The long and intertwined record of humans and the Campi Flegrei volcano (Italy)

Abstract

The Campi Flegrei volcano (or Phlegraean Fields), Campania, Italy, generated the largest eruption in Europe in at least 200 ka. Here we summarise the volcanic and human history of Campi Flegrei and discuss the interactions between humans and the environment within the “burning fields” from around 10,000 years until the 1538 CE Monte Nuovo eruption and more recent times. The region’s incredibly rich written history documents how the landscape changed both naturally and anthropogenically, with the volcanic system fuelling these considerable natural changes. Humans have exploited the beautiful landscape, accessible resources (e.g. volcanic ash for pulvis puteolana mortar) and natural thermal springs associated with the volcano for millennia, but they have also endured the downsides of living in a volcanically active region—earthquakes, significant ground deformation and landscape altering eruptions. The pre-historic record is detailed, and various archaeological sites indicate that the region was certainly occupied in the last 10,000 years. This history has been reconstructed by identifying archaeological finds in sequences that often contain ash (tephra) layers from some of the numerous volcanic eruptions from Campi Flegrei and the other volcanoes in the region that were active at the time (Vesuvius and Ischia). These tephra layers provide both a relative and absolute chronology and allow the archaeology to be placed on a relatively precise timescale. The records testify that people have inhabited the area even when Campi Flegrei was particularly active. The archaeological sequences and outcrops of pyroclastic material preserve details about the eruption dynamics, buildings from Roman times, impressive craters that now host volcanic lakes and nature reserves, all of which make this region particularly mystic and fascinating, especially when we observe how society continues to live within the active caldera system. The volcanic activity and long record of occupation and use of volcanic resources in the region make it unique and here we outline key aspects of its geoheritage.

A review of the CARG Project of the Campania Region (marine counterpart; southern Tyrrhenian Sea): New perspectives in marine geology and cartography

“…The volcanic banks of Pentapalummo, Nisida and Miseno are located in the Gulf of Naples (Campi Flegrei offshore) and have been deeply studied [15,28,34,37,[70][71][72][73][74] . Pescatore et al [34] have highlighted that in the Gulf of Pozzuoli a coastal platform, a central basin and a belt of submerged volcanic edifices occur (Pentapalummo, Miseno and Nisida Banks; Figure 15).…”

Magma Transfer at Campi Flegrei Caldera (Italy) After the 1538 AD Eruption

“… Morpho‐structural map of the Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy), after Costa et al. (2022) and references therein. The caldera boundary and the main features of the edifices of the recent volcanism (younger than 15 ka) are marked (CI, Campanian Ignimbrite; NYT, Neapolitan Yellow Tuff).…”

A pre-Campanian Ignimbrite techno-cultural shift in the Aurignacian sequence of Grotta di Castelcivita, southern Italy

“…Given the substantial number of sites and the extensive Paleolithic research tradition 14 , southern Italy emerges as a compelling case study for a more comprehensive understanding of the development of the Aurignacian in southern Europe. One of the most striking features of this region is the presence of volcanoes that have deposited substantial layers of tephra on top and between archaeological sequences throughout prehistory 39 , 40 . These tephra markers have allowed researchers to establish robust chronological frameworks for the early Upper Paleolithic, despite known challenges associated with obtaining precise radiocarbon dating estimations in the region 41 .…”