Amanda Gaggioli

Previous approaches to earthquakes in archaeology, characterizing the geoarchaeological subfield archaeoseismology, have focused on types of seismic destructions and anti-seismic constructions in architectural remains. A challenge often raised in archaeoseismology relates to issues of equifinality since other human or environmental factors can also cause the archaeoseismc types in question. Furthermore, geological markers of earthquakes are rarely identified directly, i.e., stratigraphically, with archaeoseismic evidence. To address these challenges, this paper offers a methodological innovation through the geoarchaeological subfield of soil micromorphology to investigate earthquakes in the form of seismically triggered soft sediment deformation structures (SSDS) in direct stratigraphic association with architecture. Applications to the case of Helike in Greeceinfamous victim of a major earthquake in 373 BCEreveal not only key evidence for three earthquake events in the form of seismically triggered SSDS but also other geological hazards, including flooding and rapid coastal change, in association with Hellenistic period (late fourth to second century BCE) architecture. The results offer advancements for archaeology and suggest that geoarchaeology and soil micromorphology applications become standard in archaeology, particularly archaeoseismology, for the identification and interpretation of earthquakes. These advancements offer new avenues for exploring geological aspects of the human past.

Interest in earthquakes in Mediterranean archaeology has distinct disciplinary origins. Since the inception of archaeoseismology—earthquake archaeology—in the 1980s, approaches to earthquake factors have been characterized by reliance on ancient historical sources. However, although texts have supported the identifica- tion of earthquake disasters in material destruction, documentary records extend far beyond particular events and experiences of disaster; diverse cultural perceptions of earthquakes as expressed in ancient textual sources also offer an alternative interpretation for Mediterranean archaeology. This study reviews the material- geological record of Helike in Greece—the victim of an infamous major earthquake in 373 bc—in order to assess the impact of seismic activity on the site from the third millennium bc to the fifth century ad. Evidence for such an impact includes archaeoseismic types of destruction, anti-seismic construction in architecture and stratigraphically associated soil micromorphological evidence of seismically triggered soft sediment deforma- tion structures (SSDS). A reassessment of ancient accounts of the 373 bc event to explore Graeco-Roman cultural perceptions of earthquakes provides a new interpretive frame for the material-geological record of Helike. This alternative interpretation repositions earthquakes, traditionally perceived as ‘natural’ disasters implicated in ‘collapse’ and ‘catastrophe’, as social phenomena. The case of Helike demonstrates the value of documentary records for reframing the complex social and political dimensions of recurrent earthquakes and persistent geological hazards.

Archaeoseismology uses archaeological data to establish deeper time perspectives on the relationships between sociocultural development and earthquake hazards.
Previous studies in the eastern Mediterranean have focused on architectural remains and their destruction types in order to identify and interpret past earthquake
events and their consequences. However, architectural destruction types cannot always be conclusively attributed to earthquakes. 'is paper advocates for an approach that analyzes sediments together with architectural remains in
archaeoseismic excavations. Seismic activity has an impact on soil formation, and techniques in soil micromorphology have the potential to aid in establishing
temporal and spatial linkages between observed material destruction and earthquakes. 'is contribution presents a review of soil micromorphological analysis
as part of the methodological framework for ongoing research of recently excavated fourth century CE building destruction at the urban site of Kourion in
Cyprus. 'is approach will analyze evidence for seismic activity in soils from the stratigraphic levels associated with the foundations of damaged structures. An investigation of seismically triggered soft sediment deformation structures (SSDS) in the stratigraphy at level with building destruction will provide more conclusive
evidence for the association between earthquakes and remains of building destruction. Soil micromorphological investigations of SSDS offer an innovative
analytical approach for distinguishing the effects of seismic activity in destruction contexts in the eastern Mediterranean.

