Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: a health hazard perspective

Riede, Felix; Bazely, Oliver

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2008.10.013

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Nearly 30 years ago, Thorarinsson (1979) drew attention to the multi-dimensional hazard potential of medial and distal tephra fall-out, and Charman et al (1995, p. 807) note that 'the absolute quantity of tephra is not necessarily directly proportional to the environmental impact'. Numerous studies of different eruptions have, for instance, shown that tephra can act as a respiratory health hazard (Grattan et al, 2003(Grattan et al, , 2005 and elsewhere we build a case that the LSE also presented such a hazard (Riede and Bazely, 2009). Here, we focus Schmincke et al, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: tephra as dental abrasive

Riede¹,

Wheeler

2009

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: tephra as dental abrasive

Riede¹,

Wheeler

2009

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…A similar conclusion relating to possible health impacts (especially respiratory) from distal fallout of the widespread ca. 12.9 ka cal BP Laacher See tephra on people (possibly also game animals) in Europe or Scandinavia was inferred by Riede and Bazely (2009).…”

Section: Cryptotephrasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other side of the coin, the palaeoenvironmental response of tephra deposition and associated volcanic impacts (such as toxic aerosol fallout) and their likely impact on hominins and human culture have also been examined (e.g., Drummond, 2004;Grattan, 2006;Neall et al, 2008;Riede, 2008;Riede and Bazely, 2009;Riede and Wheeler, 2009;Williams et al, 2009;Claire Jones, 2010). Grattan et al (1999) warned of overstating the case, however, invoking the need to examine closely issues of scale and magnitude as well as that of timing.…”

Section: Human Evolution and Archaeological Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tephrochronology and its application: A review

Lowe

2011

Quaternary Geochronology

651

535

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Tephrochronology (from tephra, Gk "ashes") is a unique stratigraphic method for linking, dating, and synchronizing geological, palaeoenvironmental, or archaeological sequences or events. As well as utilizing the Law of Superposition, tephrochronology in practise requires tephra deposits to be characterized (or "fingerprinted") using physical properties evident in the field together with those obtained from laboratory analyses. Such analyses include mineralogical examination (petrography) or geochemical analysis of glass shards or crystals using an electron microprobe or other analytical tools including laser-ablation-based mass spectrometry or the ion microprobe. The palaeoenvironmental or archaeological context in which a tephra occurs may also be useful for correlational purposes. Tephrochronology provides greatest utility when a numerical age obtained for a tephra or cryptotephra is transferrable from one site to another using stratigraphy and by comparing and matching inherent compositional features of the deposits with a high degree of likelihood. Used this way, tephrochronology is an age-equivalent dating method that provides an exceptionally precise volcanic-event stratigraphy. Such age transfers are valid because the primary tephra deposits from an eruption essentially have the same short-lived age everywhere they occur, forming isochrons very soon after the eruption (normally within a year).As well as providing isochrons for palaeoenvironmental and archaeological reconstructions, tephras through their geochemical analysis allow insight into volcanic and magmatic processes, and provide a comprehensive record of explosive volcanism and recurrence rates in the Quaternary (or earlier) that can be used to establish time-space relationships of relevance to volcanic hazard analysis.The basis and application of tephrochronology as a central stratigraphic and geochronological tool for Quaternary studies are presented and discussed in this review. Topics covered include principles of tephrochronology, defining isochrons, tephra nomenclature, mapping and correlating tephras from proximal to distal locations at metre-through to sub-3 millimetre-scale, cryptotephras, mineralogical and geochemical fingerprinting methods, numerical and statistical correlation techniques, and developments and applications in dating including the use of flexible depositional age-modelling techniques based on Bayesian statistics.Along with reference to wide-ranging examples and the identification of important recent advances in tephrochronology, such as the development of new geoanalytical approaches that enable individual small glass shards to be analysed near-routinely for major, trace, and rare-earth elements, potential problems such as miscorrelation, erroneous-age transfer, and tephra reworking and taphonomy (especially relating to cryptotephras) are also examined. Some of the challenges for future tephrochronological studies include refining geochemical analytical methods further, improving understanding of cryptotephra dis...

