the influence of volcanic hazards on landscapes of ancient mediterranean

THE INFLUENCE OF VOLCANIC HAZARDSON THE CULTURAL AND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES OF THECIRCUM-MEDITERRANEAN REGION

THE INFLUENCE OF VOLCANIC HAZARDSON THE CULTURAL AND

ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES OF THECIRCUM-MEDITERRANEAN REGION

ABSTRACT

Volcanoes and especially large volcanic eruptions have influenced humans, their resources, their culture, and perhaps- in certain circumstances - even the course of their civilizations. In some cases, active volcanoes have made their mark inliving memory. They have destroyed homes, reshaped landscapes, killed wildlife, and altered global weather patterns. Inother cases, the affects have been less immediately observable. Their impact on human traditions, religions, and culturalpractices have evolved and been affected by various volcanic phenomena in volcanically active localities such as theMediterranean region.

From the very beginning of human evolution, our ancestors have been strongly connected to volcanic archaeoenvironmentsas Laetoli footprints imply. From Eastern Central Atlantic islands to Anatolian plateaus, volcanic phenomena have transformedthe geomorphology and the landscapes of past ecosystems.

The aim of this poster is to highlight : a) two Pleistocene major events, the giant submarine landslides & tsunamitriggered by mega-eruptions of palaeovolcanoes in Canary Islands and the destructive activity of Phlegrean Fields in Italianpeninsula , b) the interaction of Volcanology with the urban environment (Holocene eruptions), c) the interrelation betweenvarious volcanic hazards and human psychology and d) the influence of volcanoes on human evolution (cultivation of fertilelands, exploitation of metals and useful rocks like obsidian, organization of trade routes and exchange patterns, existence ofprevention policies).

Eruption size and type, other information of classification and geological characteristics, time series of events and theirgeographical distribution are also recorded on the map of circum-mediterranean region.

Although there was no scientific instrumentation until the Krakatoa eruption of A.D. 1883, evidence is given by thoroughinterdisciplinary investigation (e.g. oceanographic expeditions west of Gibraltar Straits), the earliest artistically representederuption (²atal Hüyük mural dated from c. 6.200 B.C.), destruction levels and archaeological evidence (e.g. Thera and theCycladic settlement of Akrotiri), ‘fossilized’ landscapes (Pompei and Herculaneum), written sources (e.g. Pliny the Younger),geo-parks (extended area around Stromboli and Aitna) and geomythological symbolism (the Gigantomachy, other gods andheroes related to volcanoes such as Hephaistos, Hercules, Ulysses, Aeneias).

THERA VOLCANO - THE BRONZE AGE CYCLADIC SETTLEMENTThera (Santorini) is one of the five volcanoes, which make

up the South Aegean Active volcanic Arc. The volcanic centeresinclude three Quaternary volcanoes (Santorini, Nisyrow, andMethana), solfataras and fumaroles fields (Sousaki, Aegina, Milosand Kos).

Thera is a group of five islands (Thera, Therasia, Aspronisi,Palea Kameni and Nea Kameni). Thera, Therasia and Aspronisienclose a sea-flooded caldera of about 13 Km diameter. Thevolcanic activity in the area of Santorini started about 2 Ma ago. Aparticularly spectacular example of volcanic preservation occurson the Cycladic island of Thera (also called Santorini), about 60miles north of Crete, where a late Bronze Age city, named for thenearby modern village of Akrotiri, was engulfed during the eruption of 1640 ± 12 B.C. (dated by ice coresamples and tree-ring evidence).

Known as ‘the Pompeii of the Aegean’, Akrotiri is by far the best preserved settlement of its era, correspondingto Late Minoan IIIA on Crete. A prosperous sea port, with a population of several thousand, enriched by maritime

trade with Crete and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean region, had luxuriousand opulent multistory dwellings, indoor running water, underground sewers andflush toilets.

Although the site of Akrotiri was continuously inhabited since the NeolithicPeriod, pre-eruption Akrotiri was profoundly influenced by Minoan civilization. Thetechnological sophistication and the artistic splendor were reflected on the famouswall paintings, some of the most extensive and beautiful wall paintings to havesurvived from the ancient world.

The scarcity of valuable jewelry or metal goods, as well as the total absenceof human remains, indicates that Akrotiri’s people had ample warning of the disasterthat overtook their city. Both volcanologists and archaeologists succeeded ininterpreting the stratigraphic record, reconstructing the order of events that doomedAkrotiri.

