, Yugas are the main theosophical and cosmological pattern. History is viewed as cyclical, composed of Yugas with alternating Dark and Golden Ages. Life in the Universe is created and destroyed once every 4.1 to 8.2 billion years. This huge amount of time symbolizes only one full day (day and night) for the god Brahma, whose lifetime may be 311 trillion and 40 billion years! Brahma is the creation god in Hinduism. He is self-born. He has four faces. Although he was revered in ancient texts, he is rarely worshiped as a primary deity in modern India. He is the consort of Saraswati. In the later years, Brahma is a deity, but the Ultimate Existence of Universe is called Brahman.

Brahma Indian, Pahari, about 1700 Probably Nurpur, Punjab Hills, Northern India Dimensions Overall: 14 x 9.8 cm (5 1/2 x 3 7/8 in.) Image: 13.4 x 8.8 cm (5 1/4 x 3 7/16 in.) Medium or Technique Opaque watercolor on paper Classification Paintings. Image Credit: Probably Nurpur, Punjab Hills, Northern India http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/brahma-149171. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

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The seasonal fluctuations are a small reflection of the great cycles, because each Yuga includes stages or gradual changes, during which the Earth and the consciousness of mankind alter. A complete Yuga cycle is caused by our solar system's motion around another star. These four ages last 4.32 for million years each: Satya Yuga lasts for 1.728 million years; Treta Yuga lasts for 1.296 million years; Dwapara Yuga lasts for 864 000 years; Kali-Yuga lasts for 432 000 years. Our present time is a Kali Yuga, which started at 3102 Before Current Era with the end of the Kurukshetra War (or Mahabharata War). These four Yugas make up a Maha Yuga (known also as Catur Yuga, or a Divya Yuga). 1000 Maha Yugas taken together, equals one day of Brahma or 4.32 billion years. Brahmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s night is of an equal length which is also 4.32 billion years. Taken together Brahmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day and night, are 8.64 billion years in total. Brahma lives for 36 000 "Brahma days". After his death there is an equivalent period of 311 trillion and 40 billion years, when the Universe is unmanifested. Then, a new Brahma is born, and the cycle starts all over again. These are the innumerable cycles in the Vedic Universe. Other modern researchers give to each yuga different duration: Satya Yuga lasts for 4800 years; Treta Yuga lasts for 3600 years; Dwapara Yuga lasts for 2400 years; Kali Yuga lasts for 1200 years, a total of 12 000 years for one arc, or 24 000 years to complete the cycle, almost one Precession of the Equinox. According to Brahma Kumaris (a new religious movement of the 20th century Current Era), the cycle repeats identically every 5000 years, and it is composed of five ages: the Golden Age (Sat Yuga), the Silver Age (Treta Yuga), the Copper Age (Dwapar Yuga), the Iron Age (Kali Yuga) each exactly 1250 years long, and the Confluence Age (Sangam Yuga = meeting age). According to Hinduism, Time is responsible for our suffering because it put us under the laws of Karma (= in Sanskrit, means action, work or deed; the spiritual principle of cause and effect; intent and actions of an individual impact on the future of that individual). Time is not linear, but cyclical; the process of creation itself has both the phases of involution and evolution, as a never-ending process. Each time cycle has three phases, beginning, middle and end, followed by a period of rest.

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Creation ends when God withdraws all [His/Her] energies into [Himself/Herself] and rests them in a state of inactivity. Then, [He/She] commences a new cycle of creation, by activating [His/Her] dynamic energy and releasing the souls into its custody to manifest things and beings. During the Age of Truth, humans led very pure lives adhering to truth. As everything was transparent and visible, there was nothing to conceal, and their physical bodies were much lighter and less dense than the bodies of today. They radiated light, free from the common vices, namely sexual desire, anger, pride, greed and envy. Although those embodied beings were subject to the cycle of births and deaths, they lived longer for hundreds or even thousands of years, because their subtle bodies lasted longer and suffered much less wear and tear. Gradually, as rajas (pride) and tamas (ignorance) became active in many humans, they lost contact with their bliss body, and become vulnerable to the pairs of opposites and the experience of suffering. Decline in the moral standards, and the increase in the impurities of egoism, ignorance and delusion, were the main characteristics of the second age. During the third age, humans lost most of their purity (sattva), and their bodies became physically denser and sensually more outgoing. Thus, people were conscious only of their three outer bodies, the breath body, the mental body and the physical body (food body) and become more materialistic, competitive and ambitious. During the fourth age (like the one we experience nowadays), the mind became attached to the sense objects and purity (sattva) disappeared. We are aware only of our physical and mental bodies, having lost contact with our inner bodies, even though we know the limitations of our sensory knowledge. The descent of the soul (consciousness) into the matter has been now completed and a new cycle is about to begin. Finally, there is the Kalachakra tradition. The term is usually referred to a very complex, esoteric and advanced esoteric teaching and practice in Tibetan Buddhism. It revolves around the concept of time and cycles, from the cosmic cycles of the planets, to the cycles of human breathing. It teaches us the practice of working with the most subtle energies within our bodies on the path to Enlightenment. It is a Sanskrit term used in Tantric Buddhism, literally meaning the ‘time-wheel’ or ‘time-cycles’, which is /are without beginning or end.

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This spiritual system is equally accepted by the Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas, Hindus, Jainas and Buddhists, and is related to the ancient Vedic tradition. ●●●●●● Finally, the most famous of all Aztec and other Nahua people legends is the Creation myth of the ‘Five Suns’. The pivotal theme (there are variations and alternative myths, too) was that the Cosmos goes through a series of deaths and rebirths. The myth has survived in pictographs painted or carved on stone, in texts of ancient Mexico and scattered oral traditions kept by the distant descendants of the Aztecs. The primary source for Aztec mythology is the Codex Chimalpopoca. In brief, five was a sacred number amongst Aztecs, because it symbolizes the five directions. These directions were the four cardinal points (cosmological directions) plus the centre. The centre was understood to be the star cluster of the Pleiades or the conjunction of Sun/Pleiades in their zenith in the ‘heart of the sky’. This motif was embodied in the Mayan pyramid of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza.

An Aztec Sun Stone (also known as Aztec Calendar Stone). The original is a late post-classic Mexica sculpture housed in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, and is perhaps the most famous work of Aztec sculpture. The monolith was curved between 1250 and 1521 Current Era. Image Credit: CCO. Image Source: Pixabay

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The first creator of the Universe, Ometeotl, symbolized the duality in the unified energy. He/she gave birth to four children, the four Tezcatlipocas, who preside over each one of the four cardinal directions. The White Tezcatlipoca (the dragon), Quetzalcoatl, the god of light, mercy and wind, presides over the East. The Blue Tezcatlipoca (the Vulture), Huitzilopochtli, the god of war presides over the South. The Red Tezcatlipoca (the Eagle), Xipe Totec, the god of gold, farming and spring time, presides over the West. The Black Tezcatlipoca (the Jaguar), ruling over the Earth, night, sorcery, and judgment, presides over the North. The Plumed Serpent was portrayed as a man with a black sun within a yellow sun, with four black rays moving out of four yellow rays (death and fecundity as well). According to some authors, these sets of four rays symbolize the four cardinal points and the four quarters, the annual rotation of the Heavens, and the universal rulership portrayed in the great dance called 'Mitotiliztli', which reproduces the appearance of a wheel. During the Nahui-Ocelotl (Jaguar Sun), the inhabitants of the Earth were giants; this world came to an end when the Sun fell from the sky and set the world ablaze, with no light, the remaining people were devoured by jaguars. Tezcatlipoca (smoking mirror) was the first god to be a Sun (planet Venus of the evening). The natural replacement was Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent), who became the next Sun (Venus of the morning). During the Nahui-EhĂŠcatl (Wind Sun), a great hurricane raged across the land and blew the people off the face of the world; only few people survived by being changed into monkeys and scattering themselves in the forests and mountains. During Nahui-Quiahuitl (Rain Sun), presided by Tlaloc, a god of rain, humans were destroyed when fire and gravel rained down from the sky and set the land ablaze, only birds survived (or inhabitants survived by becoming birds). During Nahui-Atl (Water Sun), the gods created humans from ashes and gave them acorns for food; this world was flooded turning the inhabitants into fish, only a couple escaped but were transformed into dogs. Then, the Aztec Sun goddess and Tlaloc's sister, Chalchiuhtlicue (lady of the jade skirts, lakes and streams), presided. But Quetzalcoatl would not accept the destruction of his people and went to the underworld, where he stole their bones from the god Mictlantecuhtli. He dipped these bones in his own blood to resurrect his 416

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people, who reopened their eyes to a sky illuminated by the current sun, Huitzilopochtli. The final fifth world, Nahui-Ollin (the four Movement or Earthquake Sun) this world, our world, was put into movement when gods sacrificed their blood to provide him with the energy for it; when the Sun no longer receives enough blood to continue his course, this world, governed by two luminaries, Nanauatl (or Nanauatzin) the Sun, and Tecciztecatl the Moon, will be destroyed by earthquakes. According to the Aztec sunstones, 20 800 years have passed and the final fifth age of 5200 years is about to complete the current Precession cycle. On the contrary, the Popul Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya of Guatemala, refers to just three world ages. The gods Tepeu (or Huracan) and Gucumatz were the creators/protectors of the First Age, peopling Earth with animals and then trying to create human beings from mud. However, the mud dried, humans crumbled to dust, and were washed away by the waters of a flood. The gods, then, created men from wood and women from rushes, but this new race of humans lacked the intelligence to communicate with the gods and became wicked. So, the storm god Huracan stirred up a great flood loosing monsters to devour the humans who had escaped the flood, although some survived to become monkeys. Humans of the Third Age are characterized by greater intelligence; they are created from maize dough. Maya people believed, too, in the cosmic wheel and cyclic catastrophes. The world was conceived as a system of colour symbolism: red for the East, white for the North, black for the West and yellow for the South. Each successive year followed the same rotation according to the day with which it began, the Kan years ascribed to the East, the Muluc years to the North, the Ix years to the West and the Cauac years to the South, as shown by the calendar wheel of the Book of Chilam Balam of Ixil. In addition, the gods set up the four Trees of Abundance at the cardinal points to commemorate the previous destruction of the world. In 2010, an amazing archaeological discovery took place under the dense vegetation of the rain forest in Guatemala's Peten region. Probably the house of a scribe with connections to the Maya king or royal family of XultĂşn, included three walls adorned with paintings. Some of them were apparently representing the various calendrical cycles charted by the Maya, such as the 260-day ceremonial calendar (Tzolk'in), the 365-day solar 417

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calendar (Haab), the 584-day cycle of the planet Venus (either 580 or 588) and the 780-day cycle of planet Mars. Four long numbers on the wall seem to represent all of the astronomical cycles, such as those of Mars, Venus and the lunar eclipses, extending about 7000 years into the future! An 819-day count is, also, attested in a few inscriptions from other Maya sources, as well as, repeating sets of 9-day (‘nine lords of the night’) and 13-day intervals associated with different groups of deities, animals, and other significant concepts. This system of calendars was widely used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and in many modern communities of Guatemala and Mexico.