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“…More complex skills-manifested archaeologically in stone tool production methods, organic tools such as harpoons and antler axes, and bow and arrow technology-preferentially disappear from the archaeological record. A number of mechanistic links between the tephra fall and the effective depopulation of large parts of central Europe have been suggested (Riede 2007a), and preliminary results (Riede and Bazely 2009;Riede and Wheeler 2009) lend support to the notion that the multicausal consequences of the eruption made the affected landscapes unattractive for forager settlement at least until the onset of the Younger Dryas/GS-1 cooling episode some 200-300 years later, which substantially reshuffl ed the forager populations in Northern Europe once again.…”

Section: Case Study 2: the Laacher See Eruption And Materials Culture mentioning

confidence: 96%

Climate and Demography in Early Prehistory: Using Calibrated¹⁴C Dates as Population Proxies

Riede

2009

Human Biology

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Although difficult to estimate for prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations, demographic variables-population size, density, and the connectedness of demes-are critical for a better understanding of the processes of material culture change, especially in deep prehistory. Demography is the middle-range link between climatic changes and both biological and cultural evolutionary trajectories of human populations. Much of human material culture functions as a buffer against climatic changes, and the study of prehistoric population dynamics, estimated through changing frequencies of calibrated radiocarbon dates, therefore affords insights into how effectively such buffers operated and when they failed. In reviewing a number of case studies (Mesolithic Ireland, the origin of the Bromme culture, and the earliest late glacial human recolonization of southern Scandinavia), I suggest that a greater awareness of demographic processes, and in particular of demographic declines, provides many fresh insights into what structured the archaeological record. I argue that we cannot sideline climatic and environmental factors or extreme geophysical events in our reconstructions of prehistoric culture change. The implications of accepting demographic variability as a departure point for evaluating the archaeological record are discussed. Abstract Although diffi cult to estimate for prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations, demographic variables-population size, density, and the connectedness of demes-are critical for a better understanding of the processes of material culture change, especially in deep prehistory. Demography is the middle-range link between climatic changes and both biological and cultural evolutionary trajectories of human populations. Much of human material culture functions as a buffer against climatic changes, and the study of prehistoric population dynamics, estimated through changing frequencies of calibrated radiocarbon dates, therefore affords insights into how effectively such buffers operated and when they failed. In reviewing a number of case studies (Mesolithic Ireland, the origin of the Bromme culture, and the earliest late glacial human recolonization of southern Scandinavia), I suggest that a greater awareness of demographic processes, and in particular of demographic declines, provides many fresh insights into what structured the archaeological record. I argue that we cannot sideline climatic and environmental factors or extreme geophysical events in our reconstructions of prehistoric culture change. The implications of accepting demographic variability as a departure point for evaluating the archaeological record are discussed.Culture can usefully be conceptualized as a system of information transmission across generations that takes on Darwinian properties, because it displays features of variation between individuals, heritability of traits, and differential representation of these traits between generations (e.g., Boyd and Richerson 1985;Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman 1981;Eerkens and Lipo 200...

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Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: a health hazard perspective

Cited by 19 publications

References 57 publications

Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: tephra as dental abrasive

Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: tephra as dental abrasive

Tephrochronology and its application: A review

Climate and Demography in Early Prehistory: Using Calibrated¹⁴C Dates as Population Proxies

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Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: a health hazard perspective

Cited by 19 publications

References 57 publications

Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: tephra as dental abrasive

Testing the ‘Laacher See hypothesis’: tephra as dental abrasive

Tephrochronology and its application: A review

Climate and Demography in Early Prehistory: Using Calibrated14C Dates as Population Proxies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Climate and Demography in Early Prehistory: Using Calibrated¹⁴C Dates as Population Proxies