This eruption, known as ‘the minoan eruption’, was among the mostcatastrophic volcanic events of the last 100.000 years (VEI e” 6.0 ). Giant tsunamitriggered by caldera’s collapse, rainfall of tephra and other pyroclastic or toxicmaterial (deep sea sediments in Mediterranean and Black Sea, terrestrial layersin prehistoric settlements of Crete and other islands, lacustrine deposits in S.

Turkey), pumice floating over the sea surface and intense seismic paroxysm caused losses in human lives,poisoning of the air and the subterranean water horizons, catastrophe on the crops, death on flocks, abruptclimatic changes, high percentage of some acute or chronic respiratory, dermic and psychic diseases andserious problems on marine communication network, thousand of miles away from there. The dating of theevent has also revised the whole chronological setting of the Mediterranean Bronze Age civilizations.

K. Kyriakopoulos1, A. Laupi2 and T. Papadopoulos1

1National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Department of Geology andGeoenvironment, Panepistimioupolis GR-15784 Ano Ilissia.E-mail: ckiriako@geol.uoa.gr and tpapadop@geol.uoa.gr

2National Technical University of Athens - Centre for the Assesment of NaturalHazards and Proactive Planning . E-mail: alaoupi@otenet.gr

CAMPI FLEGREI or BURNING FIELDS

The Phlegrean Fields caldera formed about 40. 000 years ago with the eruption of 80 cubic km of ash (the Campanian Tuff). Thecaldera is about 13 km in diameter and includes numerous cones and craters, 25 km west of Vesuvius and 5 km west-southwest ofNaples. Recent data drawn by the distribution of the volcanic products in the Mediterranean point out that, in the period between 40 000and 27 000 years ago, in the Flegrean Fields there at least five explosive eruptions occurred. Those events gave the most violentvolcanic paroxysm of the circum-mediterranean area during the last 200.000 years.

There is no evidence for their birth in the written texts of Classical Period, but a later tradition says that the pregnant Gaia half -opened the Phlegrae plain and brought them to life as adolescents. The final battle of Gigantomachy took also place in Pallene, formerPhlegraean or “burning” fields:

1. The westernmost of the three macedonian peninsulas jutting into the Aegean Sea from Chalcidice, between the Thermaic andToronean Golf.

2. Mountainous Arcadia (Peloponnesos). Pausanias Description of Greece, VIII ( About Arcadia ). xxix.1 – 3.

3. A later tradition, reported by Strabo, locates the place of the battle inCampi Flegrei in Italy.

The mythological tales set in the Phlegraean Fields deal with three heroes:Heracles, Ulysses and Aeneas.

The names of several Giants are related to some physical phenomena andecofacts:

1. Enkelados < ancient greek word “ kelados “ ( = the loud noise, themeteorological or geological crash )

2. Mimas < “ mimichmos “ (= the subterrenian dull sound, the neighing )3. Rhoitos < “ rhoibdos “ (= the deafening sound) & “ rhoisos “ (= the

hissing sound )4. Porphyrion < “ pyr “ (= the fire, either as a mass of hot missile, or as a person who causes a fire destruction)5. Pallas & Pallene < “pella” ( = the stone and its correlating words ), e.t.c.

CATAL HÜHÜK During Neolithic Times Anatolia was the centre of an advanced culture. Excavations during 1961 - 1965 unearthed Catal Hüyük incentral Anatolia (modern Turkey) as a major site. The settlement consistedof brick houses with entry over ladders from roof level. The houses containeda hearth and stove and had platforms for sleeping and working. It is believedto have had a population of around 7000 people, who cultivated grains and oilseeds and may have practiced animal husbandry.The religious quarter contains several shrines with wall paintings ofoutstanding quality. A vivid, nearly naturalistic wall painting from one of theshrines depicts the plan of the city and a remarkable Neolithic portrayal ofthe active twin-peaked volcano of Hasan Dag, eight miles to the east of thecity. This is the earliest known visual record of a volcanic eruption, dating to about 6200 B.C. with an error margin of less than 100years. The mural shows a cinder cone, perhaps one of the cinder cones in the Karapinar volcanic field that lies about 30 mileseast of Catal Hüyük, ejecting tephra from the summit vent. The volcano is shown exhibiting only mild Strombolian activity.

LIPARI ISLANDS - AEOLOS KINGDOM

Lipari, the ancient Meligunis, is the largest island of the Eolian Archipelago and itseconomic and cultural center. It is located immediately north of Vulcano Island. Theisland contains numerous small stratovolcanoes, craters, and lava domes on a basementof submarine volcanic deposits.