East side of stela C, Quirigua with mythical creation date in 13 (or 0) baktun, 0 katun, 0 tun, 0 uinal, 0 kin, 4 Ahau and 8 Cumku and corresponds to August 11, 3114 Before Current Era (the date of the creation of our world) in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or to September 6, in the Julian Calendar (it was proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 Before Current Era). Scholars extend the Gregorian Calendar backwards to dates preceding its introduction in 1582 Current Era (by ISO 8601:2004 - clause 4.3.2.1 The Gregorian calendar). Image Credit: Maudslay - Cyrus Thomas (1904) Mayan calendar Systems II. Public Domain in USA and worldwide. Image Source” Wikipedia

Haab had 18 months with 20 days in each month; the 19th month called ‘Vayeb’, it had 5 days, considered extremely unlucky. The lunar Tzolk'in symbolized the length of human pregnancy, and it was based on 418

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the movement of the constellation Pleiades, seen as the tail of a rattlesnake called ‘Tz'ab’. The revolution of the Sun around the Pleiades last 25 770 years, a Great Year! This calendar needs adjustment only one day every 380 000 years! Even more, two tzolkin years were used as an astronomical calendar unit to calculate the three eclipses that happen during them. Thus, it was a synchronized ‘cosmic’ clock that put together the cycles of the Universe to Earth’s reality and to the human biological cycle. The synchronization of Tzolk'in and Haab gave the Calendar Round, which repeats every fifty two solar years or 18 980 days. To specify dates over periods longer than twenty two years, Mesoamericans used the Long Count calendar (Tun). The ancient Mayan Long Count calendar (5125.36 years), related probably, to the cycle of Earth-Sun-Moon magnetic interactions, and to earthquakes/eclipses patterns, too. Totally, the Maya created seventeen different calendars based on the Cosmos, some of these going back as far as sixty-three million years! The most recent breath-taking archaeoastronomical discovery, made by a team of Greek researchers, speaks of the calendars of the planet Venus in antiquity. The Neolithic objects in the shape of ‘frying pans’ which have been found in Greece, were decorated with concentric circles, spirals, radial patterns and sometimes rowing vessels. They were made mainly by clay in the Aegean islands during the Early Cycladic II period; they typically resembled skillets. They were probably used as calendars to perform astronomical calculations of the orbits of Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Sun. During the Neolithic Era the inhabitants of eastern Mediterranean not only knew that Earth requires 365 (365.25636) days to make a complete circuit around the Sun (sidereal period), but also that Venus’ synodic period is 584 (583.9) and Jupiter 399 (398.9) days respectively. The synodic period is the temporal interval that it takes for an object to reappear at the same point in relation to two or more other objects. The correlation of Venus’ cycle with human pregnancy was probably well established, since half of Venus cycle (around 9 months) coincides with the biological cycle of pregnancy.

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“Frying pan” with spirals decoration, Early Cycladic I–II (ca. 2700 BC). From Syros?. Image Credit: Kampos Group and one more author. Public Domain in USA and worldwide. Image Source: Wikipedia

Back to Mesoamerica, according to the Maya Long Count (known also as the ‘Maya Prophecies’) the “end” of this world would happen on December 21, 2012 Current Era. Today, the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel, the Codex Perez and the Book of Chilam Balam of Mani give us the prophetic cycle of 13 katuns (the 256-year cycle or the Short Count) as following: Katun 11-Ahau: Apparently food is scarce during this katun and invading foreigners arrive and disperse the population. There is an end to traditional rule, there are no successors. Since this is the first katun it always opens a new era. It was during the span of this katun that the Spanish began their takeover of Yucatan and imposed Christianity on the natives. Katun 9-Ahau: This is a period of bad government, when the ruler abuses his people and commits misdeeds. Rulers are so bad that they wind up losing some of their power to the priests. Carnal sin and adultery are practiced openly, by rulers and others, and it is, also, a time of wars. It is the katun of the "forcible withdrawal of the hand," a phrase the meaning of which is unclear. Katun 7-Ahau: This is apparently a time of social excess including drinking and adultery, a low point in the history of the society.

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Governments stoop to their lowest. The "bud of the flower," an allusion to eroticism, is said to sprout during this katun. Katun 5-Ahau: During this katun of misfortune, rulers and their subjects separate - the people lose faith in their leaders. Leaders may be harshly treated, even hung. There is also an abundance of snakes, a great famine, and few births during this period. Katun 3-Ahau: This katun brings changes and calamities, such as drought and wars. The people will become homeless and society will disintegrate. Katun 1-Ahau: This katun brings even worse troubles, weak rulers and destruction. Governments fall apart due to rivalries. There may, also, be a great war which will end, and brotherhood will return. Katun 12-Ahau: Finally, a good katun. During this period government and rulers are wise. Poor men become rich and there is abundance in the land. There is friendship and peace in the land. There will be six good years followed by six bad before well-being returns. Katun 10-Ahau: Although this is a holy katun, there is trouble in the land once again. This katun brings drought and famine and is a time of foreign occupation, calendar change, and sadness. Katun 8-Ahau: This may be the worst of the katuns, as both Chichen Itza and Mayapan, the two great ruling cities of Yucatan, were destroyed during its period. The texts speak of demolition and destruction among the governors, an end to greed, but much fighting. It is the katun of "settling down in a new place". Katun 6-Ahau: This is a time of bad government and deceptive government. There is also starvation and famine. Katun 4-Ahau: There will be scarcities of corn and squash during this katun and this will lead to great mortality. This was the katun during which the settlement of Chichen Itza occurred, when the man-god Kukulcan (Quetzalcoatl) arrived. It is the katun of remembering and recording knowledge. Katun 2-Ahau: For half of the katun there will be food, for half some misfortunes. This katun brings the end of the "word of God." It is a time of uniting for a cause. Katun 13-Ahau: This is a time of total collapse where everything is lost. It is the time of the judgment of God. There will be epidemics and

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plagues and then famine. Governments will be lost to foreigners and wise men, and prophets will be lost. But, the closing of whole cycles was a time for celebration for ancient Maya, and not Doomsdays, as it is widely believed today. Mayan calendars were designed to synchronize life patterns with Earth cycles, biological cycles and celestial/galactic cycles. As it is already mentioned earlier in this chapter, ancient lore celebrates the minor and major cosmic cycles (for example, the galactic alignment). During our Age, the winter solstice happens in the constellation of Sagittarius, almost 3◦ from the galactic centre, which is about 2◦ apart from the Ecliptic. Earth is about to enter ‘the navel of Vishnu’ from where Brahma was born (end of a full precession + galactic alignment). This physical process differentiates the cosmic energy received by our planet. Every 26 000 years, the ‘father’ Sun unites with the Cosmic Mother (the galactic centre as cosmic womb) to bring into life a new ‘Humanity’. The symbol of ‘wheel’ was present in ancient human societies since Palaeolithic times; the ‘whirlpool’ symbolized the rotation of the Earth around its axis, around the Sun and our Galaxy. Tribes such as the Chorti of Guatemala, visualize our galaxy as a wheel. Apart from circumMediterranean cultures and pre-Colombian Americas, the Precession of Equinoxes and the Galactic cosmovision has been, also, found in Vedas and Indus civilization. The global ancient wisdom of the Human Ages has been variously proven. Science has shown how cosmic events (for example, supernovae explosion, cometary debris, solar conflagrations, galactic centre’s explosions) altered the human DNA by mutations; in this way, the course of human evolution changed and Life itself on this planet, changed, too. The Americas are, also, known for the Hopi prophecies and lore. According to them, humans moved away from Sotuknang, the Creator, repeatedly. He once destroyed the world by fire, and then by cold and recreated it both times for the people, survived by hiding underground, but still followed the laws of creation. Nevertheless, people became corrupt and warlike for the third time. As a result, Sotuknang guided the people to Spider Woman; she cut down giant reeds and sheltered the people in the hollow stems, because Sotuknang wanted to cause a great flood. The reeds came to rest on a small piece of land, and the people emerged, with as much food as they started with. The people travelled on in their canoes, 422

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guided by their inner wisdom to the Northeast, passing progressively larger islands, until they came to the Fourth World. After reaching the Fourth World, the islands sank into the ocean.

Common Hopi cachinas figures. Drawings from an 1894 anthropology book of Kachina dolls (tihu-tui) representing cachinas, or spirits, made by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern U.S. The dolls are made of carved cottonwood and traditionally given to children. The figures are identified on p. 74 of the source as representing the kachinas: 37.Si-o-S(h)a-li-ko 38.Si-o-ka-tci-na 39.Co-tuk-i-nun-wu 40.Lapuk-ti 41.Do-mas-ka-tci-na 42.Tcuc-ku-ti 43.Si-o-sa-li-ko. Alterations to image: removed plate number. Image Credit: Jesse Walter Fewkes - Downloaded May 23, 2009 from Jesse Walter Fewkes (1894) Dolls of the Tusayan Indians, E.J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, Plate 11] on Google Books. The image was signed "PWMTimp" in lower left corner and "R. Raar Lith" in center. Public Domain in USA and where the copyright is valid (19302019) – In Mexico and Jamaica is not still public domain . Image Source: Wikipedia

Hopi are a Native American tribe dwelled in Arizona. Few thousands live today. Their ancestors were the ancient Pueblo peoples, known as Anasazi. Hopi Elders passed warnings and prophecies from generation to generation, through oral traditions and reference to ancient rock pictographs and tablets. The most famous of the prophecies states: “When the Blue Star Kachina – the Sakwa Sohu (? Venus, Sirius, comet, cosmic volley from the centre of our galaxy, supernova explosion?) makes its appearance in the heavens, the Fifth World will emerge. This will be the Day of Purification". The Hopis claim, also, that there will two more worlds after 423

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this, "the Sixth Age" - The World of Prophecy and Revelation, and "the Seventh Age" - The World of Completion! Eschatological lore (= myths and traditions which speak about afterlife and the end of the world) was always present in human societies since the beginning of recorded time. The major religions have their own theories on this, which often include fateful battles between the forces of good and evil and cataclysmic natural disasters. The Islamic story of Qiyamat in Quran describes the Day of Judgment, when God will reward the good and punish the evil. Equally famous is John's Revelation in Christian tradition. Since, these two major literary sources are so over examined and analysed today, the book will not further mention any other information concerning their content. In Hinduism, there is the belief that the god Vishnu will come back in the last cycle of time as a figure called Kulki, riding a white horse, carrying a sword that looks like a comet and destroying the forces of evil. In some Buddhist prophecies (the equivalent of Armageddon is Shambhala), good triumphs over evil and the planet will be restored rather than destroyed, so people can pursue Enlightenment. To the West, the coming of a great Spiritual Being, usually identified as Quetzalcoatl (translated into Mayan as Kukulkan) was emphasized by Chilam Balam. Many other controversial ‘Bibles’ survived in our times, including the Dead Sea Scrolls from Israel, the Nag Hammadi Library from Egypt, the Kebra Nagast from Africa, the Bee Bible from China (still a part of the Canon of eastern Orthodox Christians), the Writings and Teachings of the Buddha Issa (Jesus) from Tibet and the extensive Kolbrin Bible from Britain. Each of them contains a different perspective about the creation and destruction of the world. Especially the latest (an amalgam of Judaic/Christian and Druid mystical knowledge), speaks about the recurrent catastrophes that Earth has experienced in the past, and about the return of the ‘Destroyer planet’, a dark star that has caused a disaster in the past and is predicted to do so, again. Generally speaking, it is about an upcoming celestial event, found under different names in Nostradamus (as the bearded star), Mother Shipton (as the Fiery Dragon), in Maya calendar prophecies (as the Red Comet), in the Egyptians and Hebrews (as the Destroyer), as well as in Celts (as the Frightener). Today, this object is, also, known as Wormwood, Nibiru, Planet X and Nemesis. 424

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Finally, the Sibylline Oracles are a compilation of twelve books - or fourteen, of different authorship, date, and religious conception. Their final arrangement is attributed to an unknown editor of the 6th century Current Era, named Alexandre. Today, researchers claim that the surviving texts may include, too, some fragments or remnants of the Sibylline Books from the Cumaean Sibyl (near the ancient Greek city of Naples in Italy). They were originally kept in temples in Rome, and accidentally destroyed by fire in 83 Before Current Era.

