Apulian Bronze Age pottery as a long-distance indicator of the Avellino Pumice eruption (Vesuvius, Italy)

Abstract

During the Bronze Age, Vesuvius had a Plinian eruption whose deposits are known as the Avellino Pumice. The eruption spread a blanket of white and grey pumice across southern Italy, and there was a severe impact on proximal areas. Assessment of votcanological factors for the Plinian phase gives intensities of 5.7 x 107 kg s-~ for the white pumice phase and 1.7 x l0 s kgs -1 for the grey pumice phase, corresponding to column heights of 23 and 31 kin, respectively. Volume (magnitude) calculations using the crystal concentration method (CCM) give respectively 0.32 and 1.25km 3 of deposit, in a total minimum period of about 3 h. Archaeometric studies on Bronze Age domestic pottery from several settlements in Apulia (SE Italy) reveal the presence of pumice fragments mixed with the clay, and petrological and chemical criteria suggest that these pumices are from the Avellino eruption. This relationship allows us to fix precise correlations between different archaeological facies of the italian Bronze Age. To explore the possibility of an extensive use of pumices in these distal regions (about 140 km from Vesuvius), we calculated the possible thickness of the tephra blanket. We propose a method to extrapolate proximal data on the deposit to calculate its minimum distal thickness. Such a method could also be used in volcanic hazard studies to assess the distal impact of large past eruptions.

The Pomici di Avellino eruption of Somma-Vesuvius (3.9 ka bp). Part I: stratigraphy, compositional variability and eruptive dynamics

“…Santacroce 1987;Andronico et al 1995;Cioni et al 2008;Santacroce et al 2008). In particular, four Plinian eruptions have punctuated the eruptive history of Somma-Vesuvius: Pomici di Base (22,030±175 cal year BP; Bertagnini et al 1998;Santacroce et al 2008), Mercato (also called Ottaviano; 8,890 ± 90 cal year BP; Santacroce 1987;Rolandi et al 1993a;Santacroce et al 2008), Pomici di Avellino (3,900± 40 cal year BP; Lirer et al 1973;Rolandi et al 1993b;Andronico et al 1995;Cioni et al 2000b) and Pompeii (AD 79; Sigurdsson et al 1985;Cioni et al 1992).…”

The dispersal of ash during explosive eruptions from central volcanoes and calderas: an underestimated hazard for the central Mediterranean area

“…75,000 km 2 ) east of Somma-Vesuvius (blue-shaded area in Fig. 2a; Sulpizio et al, 2008a), more than four times the area enclosed by the 1 cm isopach previously hypothesized (Cioni et al, 2000;Fig. 2a).…”

“…(1.2 km 3 of fallout deposits and 0.6 km 3 of PDC deposits), and the peak intensities were in the order of 10 7 -10 8 kg/s, which correspond to maximum column heights between 23 and 31 km (Cioni et al, 2000;Sulpizio et al, 2008b). Ash deposits related to the magmatic phases of the eruption were recognised in a wide area (ca.…”

“…As an example, in Figure 2 are reported the dispersal areas of two Holocene eruptions of Somma-Vesuvius volcano. The first is the Avellino Plinian eruption, dated at 3760±70 14 C yr BP (Cioni et al, 2000;Sulpizio et al, 2008b).…”

Contrasting styles of Mount Vesuvius activity in the period between the Avellino and Pompeii Plinian eruptions, and some implications for assessment of future hazards

“…The dispersal of the different units ( Fig. 3) unequivocally defines an eruptive vent 3 km west of the present crater of Vesuvius, in the area of Piano delle Ginestre, coinciding with the vent of the preceding Avellino Plinian eruption (Cioni et al 2000). Minor deposits of pyroclastic density currents are only restricted to the vent area.…”