The latest eruption in historic times, probably in 729 AD, at Monte Pilatus at the NEtip of the island, formed a spectacular obsidian lava flow. Since Ancient times, the islandhas been known for its rich deposit of pumice (the largest deposit in the world!) andobsidian, - a highly valued raw material to manufacture tools such as knives andarrowheads in the Stone and Bronze Age. Obsidian from Lipari has been found throughoutthe Mediterranean, proving that a vast trade network existed already during the 2ndmillennium BC.

From the land of the Cyclops Ulysses came to the kingdom of Aeolus, custodian ofthe winds, who welcomed him and his companions. Homer’s description of the island ofAeolia and the other geographical evidence led many scholars to identify it with Malta.But some scholars maintain that Lipari or Stromboli is Aeolia. In the Tyrrhenian Sea,north of Sicily and south of Naples, are some small islands which are called after themain one the Lipari islands or the Aeolian islands.

Nisyros-Yali IslandsNisyros volcanic island is situated at the eastern part of the Aegeanactive volcanic arc. It’s a composite volcano with a central calderawith 4 Km diameter (subaerial cone < 160 Ka). The calc-alkalinevolcanic products have been deposited during the last 100 Ka ona basement of Mesozoic limestones and Neogene sediments.Di Paola, 1974 and Limburg and Varekamp, 1991 present a generalevolutionary phases of the Nisyros volcano: i) Precaldera activitygenerating submarine and sub-aerial volcanic products, ii) Calderaforming explosive eruptions and iii) Post caldera domes fallowingby hydrothermal activity, phreatic explosionsand deposition ofyounger pumice sequences. All the historical registered explosions(1873-1887) are hydrothermal and created the three small craters

in the caldera.The island today is affected by intense hydrothermal activitywhich feed many fumaroles in the caldera floor area andvarious sites of hot springs along the coast of the island.Yali islet is an upper Quaternary rhyolitic edifice.Neptune (Poseidon) with his trident uses a piece of anisland as a weapon against the Giant. The huge piece ofland is represented full of terrestrial and marine creatures(? wild goat, snake, scorpion, ? jelly fish, ? dolphin,octapus). The island of Karphathos is also related to thisgiant and his struggle against the sea-god.The God, who belongs to the panhellenic pre - olympianreligious substratum, was worshipped widely because: a)changes the surface of the earth with the physical &geological phenomena, and the formation of valleys,islands, straits, isthmi ( e.g. the formation of Euboia,Nisyros, the area of Tempi in Thessaly, e.t.c.) b) causes

earthquakes, faults and rockfalls , he submerges or emerges pieces of land (he is considered as Master,husband of the Earth) c) floods the mainland (e.g. Plain of Eleusis at Athens), he is dominant overanything that is related to the waters gushing up from earth (rivers, lakes, springs, floods) and is symbolizedby the wild horses & bulls, fearless and proud animals d) controls the vast sea - world.

LEMNOS - LESVOS HEPHAESTOS AND METALLURGYThe volcanic activity in the area of north Aegean (Lemnos, Lesvos islands) took place about 20 Ma. Numerous,

isolated volcanic plugs with extensive columnar jointing suggest additional point source activity. Specific centersof volcanic activity in the form of craters and domes are located in several places.

In Lesvos is part of a belt of late Oligocene - middle Miocene calc-alcaline to shoshonitic volcanism of thenorthern and central Aegean Sea and western Anatolia. In the central part of the island there is a series ofvolcanic centres, situated along a SW-NE direction.

The last volcanic manifestation took place later with the local basaltic-shoshonitic lavas of eastern Lesvos,in Mytilene area, around 11 m.y. ago (Pe-Piper, 1978). The intense volcanic activity in the area left a largenumber of active surface thermal manifestations (hot springs, various geothermal fields, etc).

HEPHAESTUS, in Greek mythology, the god of fire andby the ancients often confused with, the Roman god Vulcan;the derivation of the name is uncertain, but it may well beof Greek origin. The elemental character of Hephaestus isfar more apparent than is the case with the majority of theOlympian gods; the word Hephaestus was used as asynonym for fire not only in poetry (Homer, //. ii. 426 andlater).