The imperial Temple at the ancient Roman site of Antiochia ad Cragum has been excavated and studied
by an interdisciplinary team since 2005. The temple was found in a collapsed state. Since there were no
full-height columns and wall segments left standing, the vertical dimensions of the structure were
unknown. After detailed drawings and investigations, the original design of the façade, as well as the key
dimensions of the Temple, were established. The cause of the collapse was another unknown. As there is
documentation about major seismic events about 500 km to the east of this site during the 5th century,
collapse due to earthquakes is highly likely. This paper has three important contributions: First, it is the
first reveal of a scaled 3D structural representation of this collapsed Temple. Second, it uses unique
interdisciplinary collaboration to determine whether seismic events could be the cause of the initial
collapse of the Temple. Finally, it investigates the original Temple’s behavior under various forms of
seismic loading through discrete element modeling. The results of these interdisciplinary investigations
confirm an earthquake as a highly plausible cause of the initial collapse of this structure and demonstrate
the complex behavior of the structure under various seismic event scenarios.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15583058.2020.1728593?journalCode=uarc20

Testing the behaviour and function of projectile points broadens the understanding of site function and activities. Projectile point morphology may play a significant role in the efficiency of specific functional uses in Clovis and Cumberland projectile points. This experiment explores the inference that hafted projectile points serve secondary purposes as hafted butchering and cutting tools. The project uses four porcelain casts of Clovis and post-Clovis projectile points, natural animal leg sinew, animal hide glue, and pinewood for hafted handles. The experiment investigates whether a later morphology of projectile points is more effective for use as a knife. The quantitative results reveal the functionality of both Clovis and Cumberland point knives, but determining whether later morphologies served an improved functionality remains in question and requires further experimentation.

Gaggioli, A.M., 2021. The Ancients and Sustainability -  Review of M.D. Usher's Plato’s Pigs and other Ruminations. Ancient Guides to Living with Nature. Pp. 265, b/w & colour ills, colour map. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Cased, £29.99, US$39.99. ISBN: 978-1-108-83958-7. The Classical Review 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009840X21003103

Open Access link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-review/article/ancients-and-sustainability-md-usher-platos-pigs-and-other-ruminations-ancient-guides-to-living-with-nature-pp-265-bw-colour-ills-colour-map-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-2020-cased-2999-us3999-isbn-9781108839587/01262FD5E37D556F086DD787C6D4E36A/share/aa25d050eab31ec6547f231774b5e86d263bd287

This session focuses on how European colonialism and imperialism has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on the epistemologies and ontologies of archaeology and the academy as a whole. This has affected how and what we study and who studies it, which continues to perpetuate colonialist ideals. As Dietler has pointed out, “Perhaps the most intriguing and consequential case of ‘invented traditions’ in European history involved a sweeping ‘colonization’ of modern consciousness by the ancient Greco-Roman world” (2010: 27). In recent times, archaeologists have made contributions that have deconstructed colonial discourses of knowledge production intertwined in archaeological theory. These disciplinary critiques have revealed inequalities inherent in the discipline, destabilizing what we would consider as knowledge about the cultural past, as Atalay has suggested. This session seeks to further that discussion by encouraging intersectional dialogue between archaeologists from all contexts; anthropological, classical, prehistoric, and historic, and centers on questions regarding postcolonial, racism, subaltern, and transnational feminist/queer theory. This session seeks papers, which not only review the history of archaeology complicit in European colonialism, but also identify colonial discourses inherent in archaeological practice today. Topics may include orientalism, nationalism, subalterity, hybridity, Otherness, power, decolonialization, or other postcolonial themes. Moreover, these papers should propose recommendations and arguments for change and further developments in a postcolonial archaeology.