CumĂŚan Sibyl, a 1896 illustration. Image Credit: Helene Guerber - Story of the Romans - Helene Guerber. This elementary history of Rome presents short stories of the great heroes, mythical and historical, from Aeneas and the founding of Rome to the fall of the western empire. Around the famous characters of Rome are graphically grouped the great events with which their names will forever stand connected. Vivid descriptions bring to life the events narrated, making history attractive to the young, and awakening their enthusiasm for further reading and study. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The collection of the fragmentary Sibylline Books is older. They had been made about the time of Solon and Cyrus on Mount Ida (Troad, modern Turkey), in Anatolia. They had strong influences of the Etruscan religion, too. Some genuine verses of them are preserved in the Book of Marvels written by Phlegon of Tralles. Various motifs from Homer and Hesiod, from pagan and near eastern legends (for example, Garden of Eden, Flood of Noah, Tower of Babel), and eschatological beliefs are all involved, along with mystical traditions, still controversial. According to the ancient authors, the number of female prophetesses, who envisioned disasters and upcoming calamities, varied 425

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from one (Heraclitus, Aristophanes, Plato and Plutarch), to ten or more (Varro, Tacitus). The Erythraean (Troad, Asia Minor) Sibyl herself, claimed to be older than Homer. The Sibyl of Delphi (known as Pythia) was older than the Trojan War. Others were scattered from Mesopotamia / Assyria, to Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. The Sibylline Oracles (they typically predict disasters rather than prescribe solutions) are compared to Nostradamus prophecies. They are used for both civil and cult propaganda. ●●●●●● Human extinction scenarios about catastrophic events in the near future, include: a supernova explosion, a giant impact, a colossal volcanic explosion, a disastrous encounter with a black hole, a severe geomagnetic reversal, the spread of a new uncontrollable pandemic, the sudden appearance of an anomalously large solar flare pointing towards the Earth, or global nuclear annihilation, violent climatic changes, famine resulting from overpopulation, loss of a breathable atmosphere (due to an anoxic event), or destruction of the ozone layer, even a Snowball Earth phenomenon. Human extinction scenarios in the remote future include: (1) Gliese 710 = an obscure, 10th magnitude orange dwarf star situated about 63 light years away in the constellation Serpens cauda; astronomers first took note of this modest star about a decade ago, they call it a rogue or runaway star; in about 1.29 million years from now, it should pass about 1.3 light years from the Sun, causing trouble in the Oort Cloud, (2) Nemesis or Death Star, a supposed companion of the Sun that triggers a death-dealing rain of comets every 26-27 million years, (3) an encounter of our Milky Way galaxy, in about 3 billion years from now, with Andromeda spiral galaxy (visible with naked eye during moonless nights), which may or may not result in a collision, (4) the Sun's stellar evolution when it will reach the red giant stage, in about 5 billion years, (6) other unexpected cosmic events, such as a vacuum phase transition, (7) human evolution through the traditional natural selection over a period of millions of years; Homo Sapiens will gradually transits into one or more new specie, (8) first contact with alien intelligence, (9) total human extinction as a result of omnicide (mainly due to a nuclear war), or as destruction of the Earth's ecosystem (ecophagy), 426

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(10) disruption, chemical, biological, or otherwise, in humans' ability to reproduce properly, or at all, etc.

A Galaxy Evolution Explorer (orbiting ultra-violet space telescope) image of the Andromeda Galaxy. Known also as M31, is our Milky Wayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest galactic neighbor. The entire galaxy spans 260,000 light-years across -- a distance so large, it took 11 different image segments stitched together to produce this view of the galaxy next door. The bands of blue-white making up the galaxy's striking rings are neighborhoods that harbor hot, young, massive stars. Dark blue-grey lanes of cooler dust show up starkly against these bright rings, tracing the regions where star formation is currently taking place in dense cloudy cocoons. When observed in visible light, Andromeda Galaxy's rings look more like spiral arms. The ultraviolet view shows that these arms more closely resemble the ring-like structure previously observed in infrared wavelengths with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Astronomers using the latter interpreted these rings as evidence that the galaxy was involved in a direct collision with its neighbor, M32, more than 200 million years ago. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech - NASA. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

This topic is one of the most fascinating anthropological, philosophical and cultural disaster issues, with a huge bibliography and coverage. And now, after a journey into the future, let us go back to prehistoric times, when shamans of the Palaeolithic Era lived in the caves. Many archaeologists and historians of religion claim that Shamanism may have been a dominant religious practice for Humanity, during the Palaeolithic. The word shaman was brought to Western Europe in the late 17th century Current Era, by the Dutch traveler Nicolaes Witsen, who reported his stay and journeys among the indigenous people of Siberia. 427

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Sorcerer of Le Gabillou. Picture of a half-animal half-human in a Paleolithic cave painting in Dordogne, France. Modern paleoanthropologists take the depiction of such hybrid figures as evidence for early shamanic practices during the Paleolithic. Image Credit: José-Manuel Benito - Own work. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Locutus Borg. This applies worldwide, for any purpose, unless such conditions are required by law. Image Source: Wikipedia. The earliest known depiction of a Siberian shaman, by the Dutch Nicolaes Witsen, 17th century. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less. Image Source: Wikipedia

Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest known shamans, of the Upper Palaeolithic, were women (a female shaman is called shamaness or shamanka), who exhibited a two-spirit identity. They could reach an altered state of consciousness (a ‘religious ecstasy’ or trance) and communicate with the wolrd of the benevolent or malevolent spirits. They could guide the misguided souls, heal illnesses of the human soul and perform various forms of divination. Shamans still are the primary teacher of tribal symbolism in aboriginal tribes; they have a leading role in this ecological management of local societies. He / she actively restrict hunting and fishing, and is able to ‘release’ game animals, or their souls, from their hidden places. Today, shamanism is a ‘system’ that includes beliefs and practices related to the communication with the spiritual world; it is considered as an inner journey into healing and well-being, through spiritual and/or mystical experiences and soul-retrieval practices. A variety of life conditions, such as accidents, abuse or physical violation, shock of any kind, trauma or grief, even breakup of a relationship 428

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or loss of a loved one, cause unbearable pain, mental and emotional disorders. Especially, the post-traumatic experiences after disasters, may be pushed back to the unconscious and cling there. This psychological phenomenon is described as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;being in the cave of the lost children', because it results in a fragmented self and a soul loss. The shamanic techniques can awake the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual parts of the Self to new possibilities, by fulfilling the potential of the Soul. And, they can, also, reclaim the lost child, who is captive within us (the adults) â&#x20AC;Ś

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20. PEOPLE AND FEELINGS As we have already seen, disasters are powerful forces in human history. Natural forces can shake and overturn even the well-organized social systems, when their normal coping mechanism fails. Drought or flooding, epidemic diseases like plague, syphilis and smallpox, tremendous volcanic eruptions and meteoritic impacts, tsunami and earthquakes, influenced the circum-Mediterranean, the northwestern European, Asian and American civilizations, in fact every civilization on the face of our planet. Usually, disaster scientists and people who are interesting in the history of disasters don’t search further for the feelings of the victims and other sociological topics in the past. Such data are not measurable (in the conventional way), like are the analogous data from the practical sciences (for example, an earthquake can leave very specific traces and measurables effects). But feelings and victims are the ultimate target of Disaster Archaeology, because it is a humanistic science at its heart. Of course, Disaster Psychology (known also as Trauma Psychology) is a very successful and useful scientific field in the case of contemporary disasters. Let us find more details about how the victims of past disasters feel and react, with the help of Disaster Psychology today. Most psychological symptoms and / or disorders during and after extreme environmental events show a common profile among different cultures. Firstly, people use to look backward to a prior more fortunate time, when humans lived happily by divine grace (for example, the races of Hesiod or the blissful Atlantis kingdom). Prudence, good behaviour and moral integrity are, also, considered as ‘remedies’ against the reappearance of the dreadful event. Even the gods and many heroic figures battle against the Chaos and the evil forces, which want the upheaval of the world (for example, the Egyptian god Osiris against Seth, the Greek Olympian gods against the Titans and the Giants). We have already talked about the ancient Greek versions of Titanomachy and Gigantomachy, and their strong symbolism. Seth was the ancient Egyptian god of chaos, storms, desert lands, disorder, disasters and violence. He was an usurper who killed and mutilated his own brother, 430

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Osiris (husband of Isis). When he grew up, his son Horus revenged Seth for his crime and demonized him. Later on, ancient Greeks associated Seth with Typhon, a monstrous and evil force of raging Nature. In addition, there is always the ‘fleet or stay’ dilemma (to run away from the area or the situation of catastrophe, or to stay there and “fight back”). Often, when people were familiar to a specific risk, or the hazard was too infrequent (there was not a vivid memory of the catastrophe, because it had happened again many generations ago) or society thought that it could control the consequences, people stayed in the same place. They tend to take quite high risks in the case of rare events. Building on flood plains and steep slopes, under the shadow of volcanoes, or in earthquake prone zones, are good examples of such behaviour. Another mechanism is the will of the return to homeland. In some cases, societies recover and stay in the same environment, while others abandon the initial geographical area for good. The difference between the two reactions is the ‘perception’ (how we feel and see the world in our mind, according to our beliefs, knowledge, aspirations and fears). The perception of hazards is critically important to how a community reacts to a forcing mechanism. It makes the difference between life and death. When there is no clear perception or there is a delayed reaction, the recovery is more difficult. The more complex the society is (like the modern societies), the less flexibly its reaction is. Rigid social settings and “boundary” -trapped societies create vulnerable communities. They have not the flexibility to react wisely and take long-term decisions for the good of all the members. Archaeologists can detect similar cases in the past. New behaviours or dramatic changes in the material culture may reflect a total replacement of a culture, a societal collapse, or, simply, the abandonment of local settlements.

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In psychology, there is a concept known as normalcy or normality bias, which explains why most people underestimate the threat associated with natural disasters, like hurricanes and floods, and why people are plagued by inaction during a crisis. People believe that “if the disaster has not occurred until now, it will never occur”. Image Credit: PsycholoGenie Staff. Image Source: An Insight Into the Concept of Normalcy Bias in Psychology

In every human group, psychologists estimate that 70% of people are affected by normalcy bias. 15% of the people freak out, while the 15% show presence of mind and do the right thing. Most people in human groups are easier to be convinced. When they see their neighbors and friends prepare for the impending disaster, they are alarmed, and they want to do the same. These 70% can, also, pacify those people who freak out in such circumstances. But, on the flip side, they may hinder those who are doing the right thing. The human brain is the most complex organ known in the observable universe! In 1976 Current Era, the American psychologist Julian Jaynes introduced the term Bicameralism in Psychology. According to him, the human brain, at least 3000 years and back, had a different mechanism of cognitive function. This could explain why people perceived the world (the natural phenomena, the risks, the disasters, the divine power, etc) differently than us today. This human brain was ‘divided’; one part of the brain appears to be ‘speaking’, and the second part ‘listens and obeys’. It was a ‘split-brain’. This mind experiences the world similarly to the ‘schizophrenic’ mentality. It could not make conscious evaluations in front of novel or unexpected situations. The regions of the brain which are responsible for this style of 432

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thinking (right temporal lobe) are somewhat ‘dormant’ in the right brains of most modern humans. Jaynes used many transcultural (= provided by different cultures) examples to build his theory, such as music, poetry and myths from ancient Greece and the Old Testament. He observed that the cognitive functions of introspection, self-consciousness and dream analysis were present in the Epic of Gilgamesh and Odyssey (but not in Iliad). He studied, also, occasionally, the ancient writings of India and China. In ancient times, gods were generally much more numerous and much more anthropomorphic, than in modern times. Probably, each bicameral person had their own "god" who reflected their own desires and experiences. In addition, in ancient societies, the corpses of the dead were often treated as though still alive (being seated, dressed, and even fed) in a form of ancestor worship. The dead bodies were presumed to be still living, because they were the source of auditory hallucinations. The bicameral minds of ancients were strongly and violently tested by extreme environmental conditions (for example, earthquakes, plagues, droughts and climatic changes), severe catastrophes and social upheaval (for example, huge migrations). That’s why consciousness (self-awareness, flexibility, creativeness, language and literature) emerged as a neurological adaptation to social complexity in a changing world. After the breakdown of the bicameral mind, prayers, oracles and divinations substituted the initial internal dialogue between humans and their gods. Today, the need for an external authority in decision-making (when a god, a prophet, a shaman, a ‘higher power’ guides us and makes us to take the ‘right’ decisions) and the “mystical experiences” (sacred madness, hallucinations) survive in: (1) religious prophecies and rituals, (2) hypnosis, (3) possession states, and (4) schizophrenia. In general, this is a very challenging hypothesis, but there are many cases in history and society which are contradictory to it. But, it is true that during severe disasters, human brain seems to disintegrate objective reality (‘cut into pieces’ the things that happen and influence the brain) and produce subjective states of consciousness, similar to those of schizophrenia. In the same way, schizophrenic brain disintegrates subjective reality with visions of cosmic catastrophes. Fear (along with anxiety, frustration, and depression) is the universal pivotal feeling before, during and after a catastrophe. The paranoiac 433