In Homer the fire-god was the son of Zeus and Hera,and found a place in the Olympian system as the divinesmith. The Iliad contains two versions of his fall fromheaven. In one account (i. 590) he was cast out by Zeusand fell on Lemnos; in the other, Hera threw him downimmediately after his birth in disgust at his lameness, andhe was received by the sea-goddesses Eurynome andThetis. The Lemnian version is due to the prominence ofhis cult at Lemnos in very early times; and his fall into thesea may have been suggested by volcanic activity inMediterranean islands, as at Lipara and Thera.

Except in Lemnos and Attica, there are few indications of any cult of Hephaestus. His association withLemnos can be traced from Homer to the Roman age. A town in the island was called Hephaestia, and thefunctions of the god must have been wide, as we are told that his Lemnian priests could cure snakebites. Oncea year every fire was extinguished on the island for nine days, during which period sacrifice was offered to thegods of the underworld and the dead.

Fire and its permanent fermentation seems to have a significant role in Gigantomachy. Fire is related to thegoddess Hera, ‘ mother’ of all the fire - spirits. In the ancient Greek mythology, a number of Giants and deitieswere connected, directly or indirectly, with her. Among the Giants, Ixion, the arrogant, is tied to a burning wheelfor punishment. As for the others, Eurymedon and Porphyrion are thrown into Tartarus, Alcyoneus is buriedunder the volcano of Etna and Enkelados, personal rival of Zeus and Athena, under the mountain of Ossa orOthrys, or under Etna.

Hera’ s son, the deformed Hephaestos, thrown by his own parents from the mountain Olympus to the earth,installs his smithery on the island of Lemnos. The Thracian blacksmiths used to paint a circle on theirforehead as a symbol of the Sun. This interpretation is possibly as old as the beginning of Bronze age (before3000 B.C.) when metallurgy was still regarded as a mystery and blacksmiths as its priests. He is the GreekGod of the forge, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and metallurgy and fire.

ETNA - TYPHOEUS (TYPHOON)

Etna volcano about 3310 m high is the most active volcano in Europe continent, lies in a structurally highly complex, and not yet fullyunderstood, setting which is reflected in the abundance and variety of - often controversial- models proposed for the volcano and its tectonic environment.“Activity in the Etnean area began about 0.5 Ma (million years) ago with the emission oftholeiitic magmas in a submarine and coastal environment that crop out on the coast tothe north of Catania (Acicastello, Acitrezza) and was followed at around 0.3 Ma by anotherepisode of tholeiitic volcanism in the SW sector of Etna. Beginning about 170 ka (thousandyears) ago, mafic alkaline magmas were emitted to form several eruptive centers.The result of these eruptions is a highly complex edifice whose morphology is that of anasymmetric shield volcano topped by a stratocone and whose eastern flank hosts theValle del Bove, a vast caldera depression formed during successive collapse eventsbeginning during the late Trifoglietto stage and continuing through the Holocene. Muchof the stratigraphic information regarding the growth of the various eruptive centers hasin fact been gained from the walls of the Valle del Bove.”Typhoon, a monstrous creature of the Greek and Egyptian mythology, was the son of Tartarus and Gaia. Typhoon bellowed like a bulland roared like a lion, symbolizing the strong winds, the hurricanes and the burning steams of the volcanoes. Lernean Hydra, a hugeserpent with nine heads, was the daughter of Echidna and Typhon.He was the largest monster ever born, his bottom portion and hands were a mass of coiled snakes. He frightened the gods of Olympussending them fleeing to Egypt.When Zeus was taunted for his cowardice he returned to fight Typhon. After a long and dreadful battle Zeus defeated the monster.Itspunishment was to lay under Etna.The figure of the serpent - monster against the gods is depicted, for the first time against Zeus, on the handle of a shield, fromOlympia and is dated to the early 6th cent. B.C But, generally, the serpent - tailed giants belong to the late tradition of the years afterthe 4th cent. B.C.

