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28 novembre 2019
- doi: 10.4000/books.editionscnrs.28623
- isbn: 9782271089151
- eisbn: 9782271130457
https://www.openedition.org/12554 , info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
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épigraphie géologie environnement philologie paléoécologie société géographie paléontologie archéologie Environmental Studies NAT011000 RNKSujets proches
Quakes (Earthquakes)Citer ce document
Stiros Stathis, « On the historical role of earthquakes in Antiquity », CNRS Éditions, ID : 10.4000/books.editionscnrs.28623
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Numerous earthquakes, sometimes powerful and destructive, have affected parts of the Mediterranean in historic and prehistoric times, and some of them had important historical impacts, including causing serious discontinuities in the occupation history of sites. While these effects have inspired theories of the earthquake-induced collapse of entire civilizations, there is also evidence for major destructive earthquakes which had no historical impact. In order to shed light on this discrepancy, and especially in order to investigate the conditions under which earthquakes played a historical role, we analyzed a number of cases of relatively well-known earthquakes, focusing on their direct and indirect impacts and on their social, economic and political back-ground. The major finding of this study is that while theories of neo-catastrophism should be rejected, certain secondary environmental effects of earthquakes (such as the destruction of water resources), which occurred during specific social, economic and political conditions, permit or dictate an historical role for earthquakes.