Earthquakes have been linked to disaster, abandonment, and ruin throughout the past. However, since ancient times humans living with persistent geological hazards have demonstrated forms of resilience. The 373 BCE earthquake in Helike, Greece, remained one of the most famous disasters in Greco-Roman culture. Its cultural memory into modern times influenced archaeological research, which had centered on desires to locate the earthquake ruined and submerged city as it had been described in ancient sources. Excavations, however, have revealed that Helike was not decisively destroyed in the 373 BCE earthquake. In fact, settlement of Helike has been continuous, since the third millennium BCE, despite high seismic hazards. An analysis of the cultural memory of the 373 BCE event and the socio-natural residues of Classical (early fourth BCE) and also Hellenistic (late fourth century BCE) Helike settlement remains reveals not only resilience but more significantly a political ecology of human-earthquake relationships. Cultural decisions negotiated environmental conditions, political leadership and organization, economic resources and production, and cultural values. The case of Helike reveals cultural continuity and change in the aftermath of earthquakes and associated seismic hazards that complicates preconceived notions of landscapes of disaster, ruin, and social downturn, resulting from earthquake hazards.

Poseidon's characterization as god of the sea is often taken for granted in Greek and Roman religion. However, one does not have to venture far off into the corpus of Greco-Roman accounts of earthquakes to find another impression of Poseidon as the embodiment of geophysical forces, as s ome have highlighted (e.g. Burkert 1985: 137-139; Mylonopoulos 2005). This paper views Greco-Roman textual accounts of Poseidon as forms of traditional environmental knowledge (Berkes 1993, 1999) and as emic, or rather internal, culturally specific, perspectives (Headland 1990; Kottak 2006) on the causes, nature, and social significance of seismic phenomena. Beneath the surface of ancient historical, philosophical, and literary accounts of Poseidon lies a stratum of Greco-Roman cultural and practical conceptions on the causes and consequences, both social and natural, of earthquakes and related seismic phenomena. Greco-Roman accounts of Poseidon, spanning the Late Bronze Age (c.1200 BCE) to early Byzantine (c. 400-1000 CE) periods, reveal Poseidon 'earthshaker' as the entity which embodies dualistic elemental geophysical forces of destruction and construction directed at punishing or protecting humans and their built structures. This evidence unveils Poseidon not only as the earliest but also the most widely accepted explanation of seismic phenomena-a characterization that persisted for several hundreds of years, even after the establishment of Aristotle's 'scientific' theory on earthquakes in the fourth century BCE. By analyzing recurring patterns in narratives concerning Poseidon as the embodiment of seismic forces over the long-term, this paper explains the culturally embedded rationale behind his particularized epithets and characterization in understanding the causes and consequences of seismic phenomena in the Greco-Roman world. This rationale communicated and established a cultural awareness of seismic hazards and risks.

During the 2019 Helike field season, a program of soil micromorphological sampling was carried out in order to investigate geological deformation discovered at the Romanos site in direct association with the Hellenistic Helike architectural remains. The geoarchaeological subfield of soil micromorphology extends macro-and meso-scales of analysis of archaeological soils and sediments for interpreting post-depositional processes, paleoenvironmental and anthropogenic soil formations and disturbances, and past human-environment relationships. Geological phenomena, such as earthquakes, liquefaction, landslides, slumps, and flooding, have an impact on soil formation, and techniques of soil micromorphology have the potential to detect their geological residues in direct correlation with observed material destruction. This paper presents the results of soil micromorphological analysis of the Hellenistic Romanos site, which attest to paleoenvironmental conditions, anthropogenic effects on soil formation during occupation, post-depositional processes, and soft sediment deformation. The discovery of soft sediment deformation structures (SSDS) in the stratigraphy in layers below, through, and above building destruction provides conclusive evidence for the association between geological deformation and remains of building destruction. Furthermore, results on the micro-scale confirm observations of sediment deformation on the meso-scale in pre-and post-occupation phases. Investigations of SSDS in the Hellenistic Romanos area demonstrate the efficacy of applying soil micromorphological techniques for distinguishing the past effects of seismic activity and other types of geological deformation on the human built environment. This innovative application of soil micromorphology offers avenues for further application in other occupational contexts of the Helike Delta Plain, and Mediterranean archaeology more broadly, to interpret human-geological environment relationships with respect to earthquakes and other geological hazards in the long-term.