Mount Vesuvius. Pompeii – HerculaneumThe mount Vesuvius near Naples is probably not only the most famous, but also one, if not the most dangerous volcano on Earth. Thefirst eyewitness account of a volcanic eruption that has been preserved has come to us from Vesuvius: In 79 AD, after a century-longslumber, the volcano woke up with terrifying power in an eruption that buried several Roman towns like Pompeii and Herculaneum underseveral meters of ash.Mt. Vesuvius, or more correctly the Somma-Vesuvius complex, is about 400,000 years old, as dating of lava sampled drilled from over1,300 m depth have shown. Present-day Vesuvius is a medium-sizedtypical stratovolcano volcano reaching a height of 1,281 m a.s.l. Itcomprises the older volcano, the Somma, whose summit collapsed(likely during the 79 AD eruption), creating a caldera, and the youngervolcano, Vesuvius, which since then has re-grown inside this calderaand formed a new cone. Although in a dormant phase at present,Vesuvius is an extremely active volcano and particular for its unusuallyvaried style of activity: it ranges from Hawaiian-style emission of veryliquid lava, extreme lava fountains, lava lakes and lava flows, overStrombolian and Vulcanian eruptions to violently explosive, Plinianeruptions that produce large pyroclastic flows. It is estimated that orethan 500,000 people live in the zone immediately threatened by afuture eruption.Pompeii, a former Greek colony of 6th cent. B.C., was a thrivingcommercial centre of about 20.000 inhabitants and Herculaneum alargely residential town of about 5000. Frozen in time, they offer asuperbly detailed picture of life in the early Roman Empire. Temples, theaters, shops, private houses, gardens, fountains, public baths,swimming pools, and a miraculously preserved library, a rich variety of rare items including gold jewelry, silver dishes and the mostcomplete known set of Roman surgical instruments, even wax tablets inscribed with bank records, were unearthed almost intact.

Paradoxically, volcanoes, although regarded as meredestroyers, are perhaps nature’s most effective preserversof ancient human structures and settlements. No othernatural phenomenon can so quickly and thoroughly burylarge areas, protecting evidence of human occupation andartefacts from subsequent damage. Towns such as Pompeiiand Herculaneum, were rapidly engulfed in voluminoustephra and pyroclastic ejecta and survive relatively intact.Besides the inescapable surface exposure and degradation,the buildings and artwork were buried in their originalcontext, so their spatial and functional relationshipsremained largely undisturbed.Although most buildings in Pompeii are roofless, crushedby the accumulation of tephra from Vesuvius, many ofHerculaneum’s structures (e.g. small shops), retain theirupper stories. Herculaneum is perhaps the best-preservedurban site of the early Roman Empire. Until the early 1980s,it was assumed that most of Herculaneum’s population hadmanaged to escape the city alive, as the dwellers of Akrotiridid. The discovery of 130 largely intact skeletons caught inthe fierce heat and swirling ash of a pyroclastic surge,

showed that the victims had apparently been asphyxiated while attempting to flee by boat. Hundreds more skeletons may still awaitdiscovery.

MILOS ISLANDIn Milos island the volcanic products consists of Plio-Pleistocene age rocks, mainly of rhyolitic-rhyodacitic

and andesitic composition, which show a typical calcalkaline affinity. The bulk of these rocks were eruptedbetween 3 and 1 Ma ago, but activity as young as 90 Ka has been documented. According to volcanological,geophysical, geochemical and petrogenetic data the strongly tentional tectonic regime affected the area ofMilos, as well as the central and the eastern part of the South Aegean Island Arc, offers a favorable conditionsto rise the magma and form vast magmatic chambers near the surface.The long duration of the volcanic activity in Milos Island (3.5 to 0.08Ma) produced a great quantity and variety of volcanic rocks ranging incomposition from basaltic andesites to rhyolites. The volcanism in thearea developed with submarine activity character and was followed bya subaerial principaly having effusive phase. At the end of Pliocene -early Pleistocene the submarine pyroclastic activity produced severalvolcanic extrusions of lava domes. The last phase of the volcanismcreate subaerial type surge deposits and lava flows forming ‘tuff rings’characterized by homogeneous rhyolitic composition.

In ancient times the alum of Melos was reckoned next to that ofEgypt and the Melian earth was employed as a pigment by ancient artists. Melos was also, along with othervolcanic islands of the Aegean, a source of obsidian (a volcanic glass) during Prehistory for the EasternMediterranean.

Franchthi Cave is unique in Greece because it shows an essentially unbroken series of deposits spanningthe period from ca. 20.000 B.C. (and probably even earlier) down to ca. 3000 B.C. This is by far the longestrecorded continuous occupational sequence from any one site in Greece. The site itself is located in andimmediately outside of a large cave in the SE Argolid, across a small bay from the modern Greek village ofKoilada. Excavation at the site began in 1967 and ended in 1976.