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aspects of primordial and existential fear are always subconsciously present in human brain. And vice versa, fear fathers destructiveness and creativeness. For example, researchers claim that the last works of Leonardo da Vinci, his drawings on the end of the world by flood, fire, hurricane, and explosive seism, were the greatest ones. In human history, both on the level of the individual and on the level of the human species, there is always the conflict between two great, primordial, incompatible drives: Eros (love, creation, ‘immortality’) and Thanatos (death, destruction, time). Martin Heidegger (German philosopher of the 20th century Current Era) believes that we will always be with anxiety, with fear, and with dread, due to the unknown and unpredictable future, in personal, interpersonal and intercultural level. Perhaps, the end of the world is, also, the projection of our internal catastrophe. Perhaps, the human awareness of death and the cosmic cycles (where existence annihilates and re-emerges), is the most tragic expression of the agony of the human soul towards disasters. This is poetically expressed in the ancient tragic drama of the Roman poet Seneca (dramatist, statesman and stoic philosopher of the 1st century Current Era), Thyestes, when the chorus chants about the shocking fiery passage of Phaethon in his solar chariot: “This is the fear, the fear that knocks at the heart That the whole world is now to fall in the ruin Which Fate foretells; that Chaos will come again To bury the world of gods and men; that Nature A second time will wipe out all the lands That cover the earth and the seas that lie around them And all the stars that scatter their bright lights Across the Universe”... Disaster Psychology is a relatively new discipline which focuses on the crisis intervention and stress reduction for survivors. It enables humans to understand the lingering trauma and mental wounds of men, women and children, which might otherwise go unrecognized. It includes refugees and survivors of torture, terrorism, genocide attempts, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunami, and other manmade or natural disasters. But, even today, psychological reactions to catastrophes have not received sufficient attention, perhaps, because it is widely believed that human beings can endure any kind of extreme stress... Separation from family, loss of all belongings and displacement provoke reactions merely somatic or sentimental (phobias, mistrust of strangers, life threat, feelings of hopelessness, personality disorders, mental illness, memory and 434

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concentration problems, amnesia, horror and nightmares) and long-term (for example, high rates of accidents or various forms of addiction). The common traumatic stress reactions are grouped into four main categories, which include: (1) the emotional reactions (Anxiety and/or fear Guilt - Grief and/or depression - Anger), (2) the cognitive reactions (Nightmares - Confusion and/or disorientation - Difficulty concentrating), (3) the physical reactions (Nausea and/or upset stomach - Dizziness Headache - Restlessness - Difficulty sleeping) and (4) the interpersonal effects (Avoidance and/or withdrawing - Emotional outbursts - Erratic behaviour). Not surprisingly, disaster psychologists make clear statements on how crises and disasters are interrelated with human actions and reactions. The disasters hold the power, in term of control, influence, capacities and strengths, to forge the human emotions and behaviours. Thus, when today we talk about disaster management, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean only the controlling mechanism on the events, but of how we deal with them. As modern disaster psychologists claim: â&#x20AC;&#x153;thinking, planning, preparing, drilling for disasters, is not paranoia. Thinking, planning, preparing, drilling for disasters, is intelligence. People who feel prepared are happier... â&#x20AC;?.. Women (especially the pregnant and post-partum women, the married and these who take care of their parents), face greater marginalization and oppression than their male counterparts, throughout human history, and still in many parts of the world. Gender differences and inequalities exist, especially in the case of natural resources or natural hazards. Children, the elderly, the chronically ill, people with mobility impairments, and people with mental illness, people of lower socioeconomic status, migrants, refugees and the homeless are, also, more vulnerable. Disasters are more likely to bring out the best in the majority of people; social alienation vanishes, and human solidarity arises during the first phase after catastrophe. Then, humans try to survive and adapt, by adopting behavioral strategies, such as the psychic and noetic mobilization, eschatology, utopianism, beliefs in cyclic regeneration, assessment of existential risks (when the entire future of humanity is under threat), and extinction scenarios, in their personal and collective interactions. 435

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Many people today believe that Nature operates as a self-correcting system, returning to its stable state after any kind of disturbance. High technology societies become ‘hierarchist’ (Nature capricious) or ‘fatalist’ (Nature perverses/it is tolerant) in their attitude towards risks and catastrophes.

This graph shows the phases of psychosocial recovery that are commonly accepted around the world. Of course, the impact of a disaster will vary from person to person. People will progress through the phases at different rates, and the phases may even overlap each other. Image Credit: Canterbury District Health Board and the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. Image Source: all right?

Thus, the risk perception, and the human reaction to disasters, is ‘anthropic’. Of course, human emotions, religious beliefs, artistic sensitivities, and specific intelligence patterns, cannot erase the existing ‘animalistic’ heredity of violence, survivor instincts and limbic system expressions in humans (= the part of the human brain which is the most “primitive”). Humans are aware of their own demise, because most species that have existed on this planet have become extinct by now; from this point of view, human extinction would be, also, inevitable. Or may be not? ●●●●●●

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During all these past millennia, there were millions of survivors, witnesses and victims of disasters. Who were they? An archaeologist would say that it could be awesome if we knew our ancestors in person; and it is relatively easy, for us, today, to “reproduce” their lifestyle, based on the evidence they left behind... But a disaster archaeologist knows that this could be very difficult, after such catastrophes and changes and natural phenomena, which wiped entire civilizations out of the face of Earth... Only few scarce evidence, highly valuable and sentimentally important... Our ancestors lived in highly active volcanic environments, since Lower Pleistocene. Generally speaking, there are more than sixty ancient hominid track sites ranging in age from 3.7 million to less than 2500 years, recorded from all continents except Antarctica. Unfortunately, the hominid track site sample includes only about a dozen sites where footprint preservation is good enough to show details of diagnostic foot morphology and typical track way morphology. 3.5 million years ago (geologic dating) in a location now known as Tanzania, the Sadiman palaeovolcano erupted surrounding the area with ash. The rain that followed the event, created a natural type of cement which fossilized the footprints of any species that may have walked over the wet ash. One of these species happened to be a hominid. The Laetoli track way was discovered in volcanic ash sediments. This fossilized footprint pattern indicated the animal was a bipedal animal, turning this evidence into a tremendous discovery, which uncovered when in hominid history our ancestors began walking on two legs. Do you remember Lucy? We talked about her and we saw two pictures in the chapter of the volcanic influence on human evolution... This is our case here… Fossils of the hominid Australopithecus afarensis dating to 3.8 to 3.6 million years, were found in the surrounding areas, thus, the scientists were able to identify these tracks. Scientists have, also, found even more evidence for bipedalism in A. afarensis, because he had special anatomy of the shin bone that indicated an upright posture. Unfortunately, these footprints are in danger of being destroyed. They represent the earliest direct evidence of kinematically hominin bipedalism and prove that extended limb bipedalism evolved long before the appearance of the genus Homo. Humans left, also, tracks (20 cm or 8 inches, each) in the volcanic ash of the Roccamonfina volcano in South Italy (41.3° North and 14.9° East), 437

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initially dated between 385 000-325 000 years ago (with new techniques, dated between 348 000-340 000 years ago). Just to the North of the city of Naples, in the province of Caserta, is the Roccamonfina Regional Park, the most prominent part of which is the Roccamonfina volcano, the oldest volcanic complex in the Campania region of Italy.

The Ciampate del Diavolo. Image Credit: edmondo gnerre - Ciampate del Diavolo :hominid fossil footprints at Tora e Piccilli. CC BY 2.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

It had three main eruptive periods: (1) 630 000-400 000 years ago; (2) 385 000 and 230 000 years ago; (3) a period that ended in 50 000 years ago. There are fifty-six such impressions on the slopes of the volcano; they were footprints made during its second eruptive period. The prints display raised arches and ball and heel impressions; they were left by a small band of individuals, from three to six persons. The prints and length of stride indicate that they were under five feet (1.52 m.) tall. These footprints were made awfully close to the Climatic Termination IV, a time at which the global ecosystem was making transition between a glacial maximum and the sudden establishment of warmer conditions. Initially, scientists believed that the individuals belonged to a pre-human species, probably to the hominid ancestor, Homo heidelbergensis, and the direct ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. If these assessments are correct, they are the oldest prints of the Homo genus ever found. But, if the estimation of the size of the individuals is correct, they were somewhat shorter than the typical adult Homo heidelbergensis. 438

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Paolo Mietto, of the University of Padua, and his colleagues, think the Campanian tracks were made by early Neanderthalensis, maybe a group of children. Remains of this species have been found in several places in Italy, for example in Circe's grotto, a site north of Campania, where the legendary witch of that name, is supposed to have lived. Although they were first reported reliably and scientifically just a few years ago in 2003 Current Era, the prints have been known to locals for centuries and have earned the name in folklore as the ‘Ciampate Del Diavolo’ (the Devil's footprints). Whoever they were, they were scrambling downhill (there are also handprints to indicate that they reached down to steady themselves on the steep terrain), running through molten lava. Most likely they were fleeing an eruption, as they descended the treacherous side of the volcano... We don't know if they finally made it! During another Palaeolithic eruption, around 40 000 years ago, the fallen ash trapped and fossilized human footprints. In 2003 Current Era, British scientists found them, in central Mexico, in an abandoned quarry close to the subaqueous, monogenetic Cerro Toluquilla volcano (near Puebla, Mexico City). The “Toluquilla footprint layer” contains269 both human and animal footprint traces preserved on the upper bedding planes of the ash, which was deposited in the shallow Pleistocene Lake Valsequillo. The footprints were made and preserved during the latest stages of deposition of the ash, and are present in several layers in the top 20 cm (8 inches) of the ash succession, where they are interbedded with lake sediments. The ash was exposed on lake shorelines during low stands in the water level, perhaps when water-displacement took place during the volcanic eruption, or when climatic changes make the lake water to fluctuate. Then, the trails submerged, and the footprints were preserved till today.

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The “Toluquilla footprints”. Image Credit: Dr Silvia Gonzalez – Liverpool John Moores University / Bournemouth University. Image Source: ABC North West WA

The date of the footprints indicates that humans were in the Americas 25 000 years before the dates proposed by the most recent genetic studies, and 27 000 years before the Clovis culture! But a geological technique used recently in the chronology of the volcanic rock, dates it back to 1.3 million to 600 000 years ago! Another amazing option, because the footprints would have been made by Homo erectus! Late Ice Age human footprints (more than seven hundred!) were also discovered in the area of Willandra Lakes (southeastern Australia, New South Wales); they are about 20 000 years old. They belonged to aboriginal children, teenagers, and adults walking around in, what was once a wetland swamp, but now is a dried-up lakebed. They were first spotted in 2003 by a young Mutthi Mutthi Aboriginal woman named Mary Pappen Jr. These tracks are the oldest fossil human footprints ever found in Australia and the largest collection of such prints in the world!