The subfield of archaeseismology uses archaeological data to establish deeper time perspectives on the relationships between sociocultural development and recurring earthquake hazards. Previous studies in the eastern Mediterranean have focused on architectural remains and their destruction types in order to identify and interpret past earthquake events and their sociocultural consequences. Since architectural destruction types cannot always be conclusively attributed to earthquakes, this project advocates for an interdisciplinary approach that analyzes sediments together with architectural remains in archaeoseismic excavations. I demonstrate the advantages of using the geoarchaeological method of soil micromorphology in the archaeoseismic case of recently excavated fourth century CE building destruction at the urban site of Kourion in Cyprus. Seismic activity has an impact on soil formation, and techniques in soil micromorphology have the potential to aid in establishing temporal and spatial linkages between observed material destruction and earthquake events. My project analyzes evidence for seismic activity in soils from the stratigraphic levels associated with the foundations of damaged structures. Evidence for past earthquakes in soil formation includes various types of liquid escape microfeatures and other types of deformation microstructures in soils. The presence of seismically induced soil features in the stratigraphy at level with building destruction provides more conclusive evidence for the association between earthquakes and remains of building destruction. This project advances the use of soil micromorphology for studies of seismic phenomena at archaeological sites and contributes to more sophisticated understandings of the relationship between human communities and seismic environments in the ancient eastern Mediterranean.

Recently, archaeologists have devoted much attention to the social impacts of climate change and environmental disasters in the ancient Mediterranean. In terms of earthquake hazards, archaeological interpretations are often paradoxical and binary. On one end, archaeologists have interpreted earthquakes as the cause of site and regional wide destructions and also abrupt social change. On the other end, archaeologists deny the potential destructive and social impacts of earthquakes. This paper incorporates Greco-Roman cultural perspectives on earthquakes into archaeological data collection techniques and interpretation in order to advance interpretations on the social impacts of earthquakes and associated seismic phenomena. Greco-Roman textual accounts of earthquakes, specifically as they relate to the human-built environment, offer forms of traditional environmental knowledge (Berkes 1993, 1999) and emic, or rather internal, culturally specific, perspectives (Ager and Loughry 2004; Headland 1990; Kottak 2006) on the causes, nature, and social consequences of seismic phenomena. Through the case of the multi-occupational site of Helike spanning the Early Bronze Age (2500 BCE) to the Roman periods (third century CE) in the northwest Peloponnese of Greece, this paper mobilizes Greco-Roman earthquake narratives in data collection techniques and interpretation of associated soil and architectural remains. The results point to the variable social effects of earthquake hazards, regardless of magnitude, from the scale of the city or site to public versus private household structures and to particular structural elements. Furthermore, the results reveal the dynamic relationship between humans and the geological environment with respect to earthquakes and seismic hazards in the Helike Delta Plain over the short and long terms. On the whole, this paper demonstrates how the incorporation of cultural perceptions of environmental disaster and change advances interpretations on not only the social impacts of earthquakes but more largely human-environmental relationships in Mediterranean archaeology as a whole.

The subfield of archaeoseismology uses archaeological data to establish deeper time perspectives on the relationships between sociocultural development and recurring earthquake hazards. Previous studies in the eastern Mediterranean have focused on architectural remains and their destruction types in order to identify and interpret past earthquake events and their sociocultural consequences. Since not all architectural destruction types can be conclusively attributed to earthquakes, this project advocates for an interdisciplinary approach that analyzes sediments together with architectural remains in archaeoseismic excavations. I demonstrate the advantages of using the geoarchaeological method of soil micromorphology in two archaeoseismic cases in western Turkey: the Roman site of Antiochia ad Cragum and Byzantine site of Blaundos. Seismic activity has an impact on soil formation, and techniques in soil micromorphology have the potential to aid in establishing temporal and spatial linkages between observed material destruction and earthquake events. My project analyzes evidence for seismic activity in soils from the stratigraphic levels associated with the foundations of damaged structures. Evidence for past earthquakes in soil formation includes various types of liquid escape microfeatures and softsediment microstructures. The presence of seismically induced soil features in the stratigraphy at level with building destruction provides more conclusive evidence for the association between earthquakes and remains of building destruction. This project advances the use of soil micromorphology for studies of seismic phenomena at archaeological sites and contributes to more sophisticated understandings of the relationship between human communities and seismic environments in the ancient eastern Mediterranean.

