The Afragola settlement near Vesuvius, Italy: The destruction and abandonment of a Bronze Age village revealed by archaeology, volcanology and rock-magnetism

Occupation surfaces sealed by the Avellino eruption of Vesuvius at the Early Bronze Age village of Afragola in southern Italy: A micromorphological analysis

“…It was formed by pulsating phreatomagmatic explosions, producing massive lapilli-bearing fine-ash beds. The Afragola settlement, 14 km northwest of Vesuvius, was not affected by pumice fallout during the eruption, but it was buried by the phreatomagmatic phase (Pagliario, 2001;Mastrolorenzo et al, 2006;Di Vito et al, 2009). …”

“…The inclusions of trachytic gravels are common and range from fresh to slightly weathered. Shortly after the Avellino eruption, Afragola was covered by tephra and a wave of mud slowly penetrated the structures and became consolidated, covering the occupation surfaces and everything on them (Di Vito et al, 2009). The mud created a cast of the inside of the huts revealing a negative impression of their contents (e.g., wicker and wood baskets, poles, and grains).…”

“…Afragola is located 14 km northwest of Vesuvius, and although it was not directly affected by the pumice fallout during the eruption, it was impacted by the last phase of the eruption, which was characterized by massive and stratified fire-ash beds (Di Vito et al, 2009). Due to the sealing action of the volcanic tephra, the artifacts, occupation surfaces, and associated activity areas at Afragola are exceptionally well preserved, and most of the artifacts are found intact and in their original contexts at the time of abandonment.…”

Late bronze age pottery as indicator of the deposition temperatures of the Minoan pyroclastic products, Santorini, Greece.

“…In the case of volcanic eruptions affecting inhabited areas, such ceramics are often found in contact with or incorporated into pyroclastic deposits that cover the human habitation surface (Di Vito et al, 2009). Since the volcanic products are usually hot when deposited over the ceramic fragments, then once the thermal equilibrium between the hot pyroclas-tics and the cold ceramics is reached , the ceramics will be partially demagnetized and will acquire a secondary, low temperature, magnetic component.…”

“…Several relevant studies have been also conducted in Italy, Mexico and Argentina (e.g. Cioni et al, 2004;Zanella et al, 2007;Sulpizio et al, 2008;Porreca et al, 2008;Di Vito et al, 2009;Lesti et al, 2011) and recently this technique was improved and extended involving also the study of human artefacts such as tiles and pottery.…”