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One of the footprints found around the area of Willandra lakes. Mungo National Park. Image Credit: National Geographic, May 24 2016

The Willandra Lakes Region is an extensive area that contains a system of ancient lakes formed over the last two million years, most of which are fringed by a crescent shaped dune or lunette. Aborigines lived on the shores of the lakes for at least 50 000 years. The remains of a 40 000year old female found in the dunes of Lake Mungo are believed to be the oldest ritual cremation site in the world! It was one of fifteen World Heritage places included in the National Heritage List on May 21, 2007 Current Era. In the late 1990′s, South Australian social anthropologist and archaeologist Dr Colin Pardoe investigated the colossal assemblage of skeletons scattered on the southeastern corner of Lake Victoria (New South Wales). They are dated to 10 000 years ago approximately, and they were unearthed when Lake Victoria was partially drained. The geomorphologic features of the lunettes, the aboriginal tales, the paleoanthropological material, remains of extinct mega-fauna, all speak of an archaeodisaster caused by ‘electroblemes’. Similar geomorphological features (lunettes = wind-formed crescent dune shapes) are, also, found in USA and they are known as ‘Carolina Bays’. Many scientists speculate that both have been created by impact events. In 1972 Current Era, archaeomagnetic studies were conducted on the prehistoric aboriginal fireplaces found along the ancient shoreline of Lake Mungo. The magnetization preserved in oven-stones and baked hearths showed that the axial dipole field of the Earth moved up to 120° from its normal position around 30 000 years ago, with a very high field strength. There is also evidence of a second excursion around 26 000 years ago. These phenomena are known as Mungo Excursion. They are basic suspects for the beginning the archaeodisaster in the area. 441

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Landsat 7 imagery of Lake Mungo in Australia (today it is a dry lake). Lake Mungo is the brown area in the centre, the white line is the Walls of China, a series of sand dunes (lunette), where most archaeological material has been found. The southern portion of Lake Leaghur is visible in the top of the picture. Image Credit: Worldwind â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Worldwind. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

A Coronal Mass Ejection and a lethal Aurora Australis, plasma discharge, or a SN explosion, are equally blamed for the archaeodisaster. Modern researchers compare the events of the Australian Lakes Mungo and Victoria, with the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. Thousands of kilometres away, in the area of Vesuvius, Italy, a volcanic catastrophe occurred. It was even more devastating than the notorious 79 Current Era Pompeii eruption. It was the second millennium Before Current Era Avellino plinian eruption (VEI 6). It produced early violent pumice fallout and a late pyroclastic surge sequence that covered the volcano surroundings as far as 25 km (15.53 mi) away, burying land and villages. Fortunately, thousands of people evacuated the area, before the last destructive column collapse. Although most of the fugitives likely survived, the desertification of the total habitat caused the entire area for centuries.

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Thousands of footprints in the surge ash deposit of the Avellino eruption (1460 Before Current Era +/-65 years, carbon-dated) testify to a massive exodus from the devastated zone. Image Credit: Pierpaolo Petrone - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences vol. 103. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

A similar fate waited for the inhabitants of the area of Vesuvius, hit by the notorious eruption of the Roman Era. About 3/4 of Pompei have been excavated, and one thousand and one hundred fifteen bodies have been discovered, out of an estimated two thousand people who died in the disaster. This means that most of the city of twenty thousand inhabitants fled at the first signs of the volcanic activity. The plaster casts of the ill-fated men, women, children, and animals of Pompeii were primarily made in the mid-1800s. At present, at least three million people live within the area destroyed by the Avellino Plinian eruption. Ancient Roman authors, such as Strabo and Vitruvius, observe that local people had a collective memory of Vesuvius' pre-Roman eruptions. The last prehistoric eruption took place in the early 1st millennium Before Current Era. Later on (we have also written evidence), eruptions occurred in the 2nd, 4th, 9th and 17th centuries Current Era and in the early and mid-20th century. But, the eruption of August 24 (? or October), 79 Current Era, during the early Roman Empire, remains the most notorious of all. 443

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Fresco of Bacchus and the serpent Agathodaemon from a household shrine. Pompeii, House of the Centenary (Casa del Centenario or House of the Centenarian), IX.8.3-6; among the largest houses in the city; the earliest known depiction of Vesuvius. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (inv. nr. 112286). Image Credit: WolfgangRieger Marisa Ranieri Panetta (ed.): Pompeji. Geschichte, Kunst und Leben in der versunkenen Stadt. Belser, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-7630-2266-X, p. 111. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia "Garden of the Fugitives", Pompei. Plaster casts of victims still in situ; many casts are in the Archaeological Museum of Naples. Image Credit: Lancevortex - Own work CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

The 79 Current Era eruption of Mt Vesuvius had a devastating effect on the populations of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and the rural villas, which lay to the west and southwest of the mountain. There was the heat and the gas poisoning, that killed instantly many people, as well as the pyroclastic flow (six distinctive pyroclastic surges have been identified) of ash and mud. It trapped many victims preserving them within ghostly bodyshaped tombs. Suffocated, blasted or cooked, the poor victims are now amongst the most notorious exhibits of worldwide disasters. Researchers estimate that the temperature, capable enough to light gasoline and other fuels under certain conditions, but not enough to ignite clothing, ranged from 250â&#x2014;Ś to 300â&#x2014;Ś C, and the time of exposure was about 30 seconds or so. Death would have been during the first few seconds of that time. 444

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Much of the material remains of these populated areas had been completely and irretrievably covered by the volcanic debris. These material remains were preserved largely intact for nearly 2000 years, before being revealed to the modern western intellectual world in the early to mid-18th century. On the other hand, plagues that devastated entire empires leaving behind millions of victims since antiquity. Only few of them have been identified by archaeologists, and they are thoroughly studied by paleoanthropologists. We have already spoken about the the mummy of Ramesses IV (with the smallpox signs on his skin) and the mass burial pit at Kerameikos district, where victims of the Athenian Plague had probably been buried. Another example is the one thousand and five hundred victims of Black Death found in a mass grave on Lazzaretto Vecchio (old leper hospital), an Italian island of the Venetian lagoon. The place is just a few miles away from the Piazza San Marco. The island was the site of a hospital in the mid-1800s, when the Plague struck the city, but it had been used for isolating Plague victims as far back as the 15th or 16th century Current Era. The remains belong to men, women, and children alike. Some show Asian or African features, because Venice was a trade port where people all over the world arrived. Nobles and poor were, also, buried together in such mass graves.

Isola Lazzaretto Vecchio from the air. Image Credit: Chris 73 / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia

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The place is considered as the world's first lazaret (= quarantine colony intended to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases). The graves are just huge pits, where "monatti," or "corpse carriers," were upended with great loads of bodies. Since 2004, year of the initial discovery, the remains of thousands more are expected still to be found, as the death-toll reportedly reached 500 per day in the 16th century! Another interesting case for disaster archaeologists is the discovery of victims. The huge archaeological site of Kourion, just outside modern Limassol in Cyprus, is one of the most important historical areas on the whole island. It was the centre of one of the twelve ancient kingdoms of Cyprus. The great earthquake today is known as the July 21, 365 Current Era event. It caused devastation across eastern Mediterranean. It was part part of the Early Byzantine Tectonic paroxysm (EBTP) between the mid-4th and the mid-6th centuries Current Era. In the local Archaeological Museum of Kourion (in Latin Curium), the skeletal remains of inhabitants who lost violently their lives are exhibited. The area had been excavated in 1934 by the American archaeologist J.F. Daniel. Decades later, the American classical archaeologist David Soren tells us about the seven members of the family, who found a tragic death sometime around dawn in July 21, year 365 Current Era.

The Kourion Family. Image credits: Department of Antiquities, Cyprus; National Geographic. Image Source: http://www.mcw.gov.cy/mcw/da/da.nsf/All/21E14D80F55D8539C22571990020DC5C?O penDocument 446

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His team performed detailed research along the area (1984-1987). They found that five hundred people had died only at Kourion. The members of the tragic family, who was unearth by the Portuguese archaeology student Caterina Dias, have been found in situ in a Roman house of the city. They lived in an Early Christian family (a copper ring with the symbol of Christ was found next to the tragic father, who tried fiercely to protect her wife and child). In the family bedroom, a woman of about 19year of age seems to clutch a small child of 18 months in her chest, with her arms around its head in order to protect it. But her neck had been broken by falling plaster and stones. His 28-year-old husband, tried to shield his family, by stretching his left arm across her to hold the child's back and putting his left leg up over hers. But his skull and spinal column were crushed by 500-pound blocks found on top of him. The catastrophic event was of paramount importance, equal to the volcanic explosion of Vesuvius few centuries ago. Many ancient towns in Sicily, Greece, Libya, Egypt and Cyprus were destroyed and thousands of people died not only due to the earthquakes' shocks, but to the tsunamis following the seismic tremors. The event had an estimated magnitude of 8+ R. Its epicenter was only 48.28 km (30 mi) southwest of the city under the Mediterranean Sea. ●●●●●● We can imagine, today, how our ancestors would feel after such disasters. Human soul tends to demonize the bad situations and put the blame on the evil forces, which are ostracized (= ignore and exclude) away from the community. A typical case of such demonization was Medusa in the ancient Greek mythology. She had two more immortal sisters (she was the only mortal) – all of three were known as the Gorgons. The snake-headed Medusa (a winged female known also as Gorgo or Gorgone) was found in the mythological cycle of Perseus (she was beheaded by the hero), of Atlantis (the god Poseidon – ruler god of the famous Atlantis, had raped Medusa in the temple of Athena), and of the Athenian (Pelasgian) presence in northwestern Africa, around the archaeo-lake Tritonis and in the area of Atlas mountain. There, Medusa was known as a very beautiful priestess of the

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goddess Athena, who, enraged, transformed her into a chthonic monster. She was already mentioned by Homer in his epic Odyssey. Even after her decapitation by the hero Perseus, the head had still the mystic power to turn into stone any human who looked at it. Later on the image of her head was used as an evil-adverting device (apotropaic symbol, a â&#x20AC;&#x153;ritual maskâ&#x20AC;?). So, Athena placed Medusa's head on her shield; this symbol was known as Gorgoneion or Aegis.

Medusa by Caravaggio (1595). Image Credit: Caravaggio http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/caravaggio/medusa.jpg. License: according to http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/about/license.html GNU-FDL or cc-by-sa-1.0 (here: PD-art). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Of course, modern scientists have tried to decipher the symbol. They have proposed various interesting interpretations which range from psychoanalysis to feminism and other social archetypes. Many researchers believe that the snakes and the reptilian skin are symbols of the natural cycle of birth, death and rebirth. This cycle is, also, paralleled with the natural cycle of menstruation in women, which was believed to be synchronized with the cycles of the Moon and tides. So, women, Earth and snakes are strongly connected to each other. Her depiction in ancient Greek Art includes wings and boar tusks, too. The wings may symbolize the sky, as well as the freedom and mastery over worlds. In addition, the boar tusks symbolize both pain and fear, but, also, birth and fertility. Even more, Medusa, a powerful feminine symbol, had the ability to turn men into stone, in other words, she has the power over all life, the ability to return life back to the Earth from which it came. And her 448

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decapitated head (both as a mirror and a mask) continued to retain its power, manifesting control of both Life and Death. Perhaps Athena / Medusa, was solar symbols. Although both the Sun and goddess Athena were objects of desire, they were unapproachable and terrifying for those who come too close. In parallel, since antiquity, people perceived Medusa in her environmental proportions. The poet Hesiod had imagined the Gorgons as reef-creating sea-daemons, personifications of the deadly submerged reefs, which posed such a danger to ancient mariners. Medusa herself was a portrayed as a storm daemon, whose visage was set upon the stormbringing aigis-shield of Athena. Gorgons, Demeter Erinys (the Fury), and the three Erinyes, were considered as the bringers of drought, the withering of crops and the coming of famine. The goddess Demeter was titled ‘Chrysaoros’ in Homeric poetry; the offsprings from the decapitated Medusa’s head, were Chrysaor, a golden-sworded giant (symbolizing the corn?) and the winged horse Pegasus (representing the ending of drought with the release of the waters of springs?). Perhaps the whole story of Medusa was, also, a symbolization of cosmic impacts. The hero Perseus was conceived by her mother Danae, when Zeus visited her in the form of a shower of gold (phenomenon of meteor shower of Perseids?). The fixed star Algol (β Per), located in the constellation Perseus, was referred to as Lilith. Lilith was Adam’s first wife, as it is written by the Hebrews in the Talmud. In the Old Testament, she was a screech owl or night-monster. This star has a universal reputation as the evillest star in the Heavens, and it is usually associated with the eye or head of Medusa. Its name derived from the Arabic words ‘al-Ghul’ (ghoul in Arabic is a demon or monster, originating in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, which lived in the graveyards and used to consume human flesh). The goddess Athena perhaps symbolized a proto-planet or comet. Medusa could represent plasma/ Birkeland currents and all instantaneous fossilization phenomena (as the serpents from her head), which still controversial and highly debated. ●●●●●●

