Recent archaeoseismological studies have provided us with spectacular examples of skeletons as earthquake archaeological effects. Cases include the Neolithic skeletons of Tell es-Sultan, ancient Jericho (one of them beheaded by a fracture crossing the site!) published by Alfonsi et al. in SRL (2012) and the skeletons smashed by building collapse reported by Berberian et al. in JAS (2012).
To this list should now be added the case of Lajia (Guanting Basin, central China), where a team of Chinese researchers uncovered a series of skeletons buried under a thick layer of clay interpreted as the result of an enormous, earthquake-related mudflow c. 3950 cal BP. more
A course on Paleoseismology and Archeoseismology will be held at the Annual Meeting of the Union Geofisica Mexicana on 2 and 3 November 2013. The course will be coordinated by Víctor Hugo Garduño. Also, we would like to advertise three special sessions on paleoseismology, faults, and active tectonics at the same meeting:
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This is a nice and short video performed by 9-10 year old kids and conducted by two teachers of the School “Escuelas Francesas” located at Sevilla (Spain), and in collaboration with our Spanish colleagues Miguel, Jorge and Pablo. The kids read about our work on earthquake effects on archaeological sites and they have reproduced in a easy way the main EAEs in the Roman buildings of Baelo Claudia: the aqueduct, the drop of the key stone in arches and oriented fallen columns. (EAE: Earthquake Archaeological Effect; see Rodríguez-Pacua et al., 2011). more
Dear colleagues,
the 4th International INQUA meeting on Paleoseismology, Active Tectonics and Archeoseismology (PATA days) will take place from 9 – 15 October, 2013 in Aachen, Germany. Deadline for registration and abstract submission is (4 pages extended abstracts) 15 July 2013.
We invite you to register and submit extended abstracts to the following sessions: more
Dear friends and colleagues,
the registration for the PATA-Days is now online at pata-days.org. We used the acronym now to avoid the long title (4th International INQUA Meeting on Paleoseismology, Active Tectonics and Archeoseismology, 9-15 October, Aachen, Germany) and to do a favour to our Spanish friends…
Please find all information at the new website, including the abstract template.
The deadline for registration and abstract submission is 15 July.
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Dear friends and colleagues,
in 2013 we will organize the 4th International INQUA Meeting on Paleoseismology, Active Tectonics and Archeoseismology in Western Germany. The online registration will open soon at paleoseismicity.org and additional information will follow during the next days.
Date: 9-14 October 2013
Location: Aachen, Germany
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BSSA’s most recent issue is full of paleoseismological work. The April 2013 issue contains a number of papers dealing with old earthquakes in Turkey, California, Argentina, and Jamaica. Also, there’s info on earthquake catalogues in South America and China. A study on seismic sources in the Lower Rhine Embayment, (W Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands) is especially interesting for me, because it’s right in my backyard. Plus, there are some basic studies on the reliability of paleoseismological investigation and problems in earthquake geology. more
The collapse of Bronze Age civilizations c.1200 BC remains a persistent riddle in Eastern Mediterranean archaeology. Earthquakes, attacks of the Sea Peoples, climatic deterioration, and socio-political unrest are among the most frequently suggested causes for this phenomenon. In the last issue of Seismological Research Letters (January/February 2013), Manuel Sintubin and myself attempt to retrace the origins of the idea according to which earthquakes may have caused the demise of Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean societies. The article features reproductions of unpublished archival documents held by the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (Nicosia). The free-access version of the paper can be found here. Happy reading!
The following two reports are from the fieldtrip to lake Patzcuaro by our friends Pedro Huerta and Raúl Pérez López. This excursion marked the end of the Morelia2012 workshop on Active Tectonics, Paleoseismology and Archaeoseismology. more
Buenos dias! This is an update from the last day of presentations, tomorrow there will be a field excursion to the Patzcuaro area (1858 eq event). Unfortunately Christoph and I cannot join the field trip, because we booked already our flights for Friday. But we will keep you informed. Are you wondering what the title photo is?
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