Titanomachy & Gigantomachy :THE ENVIRONMENTAL & GEOMYTHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

Gigantomachy is a sequence of different events and persons with a various symbolism, naturalistic, environmental, cosmic, religious,sociological, historical, anthropological, folkloric, linguistic, e.t.c. proving, once more, the richness of the ancient Greek mythicalthought.The rivalry, the pursuit and the battles between the Olympian Gods and the Giants, inGreece and Egypt, incarnate the internal changes of the elementary primordial naturalforces and the cosmic reordering that took really place in Eastern MediterraneanRegion, during a remote period of time. Shifts of the crust, submarine trenches,orogeny, erosion and sedimentation, the emergence and fragmentation of themainland of Aegaeis, tectonic faults, volcanic eruptions and sea-level changessymbolize the perpetual struggle between the natural elements (fire, water, air, soil).The dualism of the natural powers and elements is also revealed through their rolein the ecological equilibrium. The chaotic violent forces of the natural world with theirprimordial impetus (burning heat, the winter’ s darkness, catastrophic phenomena likestorms, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes) differentiate from the order of thebeneficent natural periodicities (impact of the solar energy, rainfall, breeze, seasonality, formation of fertile lands).Ancient writers who mentioned the giants : Aeschylus, Apollonius Rhodius, Aristophanes, Diodorus of Sicily, Euripides, fragmenta ofvarious historians & comedians, Herodotus, Hesiod, Homer, Kallimachos, Lucian, Pausanias, Pindar, Plato, Sophocles, Vergilius.

GORGO (Gorgone) - MEDUSAMonsters that symbolized the deathly powers emanating from the earth (poisonous air, gas explosion, lava, bolides &melting rocks)A. Attic mythological tradition:Creature belonging to the mythical cycle of Gigantomachy,notorious in the local attic traditions, daughter of Gaia and alliedto the Giants. Gorgo was killed by Athena. Her skin was used asa shield by the goddess (Gorgoneion).At the beginning, it was awful to look at, but Gorgo’ s facegradually transformed into a pathetic beautiful head surroundedby snakes, during the Hellenistic Era.B. Mycenean mythological tradition:Medusa was the only mortal among the three Gorgon sisters,the others being Stheno & Euryale. Daughter of the sea godsPhorcys and Ceto, she was once a beautiful maiden but wasturned into a snake-haired monster by Athena. Men who lookedat Medusa turned to stone. The hero Perseus later killedMedusa at her home on an island off Libya by cutting off herhead with a sickle.

Ancient Greek Neapolis (Macedonia). Classicalhemidrachm (1.9g), c. 411 - 348 B.C. O: Medusa withtongue protruding and hair of snakes ; R:female head,

possible Artemis (goddess of the hunt and the night)with hair bound in cord. Sear Greek 1417.

CANARY ISLANDS - ATLANTIS

Canary island currently contains 6 volcanoes: LA PALMA (Stratovolcano), HIERRO (Shield volcano), TENERIFE (Stratovolcano) GRAN CANARIA, (Fissure vent), FUERTEVENTURA(Fissure vent) and LANZAROTE (Fissure vent).

Volcanism in the region of Canary Islands is largely caused by hotspots in oceanic crust, and theregion has the highest proportion of fissure vent volcanoes (as primary features). Several known volcanoeslie along or near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that separates the Eurasian and African plates from the North andSouth American plates, but the Canaries and Cape Verdes lie just west of the African continental margin.

La Palma is a stratovolcano and is the largest (6500 m above the surrounding ocean floor). There are twomain rock formations separated by a lineabout 427 m above sea level make up LaPalma island. Several historic eruptionsinclude Tahuya a cone of lapilli, scoria andbombs about 1000 m high that formed overa three month period in 1585 byStrombolian eruptions.The most recenteruption occured in 1971.The Atlantides were the seven daughters ofAtlas, the mythic Titan son of Poseidon(Oceanus) that founded the city of Atlantis.Greek myths tell that the Atlantides werealso called Pleiades or Hesperides, andpersonified the seven Islands of the Blest, which the Greeks obscurely placed in the Outer Ocean (Atlantic).Ancient writers tell also about an island opposite the strait, larger than Libya and Asia combined. From it travellerscould in those days reach the other islands, and from them the whole opposite continent which surrounds what can trulybe called the ocean. The Atlantis’ case is taken mainly with some skepticism among many scholars because itdisappeared an advanced civilization without leaving any trace.

Poliochne, ancient Greek Bronze Age town on Lemnos island. Oneof the most ancient towns in Europe. Unearthed by excavations ofthe Italian Archaeological School of Greece. It is believed that Troy

was its main rival commercially.

Aiolos gives Odysseus the bag of winds.17th century etching Theodor van Thulden (1606

-1669). Fine Art Museum San Francisco

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