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Many anthropologists, sociologists and archaeologists today think that the sacrificial rituals were a behaviour adopted by Homo sapiens, along with symbolic thought, language, art, religion, burial, mythmaking, game playing and jokes. Other scientists claim that these expressions and activities are the results of a gradual accumulation of knowledge, skills and culture over hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution. But it is widely accepted that the rituals (for example, sacrifices, holocausts and apotropaic ceremonies) to appease the Evil or the spirits of the Underworld (expressed as disasters, ill-omens, crises) are universal, especially, the rituals of human sacrifices in times of natural disasters, such as droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and appearance of comets. These phenomena were always seen, by ancient cultures, as a sign of anger or displeasure of gods. So, sacrifices were made to appease the divine ire. In ancient Japan, the legendary tradition was called Hitobashira (‘human pillar’), according to which, maidens were buried alive at the base or near some large-scale constructions (for example, dams, bridges and castles), as a prayer to ensure the buildings against disasters, especially floods and other water-related dangers, or enemy attacks. Similar traditions can be practised on several different occasions and in many different cultures. Even if they can be found in 'equilibrated' societies, they have, also, turned into "blood frenzy" and mass killings during several times in human history. Notorious example is the Thuggee cult of the goddess Kali in India. This cult was responsible for approximately two million deaths! Initially, Kali was a destroyer of evil forces, a benign and friendly goddess. Her consort was the Hindu god Shiva. During the ages, she turned into the opposite of this, incarnating the two sides of feminine existence. She was seen luminous as the full moon and eternally giving out ambrosia (= the divine liquid which nourished gods). She was worshipped as Kali Ma, meaning the Mother Nature. Simultaneously, she symbolized the primordial darkness, from which everything was born. So, she symbolized, also, death and destruction, sexuality and doomsday) The Thugs were considered themselves as children of the goddess Kali and they are known as the ‘cult assassins’. They believed that they could keep in balance the world with their murders, in this eternal battle between the Good and the Evil. They did not kill women, because they

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were considered as incarnations of Kali. Their action lasted from the 13th to the 19th centuries Current Era.

Twelve Tables engraving. Roman civilians examining the Twelve Tables after they were first implemented. Image Credit: Unknown - staff.4j.lane.edu. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

According to the pagan Roman law, in its Twelve Tables, provisions against evil incantations and spells (intended to damage cereal crops) are included. In 331 Before Current Era, one hundred and seventy women were executed as witches, because they were accused as responsible for an epidemic illness. In 184 Before Current Era, about two thousand people were executed for witchcraft (veneficium), and in 182-180 Before Current Era, another three thousand executions took place, again, triggered by the outbreak of an epidemic. These persecutions of witches continued in the Roman Empire until the late 4th century Current Era. The Roman tradition, expressed via the Lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficiis by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in the 2nd century Before Current Era, became an important source of late Medieval and early Modern European Law on Witchcraft. This hideous phenomenon was always related to human psychic reactions under stressful environmental conditions (for example, during the Black Death outbreaks).

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The Malefizhaus of Bamberg, Germany, where suspected witches were held and interrogated. 1627 engraving. Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, V B 211-m. Image Credit: Unknown - staatsbibliothek-bamberg.de. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Later on, it had been known as the witch hunt orgy of massacres in Europe and North America during the Early Modern period (between 1480 and 1750 Current Era), resulting in an estimated 40 000 to 60 000 executions! The witch-hunts sponsored by the Roman Catholic Inquisition, begun only in the Late Middle Ages. Various pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas performed sacrificial rituals. Amongst the most notorious were: (1) Incas, who performed child sacrifices (children were considered as pure beings) during or after important events, such as the death of their emperor (Sapa Inca) or during/after a famine, eclipse, earthquake or epidemics, (2) the Teotihuacano culture, where burials of children have been uncovered at the four corners of the Pyramid of the Sun and newborn skeletons have been associated with altars, and (3) the Aztecs, who practiced human sacrifice on a large scale (by thousands). The most dreadful of all were combined with anthropophagy, when they offered human victims to the god Huitzilopochtli to restore the blood he lost (as the Sun was engaged in a daily battle to light the world), and to prevent the end of the world that could happen on each 52-year cycle. The name of the Aztec god means "Blue hummingbird on the left". The xiuhcoatl (turquoise or fire serpent) was his mystical weapon. The great temple at Tenochtitlan was surmounted by two sanctuaries, the one on the 452

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left dedicated to the god Tlaloc (god of Rain and Agriculture) and the one on the right to the god Huitzilopochtli (god of the Sun and the War). The preparation of Tlacatlaolli (= a Nahuatl word roughly meaning ‘maize-and-man stew’ or alternately ‘human stew’) was the culmination of an elaborate Aztec ritual of human sacrifice, described in the Codex of Mendoza. Today, many scientists (anthropologists, ecologists, sociologists, theologists and psychologists) have been studied this phenomenon.

A tzompantli (skull rack) to the right of an Aztec temple dedicated to the Huitzilopochtli; illustration from the 1587 Aztec manuscript, the Codex Tovar (known also as Ramirez Codex). Image Credit: Juan de Tovar - John Carter Brown Library. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

Evidence for survival cannibalism at Anasazi sites of southwestern USA has caused friction in the scientific community. In fact, this is one of the great prehistoric puzzles: what pushed those people who created one of the most sophisticated civilizations in North America (their modern-day descendants are the highly spiritual Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo peoples), to abandon their beautiful stone dwellings in the mid-12th century Current Era, in great haste, leaving behind even food cooking over fires and sandals hanging on pegs? In Chaco Canyon, Chimney Rock Archaeological Area, and Mesa Verde researchers have already discovered at least thirty-eight sites with cannibalistic evidence. Population pressure and environmental problems seem to be the main culprits for the onset of such attitude and for their subsequent demise as well. 453

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But, what can we say about the cannibalistic rituals of the Neolithic and Palaeolithic tribes? Cannibalism (either survival or aggressive), is a behaviour occurred since the beginning of human history. Today, we can’t tell for sure if it was a ‘usual’ one, amongst Neanderthals and archaic hominids, too. Stone core-choppers, chipping debris and the bones of bison, deer, wild sheep and other animals, along with the butchered remains of at least six human children and adolescents, were the finds of an archaeological excavation at the cave called Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, northeastern Spain), one of the oldest human sites in Europe (only Dmanisi in Georgia being older). The human bodies were decapitated, the brains had been eaten and the bones smashed to get the nutritious marrow inside. This oldest layer, called the Aurora Stratum (or TD6), was dated using electron spin resonance to approximately 780 000 years ago, or a little earlier. The evidence of butchering, including dismembering, defleshing, and skinning of the hominids is the oldest proof of human cannibalism found to date. Anthropologists claim that the human remains belonged to a hominid ancestor called Homo antecessor, or perhaps Homo erectus. The whole evidence spans a period of around hundred thousand years. This means that the practice was not just chosen during times of food crises. In Spanish cave (Sidrón Cave - Piloña municipality, Asturias, northwestern Spain), scientists recovered the remains of at least twelve Neanderthal individuals: three men, three adolescent boys, three women and three infants. This case of cannibalism is characterized by scientists as a response to severe episodes of extreme scarcity, around 43 000 years ago. Modern researchers have assumed that Neanderthals may have been eaten by anatomically modern humans in ritual defleshing (known also as excarnation = removing the flesh and organs of a dead body). There is archaeological evidence of human sacrifice in Neolithic to Eneolithic Europe. For example, in southwestern Germany (Herxheim), archaeologists unearthed clear evidence of mass cannibalism. Even children and unborn babies were on the menu! Around 7000 years ago, the first European farming societies may have been collapsing in upheaval and violence. The phenomenon of ritual cannibalism was still practiced in Papua New Guinea (country in Oceania, Pacific Ocean) till 2012 Current Era, for 454

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cultural reasons; and by various Melanesian tribes, in ritual cases and in war, too. The beautiful and famous Fiji islands were once known as the “Cannibal Isles”!

Hansel and Gretel. Illustration by Arthur Rackham, 1909. It is a well-known German fairy tale about a young brother and sister. It was recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. The children were kidnapped by a cannibalistic witch living in a forest, in a house constructed of cake, confectionery, candy, and many more treats than are imaginable. This fairy tale may have originated in the medieval period of the Great Famine(1315–1321 Current Era), which caused desperate people to abandon young children to fend for themselves, or even resort to cannibalism. Image Credit: http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/reading/grimm/images/rackham_hans el.htm and http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/hanselgretel/ rackhamhansel.html. Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia. .

Cannibalism has been well documented from Amazon Basin to Congo in Africa and to the Māori people of New Zealand. It was also practised in ancient Egypt, Roman Egypt and during great famines. Myths, legends and folklore around the world is full of creatures that perform cannibalism. Usually, anthropologists categorize cannibalism into several typologies, such as: dietary (gluttony, gastronomic, preferential), ceremonial (ritual, magical), obligatory or emergency cannibalism (survival, famine), competition or revenge cannibalism, fertility, pietistic cannibalism, 455

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mortuary cannibalism for â&#x20AC;&#x153;the maintenance and reproduction of the social order", punishment and revenge cannibalism, shipwreck, and siege cannibalism, etc. Usually, environmental stress on human populations, can lead to cannibalism as a survival mechanism when the environmental resources are restricted or fluctuated. Cannibalism remains a human taboo.

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21. HERITAGE AND CATASTROPHES Crises, wars, terrorism, environmental accidents caused by humans, modern activities (such deforestation, natural sources over-exploitation, constructions of huge dams, pollution) and natural phenomena, do not destroy only human infrastructures, but also natural landscapes and many valuable ancient monuments and other features (archaeological, cultural, ethnographic, ecological, scientific and industrial), which today are known as heritage. These features may be in plain sight or “hidden” in modern landscapes. The landscapes may be natural or cultural or both.

Glacier, Patagonia, Argentina. Glaciers retreat steadily all around the world, because of the climatic change. Whole areas and mountain peaks previously covered with thick perennial ice are now ice-free. Beautiful Ecosystems, local communities and entire lifestyles vanish. CC0 Creative Commons. Image Source: Pixabay. Summer in desert. Inner Mongolia. Fertile lands become desert, gradually in many places of the world. Soil erosion, deforestation, climatic change, droughts and intense human activities turn green lands into barren soils. They existing deserts, also, expand, and cover larger areas than before. CC0 Creative Commons. Image Source: Pixabay.

According to the Article 27 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “the right to a cultural heritage is an integral element of humanity” and “the diversity of such resources is essential for sustaining the ability to cope with the past, present and future”. The natural hazards occur at irregular intervals and at varying intensity. Some regions and locations are more at risk than others, due to 457

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their geology, topography and proximity to hazard sources. The disaster risk exists when the hazards interact with physical, social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities. A disaster archaeologist understands from the beginning few things: (1) The archaeological features can be found within the modern landscapes / seascapes, but they are fragmented by nature (materials and objects are usually mixed up, scattered, removed apart or vanished forever due to various natural phenomena or human-induced actions), (2) The hazards may coexist and act synergistically (for example a volcanic explosion and a mudslide, an earthquake and a tsunami, etc), (3) Each landscape represents multiple coexisting cultures, simultaneously expressed or overlaid historically (for example, different cultures may exist in the same area at the same time or one after the other), (4) The cultural heritage may also embrace â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;intangible cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, mentifacts, memories and various forms of expression (for example, language and local traditions), (5) The materials of monuments are often either vulnerable by nature, or repeatedly damaged by past catastrophes and human actions, (6) All the landscapes / seascapes are constantly changing through geological, hydrological, climatic, biological and biochemical processes. Surprisingly, many natural processes (for example waters with low oxygen, or very dry climatic conditions in desert areas), local geological features (for example, inaccessible caves) and even disastrous phenomena (for example, flooding and deposition of rapidly accumulated sediments), may preserve valuable geoarchaeological and archaeological information, because they protect these sites from overexploitation, degradation, pollution, and human destruction. Today, scientific breakthroughs and advanced technologies have being applied for hazard risk reduction. The most widely used and known technical platform in the field of disasters and heritage is the famous GIS. ESRI is an international supplier of the Geographic Information System software, web GIS and geo-database management applications. Once used only by a select few organizations and research institutes, today, GIS is used by the majority of cities and towns, states, institutes and services all over the world. Today, GIS technologies are used to collect, store, analyse, and share geo-spatial information needed by all kind of agencies. 458

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During the last decades, GIS has been especially used worldwide in many phases of disaster cycle, from hazard assessment to disaster relief. New geospatial technologies and GIS professionals can assist immediately and help in the understanding of the hazards (risks and disasters), in the analysis of infrastructure, in the restoration of services, in various operations and facilities, and above all, in the highest life safety, the facility repair priorities and the emergency supply chain management.

