Evaluation of supposed archaeoseismic damage in Israel

Karcz, Iaakov; Kafri, Uri

doi:10.1016/0305-4403(78)90042-0

Cited by 88 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Among others it is relevant to the occurrence of re-building phases, with the incorporation of many architectural elements of previous building phases, such as the case of the Ancient Kisamos in Crete (Stiros and Papageourgiu, 2001), or the occurrence of destruction horizons as is the case of the aforementioned Kisamos or Cnydus in Turkey (Altunel et al, 2003). In addition, the occurrence of widespread pop-up like disturbance of pavements is documented in recent (Mariolakos et al, 1998), but also in ancient earthquakes in the Middle East and Greece (Karcz and Kafri, 1978;Stiros, 1996). All these common features of Baelo Claudia with other earthquake-damaged cities, together with the reported assemblage of deformations and ground failure processes, make the seismic hypothesis as the chosen choice to explain the anomalous development of the city highlighted by the archaeologists (Bost et al, 1987;Bourgeois et al, 1991;Sillières, 1995Sillières, , 1997.…”

Section: The Earthquake Problemmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Most of the works reporting earthquake damage at archaeological sites are mainly related to ancient populated areas in the Eastern Mediterranean region such as Greece and Italy (Stiros, 1988(Stiros, , 1996Stiros and Papageourgiu, 2001;Guidoboni et al, 1994,), Israel (Karcz and Kafri, 1978;Marco et al, 1997), Turkey (Hancock and Altunel, 1997;Altunel et al, 2003;Similox-Tohon et al, 2002), and Syria (Meghraoui, 2002). In contrast, ancient earthquake evidence lacks for the western Mediterranean.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Archaeoseismic record at the ancient Roman City of Baelo Claudia (Cádiz, south Spain)

et al. 2005

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This study represents the first paleoseismic approach in Spain in which archaeological remains are considered. The ancient Roman city of Baelo Claudia (1st-4th centuries AD), located at the axial zone of the Gibraltar Strait (Cadiz, south Spain), contains abundant disrupted architectural relics and ground collapses (i.e. landsliding, liquefacion) probably related to historic earthquake damage of intensity IX-X MSK. The archaeological stratigraphy of the city evidence two major episodes of abrupt city destruction bracketed in AD 40-60 and AD 350-395 separated by an intervening horizon of demolition for city rebuilding, otherwise characteristic for many earthquake-damaged archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. The second episode led the eventual city abandonment, and it is evidenced by good examples of column collapse, distortion, failure and breakdown of house and city walls, and pavement warping and disruptions documented during different archaeological excavations, which can be catalogued as secondary coseismic effects. Main damaged relicts observable today are the set of pop-up like arrays and warping developed in the ancient Roman pavement. Their analysis indicate an anomalous westwards ground displacement oblique to the main gentle southward slope of the topography, as also evidence failures, collapses and breakdown of walls and columns, suggesting that stress acted in a broad SW-NE/WSW-ENE orientation consistent whit the expectable motion along the largest NE-SW strike-slip faults of the zone, which in turn can be catalogued as seismic sources of moderate events (ca. 5 mb). Major disruptions and city abandonment were hesitantly related to relatively far strong earthquakes occurred during the late 4th century AD in the Mediterranean or western coast of Iberia by Menanteau et al. [Menanteau, L., Vanney, J.R., Zazo, C., 1983. Belo II : Belo et son environment (Detroit de Gibraltar), Etude physique d'un site antique. Pub. Casa de Velazquez, Serie Archeologie 4., Ed. Broccard, París.]. However, this study indicates that the occurrence of close moderate earthquakes jointly with the unstable character of the ground at the zone (site effect) is a more reliable hypothesis to explain the observed deformations. D

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Section: The Earthquake Problemmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeoseismic record at the ancient Roman City of Baelo Claudia (Cádiz, south Spain)

et al. 2005

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“…In order to define the procedural aspects, we divided the investigations which are necessarily conditioned by in situ activities from those made in laboratories, archives and libraries and which are mainly related to the historical research. The list of analyses results from an assimilation, re-proposition and update of lists already produced in previous methodological works (e.g., Karcz and Kafri 1978;Stiros 1996;Nur and Cline 2000). The different sources of information summarised in Table 1 are discussed in the next sections.…”

Section: The Role Of Archaeoseismology In the Investigations Of Past mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Particularly vertical offset may result from different processes as mentioned above (convergence of forms). Indeed, the displacement of foundations due to coseismic activity of a fault or due to aseismic differential settlement or sliding (along newly formed shear planes or inherited fractures and faults driving the gravitational displacement) may be completely similar (e.g., Karcz and Kafri 1978).…”

Section: Displacement Along Shear Planesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since 2002, a working group 'Archaeoseismology' is active within the European Seismological Commission. However, though the methodological aspects have been investigated in a number of publications (e.g., Karcz and Kafri 1978;Rapp 1986;Nikonov 1988;Santoro Bianchi 1996;Stiros 1996;Korjenkov and Mazor 1999a;Guidoboni 2000;Nur and Cline 2000;Noller 2001), this interdisciplinary branch of the seismological science has so far not had a development comparable to that of other related disciplines (e.g., historical seismology and paleoseismology). This is mainly due to: (1) the absence of continuous, systematic and combined efforts for the refinement and extension of the methodological background of this research field; (2) the necessity to involve, in most cases, a wide range of experts (archaeologists and historians specialized in specific fields, periods and areas, geologists, geophysicists, and engineers) dealing with the range of topics usually included in the archaeoseismological research; (3) the problem that what may usually be regarded as signs of an earthquake (e.g., widespread collapses, sudden abandonment of settlements, restorations) may have causes other than earthquakes or, inversely, (4) that various natural processes (e.g., landslides, floods, soil settlement) or even human activities (e.g., wars, revolutions) may have effects similar to those of earthquakes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Archaeoseismology: Methodological issues and procedure

2006

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Archaeoseismic research contributes important data on past earthquakes. A limitation of the usefulness of archaeoseismology is due to the lack of continuous discussion about the methodology. The methodological issues are particularly important because archaeoseismological investigations of past earthquakes make use of a large variety of methods. Typical in situ investigations include: (1) reconstruction of the local archaeological stratigraphy aimed at defining the correct position and chronology of a destruction layer, presumably related to an earthquake; (2) analysis of the deformations potentially due to seismic shaking or secondary earthquake effects, detectable on walls; (3) analysis of the depositional characteristics of the collapsed material; (4) investigations of the local geology and geomorphology to define possible natural cause(s) of the destruction; (5) investigations of the local factors affecting the ground motion amplifications; and (6) estimation of the dynamic excitation, which affected the site under investigation. Subsequently, a 'territorial' approach testing evidence of synchronous destruction in a certain region may delineate the extent of the area struck by the earthquake. The most reliable results of an archaeoseismological investigation are obtained by application of modern geoarchaeological practice (archaeological stratigraphy plus geological-geomorphological data), with the addition of a geophysicalengineering quantitative approach and (if available) historical information. This gives a basic dataset necessary to perform quantitative analyses which, in turn, corroborate the archaeoseismic hypothesis. Since archaeoseismological investigations can reveal the possible natural causes of destruction at a site, they contribute to the wider field of environmental archaeology, that seeks to define the history of the relationship between humans and the environment. Finally, through the improvement of the knowledge on the past seismicity, these studies can contribute to the regional estimation of seismic hazard.

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