Disaster research is concerned with the resilience of social, economic, and political systems in human societies, especially in urban contexts, at the face of environmental risks, such as earthquakes. The history of human activity in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region intimately involves encounters with disasters related to the tectonic environment. This project first examines methodologies and theories applicable to the study of disasters occurring in the ancient Mediterranean, which include approaches from archaeology, literary and historical textual studies, the natural sciences, and also resilience theory and the adaptive cycle from ecology. Resilience theory and the adaptive cycle can be applied across many scales in time and space, and when applied to completed cycles of past environmental stresses, such as earthquakes and climate change, it can provide insight into similar problems prevalent in contemporary society. Using these multidisciplinary approaches, this project secondly explores the case study of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1700-1200 BCE) Aegean island of Akrotiri with a primary focus on the complexities of earthquakes leading up to the c. 1630 BCE eruption of the Thera volcano. Analysis of the case study of Akrotiri reveals both the short-and long-term effects of earthquakes and associated disasters on society not only at the site level but also at the level of the entire eastern Mediterranean region. Seismic phenomena impacted cultural adaptation, complexity, and innovation at Akrotiri as observed through architectural and technological changes in response to earthquake events. Patterns of restoration and reconstruction activities highlight the capacity and resources of the inhabitants to engineer seismic resilient architectures and to develop building regulations. Similar earthquake responses seen in building patterns in other Mediterranean urban contexts both ancient and modern, such as Pompeii (79 AD) and Lisbon (1755), highlight convergent patterns of inhabitants in local seismic cultures to innovate building technology and develop building regulations not only through codified written policies but also through ideologies and knowledge passed between local members and generations. Overall, the case study of Akrotiri aids in the reconstruction of socioeconomic and political effects of earthquakes and associated disasters, while also revealing the advantages of applying multidisciplinary approaches to disaster research.

Disaster research is concerned with the resilience of social, economic, and political systems in human societies, especially in urban contexts, at the face of environmental risks, such as earthquakes. The history of human activity in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region intimately involves encounters with disasters related to the tectonic environment. This project first examines methodologies and theories applicable to the study of disasters occurring in the ancient Mediterranean, which include approaches from archaeology, literary and historical textual studies, the natural sciences, and also resilience theory and the adaptive cycle from ecology. Resilience theory and the adaptive cycle can be applied across many scales in time and space, and when applied to completed cycles of past environmental stresses, such as earthquakes and climate change, it can provide insight into similar problems prevalent in contemporary society. Using these multidisciplinary approaches, this project secondly explores the case study of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1700-1200 BCE) Aegean island of Akrotiri with a primary focus on the complexities of earthquakes leading up to the c. 1630 BCE eruption of the Thera volcano. Analysis of the case study of Akrotiri reveals both the short-and long-term effects of earthquakes and associated disasters on society not only at the site level but also at the level of the entire eastern Mediterranean region. Seismic phenomena impacted cultural adaptation, complexity, and innovation at Akrotiri as observed through architectural and technological changes in response to earthquake events. Patterns of restoration and reconstruction activities highlight the capacity and resources of the inhabitants to engineer seismic resilient architectures and to develop building regulations. The case study of Akrotiri aids in the reconstruction of socioeconomic and political effects of earthquakes and associated disasters, while also revealing the advantages of applying multidisciplinary approaches to disaster research.