This is an example how dynamic GIS works. Image Credit: Prof. Tamás János, Fórián Tünde, Geoinformatics (2008). Image Source: Digitális Tankönyvtár.

Moreover, in cases of persistent disasters (for example, floods, wildfires, chemical dispersion, weather events), GIS can model the speed, direction, and intensity of the events, and produce maps and imagery of the incidents. In cases of large-scale disasters in remote locations throughout the world, GIS analyses the vulnerable populations, the security requirements and the preventive assistance, In this way, it identifies the appropriate relief measures, and maintains and displays the status of the response, relief, and recovery efforts. We have already seen the footprints of early hominids preserved in volcanic ash. It means that humans lived and interacted with natural hazards since the dawn of time. In every person's lifetime, at least one natural hazard will likely have some impact on their life. Hazards may cause severe damage and provoke irreversible reactions, too. It is very difficult to all agree on the meaning of the terms 'disaster' and 'catastrophe' (different scientific fields or cultures may mean different things). And, they are different methodological analyses in hazard 459

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assessment (= when we try to find, understand and analyse the probable risks in areas, populations and heritage). The rapid environmental changes and the urban development are more and more complex and require detailed surveys and monitoring, multiple scenarios and solutions, as well. GIS has been used in archaeology since the 1980s, and aerial photography has a long history of use. But it has been widely adopted after the new millennium. Memory institutions (for example, the museums) ensure the sense of continuity, security and integrity of living communities. They fight against the destabilisation, alienation and disorientation of the citizens and provide proper care and socialization for the younger generations, because the exhibit the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cultural propertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Collections may include: archives (manuscripts, books, documents, photographs / slides, negatives, motion picture films, CDs, framed items, coated papers, archival box files), social history items, fine and decorative art (for example, easel paintings, frescoes, mosaics), geological collections, biological collections made of plants (wood samples, tree rings, large seeds or fruits, economic botany samples, pollen, very small seeds, dissected parts), invertebrates and vertebrates (fish, amphibian and reptiles, birds and mammals) in the forms of models in wax and glass, synthetic polymers, molds, skeletons or mummified specimen. The archaeological collections contain archaeological objects, originated in the ancient past or being quite young in date. So, archaeological collections include inorganic artefacts (metal, ceramics, glass, stone) and organic artefacts (leather, basketry, textiles, modern plastics and other synthetics, bone, teeth). They may, also, contain nonartefactual samples, such as botanical material, soils, pollen, snails, insect remains, and parasites. An important part of archaeological collections are archival records (for example, field notes, photographs, maps, digital documentation). Unfortunately, the colossal magnitude of the loss and damage of heritage diminishes the pool of knowledge and wisdom, from which we draw our strength and resilience. In many cases, we cannot rehabilitate or restore what has been lost, but we can prevent a further loss of cultural heritage.

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The top eight international museums: The “Castle” (1847), the Smithsonian Institute’s first building and still its headquarters - Washington D.C., United States; the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with approximately 154 million artifacts and specimens. State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia; established in the late eighteenth century by Catherine the Great, the Hermitage is now home to over 3 million works of art; it is recognized in the Guinness Book of Records, as having the world’s largest collection of paintings. The British Museum, London, England; with 8 million works in its permanent collections. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA; the largest art museum in the United States, the fifth most visited museum of any kind in the world; over 2 million works in its permanent collections. Le Vatican Museums, Vatican State, Italy; they display works from the immense collection amassed by the popes throughout the centuries, including several of the most renowned Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world; with 70 000 works in their collections. Le Louvre, Paris, France, with 38 000 objects exhibited; the museum opened on August 10, 1793. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain; with around 8200 drawings, 7600 paintings, 4800 prints, and 1000 sculptures, plus a large number of other works of art and historic documents. Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece, with 4000 objects exhibited; Greeks hope and struggle for the return of Parthenon Marbles (Elgin marbles) from the British Museum and their housing in Acropolis Museum.

Many monuments and beautiful historic artefacts of great importance all over the world suffer from air pollution, the Parthenon– Acropolis (Athens, Greece) and Taj Mahal–Agra (India) being among them. Another interesting case is the Maya ruins in the Yucatan Peninsula (southeastern Mexico, central America). The Maya monuments are considered Monuments to Mankind by UNESCO. 461

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The human rights of the local cultures (for example the Aborigines) are perhaps the least developed in the human rights field. And, the human cultural resources of our planet are finite and non-replenishable. The United Nations General Assembly, first, established the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), in1990’s. Its basic objective was to decrease the loss of life, property destruction and social and economic disruption caused by natural disasters (such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and landslides, volcanic eruptions, drought, and locust infestations). In 2007, the United Nations Education Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO), held a Convention concerning the protection of the word cultural and natural heritage.

Taj Mahal (meaning “the crown of the palaces”). Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. An ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the river Yamuna. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Janan (1628-1658 Current Era) to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. CC0 Creative Commons. It is a UNESCO World heritage Site since 1983. Acid rain and air attacks in case of conflict, are two major dangers for this famous monument. Image Source: Pixabay. More than 50% of the world's languages are located in just eight countries (denoted in red on the map): India, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Cameroon. In such countries and around them are the areas that are the most linguistically diverse in the world (denoted in blue on the map). Image Credit: Davius - Own work. Linguistic diversity in the world: (Source: Ethnologue map). Public Domain. Image Source: Wikipedia

The cultural heritage is, also, protected because it has economic value, uniqueness, aesthetic, environmental, archaeological, touristic and scientific value. It promotes the social awareness, as it is a symbol of identity for the local communities. It preserves historical memory for the generations to come.

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Gradually, cities and countries decided to use the environmental management to protect their natural and cultural heritage and to promote sustainable development (for example, in saltworks, marine parks, and protected eco-regions). And they used, too, GIS, in ecology labs, planning departments, parks, agencies, and non-profit organizations. Big restoration programmes started, to protect famous monuments from deterioration and further destruction. Google Earth Enterprise version and other worldwide monitoring techniques, 3-D animations and a huge variety of geographical information in a 24-hour based system are now used. Cultural heritage is extremely benefited from these techniques. They offer most reliable, cost-effective and socially active solutions, especially for countries with ‘fragmented’ and complex geography (for example, with high mountains or isolated areas with often inaccessible local environments, such as coastlines and small islands). Virtual Archaeology gives people the opportunity to visit the cultural sites and admire the exhibits of museums or the modern landscapes via web solutions (computer-based visualizations such as virtual tours, interactive websites, etc). This is an ecologically friendly option of tourism, which allows people with disabilities, economic problems or remote access state, to know the world and enjoy the universal heritage of Humanity. Many people, today, want to visit places where big disasters took place in the past. Disaster Tourism (term established by the author of this book) includes areas such: (1) The famous sceneries of colossal paleo/archaeo-disasters (for example, the Deccan Traps in India, Toba - Indonesia, Santorini - Greece, Yellowstone – USA), (2) Places with prominent palaeoanthropological significance (for example, Rift Valley - Africa, Flores Island - Indonesia, Neanderthal Valley, Germany), (3) Controversial landscapes famous for their lore and myth (for example, proposed locations of Atlantis, the Bermuda’s’ Triangle), (4) Modern areas which are a palimpsest (= with disaster evidence layered one upon the other, from the most recent to the most ancient) of archaeodisasters (for example, Crete - Greece, Venice-Italy, Alexandria Egypt, even mega-cities like New York - USA, London – UK),

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(5) Areas with endangered landscapes of tangible and intangible heritage - where, traditions, languages and other socio-cultural patterns are endangered / about to- or have extinct, (for example, the Amazonian tribes, Kalas tribe in Central Asia), areas where huge dams have or are about to construct (for example, Three Gorges area - China, the new dams construction area- Ethiopia), etc, (6) Landscapes with endangered biodiversity (for example, riverine estuaries all over the world, African savannahs, coral reefs), (7) Areas where Nature 'forged' majestic landscapes over millions of years (for example, Grand Canyon, Mediterranean Basin, mountain ranges, the Arctic), (8) Places with artistic human expressions (for example, French and Iberian caves with Palaeolithic rock paintings, Sahara mural art, etc), (9) Legendary lost cities of the world (for example, Tikal in Guatemala, Great Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe, Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, Mosque city of Bagerhat in Bangladesh, Mesa Verde in Colorado â&#x20AC;&#x201C; USA, Vijayanagar in India, and Ani in Turkey).

Usually, when a disaster strikes an area, the world is quick to respond and provide aid to people. Many may have died or the ones that survived have lost their homes and their possessions. Perhaps they may even be without food and water. But these people who are in ultimate despair donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to lose, also, their heritage and their culture. This could have the most devastating effects on their life. All countries of the world must adopt plans to prevent destruction and looting of heritage. Landscapes, trees and animals, waters and clean air, sounds, smells and tastes, works of art, artifacts and buildings, words, 464

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traditions, ceremonies, memories and people, all are Heritage. They are the gift of our ancestors to us and to the generations to comeâ&#x20AC;¦

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22. LESSONS LEARNED Since nobody can predict the future, why have we to bother with disasters which happened hundreds or even thousands of years ago? Well, everyone is exposed to at least one or several hazards in his/her lifetime, which can turn into a disaster. So, we can use different data and information from the past disasters for our own safety, to make case scenarios (with comparison and simulation), to learn how ancient people reacted to catastrophes, how they managed to survive and thrive through the roughest adversities, to deepen our knowledge, to be educated on how we can face or avoid disasters, to be prepared and inspired. Ancient people viewed disasters in many ways, as we do today. We can handle the sufferings by being an observer, an analyst, an actor or all of them. Humans (with their body â&#x20AC;&#x201C; mind â&#x20AC;&#x201C; soul - emotions - behaviour) react at a conscious and unconscious level, when the phenomena are both unexpected and unexplainable. Moreover, we shall not forget that there is an ethical and practical framework for disaster victims (and dont forget that the majority of people included in emergencies in the past and, many of them today had not / have ever the opportunity to stay safe, at least after the disaster strikes): A. Protection of Life, Security of the Person, Physical Integrity and Dignity (evacuations, relocations and other life-saving measures, protection against the negative impacts of natural hazards, protection against violence including gender-based violence, camp security) B. Protection of Rights Related to Basic Necessities of Life (access to goods, services, and humanitarian action, provision of adequate food, water and sanitation, shelter, clothing and essential health services C. Protection of Other Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, education, property and possession, housing, livelihood and work D. Protection of Other Civil and Political Rights (documentation, freedom of movement and right to return, family life and missing or dead relatives, expression, assembly and association, and religion, electoral rights). We shall, also, not forget that throughout human history, many hazardous phenomena, such as epidemics and famines, may have started 466

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as natural events, but they turned out to be severely aggravated by the human factors. And vice versa, huge human migrations, plagues, bloodsoaked wars, fierce conflicts, and devastating attacks have been caused after severe environmental disasters. Catastrophes are the causes for collapses of even the mightiest of empires, as history has taught us. Today, the severe global environmental changes require the global understanding of resilience. “Think resilience” means the ability to persist in the face of change, the adaptability to new realities, or the transformation to fundamentally new paths for development. In fact, this is a way of seeing the world, of offering a new perspective, of building understanding in our deeply interconnected and ever-changing world. Poverty, injustice, and inequality always aggravate when disasters happen. These societies become increasingly vulnerable to natural hazards. Children, and, especially, children with disabilities, are the most vulnerable members of societies when facing disasters. Unfortunately, the social characteristics of human societies like age, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, and disability, are central to understanding the coping capacity during disasters, in children (including teenagers), too. All children understand and experience the world differently to adults, but they can be highly resourceful at the same time. We should not label children as uniformly vulnerable, but instead, give them the space to identify their own capacities and agency. Approximately, two-hundred million children worldwide experience various forms of disability. They have various physical, psychological, and educational issues in terms of disasters. Their traumatic loss for the separation from caregivers is heavier. That’s why they need medical, familial, social, and educational protective frameworks and vital social networks. The United Nations’ Office for Disaster Risk Reduction recognizes that children are disproportionately affected by disasters, and they should be given the opportunity to contribute to disaster risk reduction (DRR). But, omitting youngsters’ voices silences their own sense of identity and undermines their capacity for resilience. We should, also, not marginalize children and youth with disabilities. The children are empowered to tell their own stories and to actively participate in community recovery processes, to prepare survival plans, and to be educated on disaster resilience. 467

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Wherever local infrastructures with pediatricians exist, they should communicate with families about children and youth with special health care needs. Parents of course, know their child best and can greatly benefit from their help with planning before an emergency or disaster. Act and prepare written emergency plans. It should be a Disaster Supply Kit in every family. Obtain necessary supplies, such as extra medications, which can be stored for longer periods. If young people need a power source for medical equipment or refrigeration for special supplies or food, try to maintain the existing or have extra equipment functioning without conventional electricity supply. If there is a need for special food (for example due to allergies), baby food, formula, bottles, or a breast pump with extra batteries plan to always provide the appropriate to the child or young. If the children need alternative plans to get from one place to another (for example, manual wheelchair, stair chair, or slide), consider the option of having a special vehicle or ask for help in case you cannot afford to have one. Especially in case of youth with complicated needs, the families should ask guidance, help and advice from the local community, state infrastructures and health facilities before emergencies or disasters. Local Emergency Medical Services and other responders should be notified in advance if the child and young has a particular need for equipment that requires electricity, during hospitalization or transportation if required. Even if children are sufficiently vaccinated, for example against seasonal influenza, the ones with chronic medical conditions, such as asthma, diabetes mellitus, hemodynamically significant cardiac disease, immunosuppression, or neurologic and neurodevelopmental disorders, they should be able to get treated early and aggressively if they develop influenza-like illness. This case scenario, of course, includes all possible side effects of disasters on health and well being of a child or young with special needs. And all of us, we should not forget the other equally vulnerable members of our communities, like elders, people with disabilities at any age, and pregnant women, people with low income, families with single parents, etc. Do not exclude anyone. Help and support anyone in danger with consideration to his /her needs, beliefs and problems.

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With your friends, siblings, parents and teachers, visit these websites to inform more: https://www.cdc.gov/childrenindisasters/index.html https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-foremergencies/disaster-safety-for-people-with-disabilities.html https://www.ready.gov/individuals-access-functional-needs. The endless complexities of the human mind, the disasters which happen from the dawn of history, and this multicultural world have forged human history. Disasters and crises are indeed, both natural and social phenomena. And, vice versa, these major change agents have created the panorama of human cultures and landscapes all over the world. Future research should pay more emphasis on this perspective, not only on contemporary catastrophes, but also on the disasters of the past. Children and teens stay safe in love and peaceâ&#x20AC;Ś Respect all forms of Life, respect Nature and every Human Being. Thrive and help always other people. Be engaged in the humanistic and environmental activities of your communities. Be the leading paradigm for your families and friends. All together we can share a more fair, beautiful and exciting worldâ&#x20AC;Ś

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23. JUST A FEW MORE DETAILS

CULTURES OF THE WORLD Great Websites for kids http://gws.ala.org/category/social-sciences/cultures-world Countries & Cultures Crafts and Activities for Kids https://www.dltk-kids.com/world/ The best sites for learning about the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different cultures http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/08/11/the-best-sites-forlearning-about-the-worlds-different-cultures/

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PALEOMAP PROJECT 3D, maps, apps, atlas, animations, teaching material, research http://www.scotese.com/

PaleoTerra https://www.paleoterra.com/

Deep Time Maps TM - maps of ancient Earth https://deeptimemaps.com/

Global Paleogeographic View â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Google Earth https://earth.google.com/gallery/kmz/global_paleogeographic_n.kmz

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THE PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS

The periodic table, or periodic table of elements, is a tabular arrangement of the chemical elements, ordered by their atomic number (the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom), electron configuration (distribution of electrons in the molecule), and recurring chemical properties.

The discovery of the elements mapped to significant periodic table development dates (pre-, per- and post-). Image Credit: Sandbh - Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Image Source: Wikipedia.

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CONVERSION CALCULATOR

1 centimeter = 0.393701 inch 1 inch = 2.54 centimeter 1 meter = 3.28084 feet 1 foot = 0.3048 meter 1 kilometer = 0.621371 mile 1 mile = 1.60934 kilometer 1 square kilometer = 0.386102 square mile 1 square mile = 2.58999 square kilometer 1 cubic kilometer = 0.239913 cubic mile 1 cubic mile = 4.16818 cubic kilometer

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USING DATES Till recently people used to say BC or B.C. meaning the years before Christ and AD or A.D. meaning anno Domini for the dates after Christ. But, billions of people do not refer to this style. So, in this book, we use the terms Before Current Era / or Before Common Era (BCE) and Current Era (CE). For the remote periods of time, counting in millions, we use the style: â&#x20AC;Ś million years ago (because we cannot be extremely accurate about it with the precision on a year-base). Other styles are: Before Present or BP (we abstract the number of 1950, it is the decade of the 20th century, which is crucial for the dating technique). Specialized scientists, also, use the term: Calibrated Years (based on methods using Carbon) and other scientific methods. From prehistory, ancient people used different calendars (based on the Moon, the Sun, the star Sirius, the planet Venus and Mars or a combination of them). Two major systems are used from the Roman Era onwards: the Julian and the Gregorian calendar. The Julian calendar was proposed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as a reform of the Roman calendar - by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE. It took effect on January 1, 45 BCE, by edict. It was the predominant calendar in the Roman world, most of Europe, and in European settlements in the Americas and elsewhere. The Julian calendar is still used in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy, and by the Berbers. It was refined and gradually replaced by the Gregorian calendar, introduced in October 15, 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. It is the most widely used civil calendar of the world today. During the 20th and 21st centuries, the date according to the Julian calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian date, and after 2100 the difference will be wider. 474

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THE THREE MAIN MILANKOVITCH CYCLES: Precession -Obliquity - Eccentricity Universe Today – Space and Astronomy News https://www.universetoday.com/

Milankovitch Cycles https://www.skepticalscience.com/Milankovitch.html

Milankovitch Cycles – CLIMATICA http://climatica.org.uk/climate-science-information/long-termclimate-change-milankovitch-cycles

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NOAA – Climate https://www.climate.gov/

NASA – Climate Kids https://climatekids.nasa.gov/climate-change-meaning/

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS – What is Climate Change? https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/geography/generalgeography/what-is-climate-change/

eSchoolToday – CLIMATE CHANGE http://www.eschooltoday.com/climate-change/Introduction-toclimate-change-for-children.html

ESA – KIDS https://www.esa.int/kids/en/home

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ACADEMIC KIDS – ENCYCLOPEDIA https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Main_Page

DUCKSTERS – The environment for kids https://www.ducksters.com/science/environment/

US EPA – LEARNING AND TEACHING ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT https://www.epa.gov/students

KIDS NEWS – GREEN ARTICLES https://www.dogonews.com/category/green

GREAT WEBSITES FOR KIDS http://gws.ala.org/category/sciences/weather-environment

EARTH’S KIDS http://www.earthskids.com/change-save_earth.htm 477

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BRITANNICA KIDS https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/natural-disasters/609706

THE ENVIRONMENT & GREEN ISSUES FOR CHILDREN & TEENAGERS – BOOKTOPIA https://www.booktopia.com.au/books-online/kids-childrensbooks/personal-social-issues/social-issues-for-children-teenagers/theenvironment-green-issues-for-children-teenagers/cYXZG-p1.html

THE BEST ECO-FRIENDLY KIDS MOVIES https://www.ranker.com/list/best-eco-friendly-kids-movies/rankerfilm

NATURE GAMES https://pbskids.org/games/nature/

INSPIRE MY KIDS http://www.inspiremykids.com/

WWF KIDS https://wwf.panda.org/get_involved/games/

COMMON SENSE – ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE APPS, GAMES AND WEBSITES https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/excellentecology-and-environmental-science-apps-games-and-websites 478

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KIDS GEOGRAPHY https://kidsgeo.com/geography-for-kids/ecosystems/

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HISTORY FOR KIDS https://www.ducksters.com/history/

COMICS FOR DISASTERS Just write these two words in a web browser and see the results

CARTOON STOCK https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/n/natural_disaster.asp

CARTOONIST GROUP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DISASTER COMICS http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/subject/The-Disaster-Comics-andCartoons.php

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24. SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY FEMA. Youth Emergency Preparedness Curriculum-Ready Kids. https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/34411 FEMA. Ready √ Prepare. Plan. Stay informed. Kids Editions. https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4085/updates/fema-kids-know-facts LAOUPI AMANDA, 2016. Pushing the Limits: Disaster Archaeology, Archaeodisasters and Humans. Metron Publications. USA. ● since the book is hard to get in e-bookshops, if your teachers and parents want detailed info on each chapter, they can visit the electronic copy of the book, where they can read it (only). There, they can, also, find extended bibliography about specific information included in this book: https://issuu.com/alaoupi/docs/archaeo_disasters_2018 PUBLIC HEALTH – Seattle & King County. Survivor Tales. Emergency Preparedness Comic Books. https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/emergencypreparedness/preparing-yourself/comics.aspx RED CROSS. Disaster Safety for Children https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-foremergencies/disaster-safety-for-children.html TARSHIS, LAUREN, 2014. Five Epic Disasters (I survived True Stories #1). Scholastic Inc. USA. UN / UNESCO Associated Schools, 2014. Stay safe and be prepared: A parent’s Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction. Part of a three-book Compendium on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). UNESCO Digital Library. France. https://bangkok.unesco.org/content/stay-safe-and-be-preparedparent%E2%80%99s-guide-disaster-risk-reduction UN / UNESCO Associated Schools, 2014. Stay safe and be prepared: A student’s Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction. Part of a three-book Compendium on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). UNESCO Digital Library. 481

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France. https://bangkok.unesco.org/index.php/content/stay-safe-and-beprepared-student%E2%80%99s-guide-disaster-risk-reduction UN / UNESCO Associated Schools, 2014. Stay safe and be prepared: A teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction. Part of a three-book Compendium on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). UNESCO Digital Library. France. https://bangkok.unesco.org/content/stay-safe-and-be-preparedteacher%E2%80%99s-guide-disaster-risk-reduction

Of course, you can navigate the web and use the disaster term you want, in order to learn more. You can visit sites with many interesting links and images. You can find specific books, too. Better to discuss your questions with your family and teachers, to guide you for further investigation. Good luck, detectivesâ&#x20AC;Ś

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ꙮ Amanda Laoupi was born in Athens on August 19, 1968. She studied at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has a PhD in Environmental Archaeology (Summa cum Laude) and has done postdoctoral work in Earth Sciences and Environmental Studies. She has an MSc in Environmental Protection and Management. She has worked for the Goulandris Museum of Natural History and for the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) - Centre for the Assessment of Natural Hazards and Proactive Planning, as an associate researcher

ꙮ She is the founder of the interdisciplinary scientific field of Disaster Archaeology (2005), the founder and webmaster of websites on Archaeodisasters (2010). She has a rich online presence and has collaborated with a plethora of institutions, researchers and clients in a variety of topics

ꙮ Environmental & Cultural Sectors: Crisis & Disaster Studies, Hazard Heritage Management, Creative Industries & Digital Humanities, Environmental Education, Academic Research, Public & Private Consulting, Archaeodisaster & Spiritual Tourism, Gender Studies

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As I walk, as I walk The universe is walking with me In beauty it walks before me In beauty it walks behind me In beauty it walks below me In beauty it walks above me Beauty is on every side As I walk, I walk with Beauty A Traditional Navajo Prayer

As I walk, I walk with Beauty.

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