The capacity of resilience to environmental risks in urban societies, is a major concern of disaster research. In the climatically and seismically complex region of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, analyses of the risks, vulnerability, and response of human societies to environmental risks in terms of social, economic, political, and technological changes are possible. In particular, the concepts and goals of disaster research applied as a framework to the cases of Akrotiri and Pompeii in their final phases during periods of frequent earthquakes prior to the catastrophic Bronze Age (c. 1630 BCE) and 79 CE eruptions reveal the complexities involved in determining when and how the added stress of seismic activity impacted early urban societies. Patterns of restoration and reconstruction activities highlight that the inhabitants developed as local seismic cultures with the capacity and resources to engineer seismic resilient architectures and to develop building regulations not codified under written policies, but rather through ideologies and knowledge passed between local members and generations. The examination of rebuilding activities prior to the Thera and Vesuvius eruptions have a number of shared insights, which can be applied to the study of earthquakes and associated natural disasters throughout the ancient Mediterranean and Near East where evidence of earthquakes is prevalent. Analyses of disaster response in ancient urban societies can even provide a source of knowledge for engineering communities to better assess seismic vulnerability and identify strategies to improve the resilience of buildings in modern urban contexts.

The history of human activity in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region intimately involves encounters with the tectonic environment. Using a combination of data from the archaeological record, ancient texts, and scientific methods, this project explores the relationship between humans and their tectonic environment with a primary focus on the complexities of natural disasters occurring in the Aegean region during the Bronze Age. Ancient texts beginning in the third millennium BCE attest to earthquake imagery, while texts from periods in the late second to throughout the first millennium BCE ascribe particular episodes to earthquake events. The research first examines methodology and theory surrounding the general problem of natural disasters occurring in antiquity. In addition to observing human responses to disasters in antiquity, there is, second, a discussion of the problems and issues of identifying the nature and characterization of destruction at archaeological sites. Natural disasters often provide a logical explanation for destruction at a site, but it may often times be an assumed explanation without considering the alternative circumstances or the expertise needed from other fields of research available in historical and geologic data. The third section examines case studies at Akrotiri, Mycenae, and Troy, which serve as a solid foundation for speculation using the proper methods and applications discussed in the first part on natural disasters, and their larger impacts on human society. The approaches aid in the reconstruction of socioeconomic and political effects of earthquakes and associated disasters, while also revealing many new critical approaches to the emerging interdisciplinary field of archaeoseismology.

The development, organization, and control of water infrastructure in India has caused increasingly complex political social issues in modern times. Some argue that traditional past water management practices-viewed as uniform and static throughout the past-offer the best solutions. However, a number of archaeological studies have emphasized how the becoming and persistence of reservoirs and water infrastructure is spatially and temporally contingent and the result of combined socio-natural factors. Through the case of Iron Age reservoir features in South India, I make a contribution to scholarship in political ecological studies in archaeology and anthropology, which emphasize a necessity to treat culture and nature as combined terms and consider the dynamic actions of both humans and nature in the making of material and social developments (Bennett 2010; Ingold 2013; Latour 1993; Mitchell 2011; Tsing 2015). I explore the various socio-natural forces, including agricultural and pastoral practices, soil, geological topography, vegetation, animals, water, rain patterns, and climate, at work on both the 'macro' and 'micro' scale that account for the initial becoming and subsequent persistence of what I designate as the Iron Age South India reservoir assemblage. Applications of soil micromorphology reveal dynamics of socio-natural forces that enact on reservoir assemblages and account for their becoming and persistence. The persistence of Iron Age reservoir assemblages had consequences on social and environmental conditions due to the increasing entanglement and entrainment of socio-natural forces. Humans became entrapped in long-term investments of labor that resulted in altered forms of ritual practice and differentials in political power. Using evidence from the 'macro' and 'micro' scales, this study analyzes reservoirs and their consequences not as features resulting strictly from socio-cultural decisions and interventions but rather as assemblages of socio-natural forces. This approach provides a nuanced account of the diverse and deeply contextual history and prehistory of water management across time and space. Furthermore, it offers a productive vantage point from which to view contemporary political debates that tend to overlook the dynamically active and divergent past of water use and management in India.