B1758 - Archaeology of Natural Hazards, Climate Change and Resilience(1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students understand the impact of tectonic, geomorphologic and hydrogeologic hazards (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, and floods), biophysical hazards (pandemics and panzootics) and atmospheric and climatological hazards (in particular those related to climate change). They know the interdisciplinary methods of research for the investigation of past disasters and are able to reflect on the limits and advantages of the archaeological approach through the analysis of a diverse set of case studies. They understand the complexity of the economic, technological, and religious responses adopted by the affected societies in the post-disaster phase and become familiar with key-concepts such as risk, disaster, collapse, resilience, and the Anthropocene. They are also able to critically assess the scientific debate developed around those topics by deepening, from an archaeological perspective, methods and themes of cultural and political ecology. They ultimately know the potentials of archaeology in risk reduction, risk prevention, and risk communication in the contemporary world.

Course contents

The course is divided into two parts.

In Part 1, we will discuss the ‘vocabulary’ of disaster studies and disaster archaeology and explore in detail the occurrence of natural hazards such as floods, landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. We will also work on the ‘archaeological signature’ of the corresponding disasters and reflect on how archaeologists assess, date and interpret past disasters in the archaeological record. Finally, we will explore how archaeology can contribute to contemporary risk reduction strategies and societal risk awareness.

In Part 2, we will adopt a more theoretically informed approach to investigate concepts such as resilience, transformation, cultural change and collapse. In order to do so, we will combine readings from archaeology, anthropology and disaster studies. Several contributions focusing on creative and complex responses adopted by disaster-affected societies will be discussed. The course will also present new approaches inspired by recent trends in archaeological theory such as political ecology and environmental justice. Moreover, a particular focus will be placed on how cultural heritage and commemorative strategies address, employ, or neglect material evidence of past disasters.

 

Readings/Bibliography

The bibliography below lists the most relevant works we will address throughout the class. Readings will be presented at the beginning of the course and a detailed bibliography will be provided in the syllabus available on virtuale.unibo.it.

Main reference works:

Smith, K, 2013. Environmental hazards: assessing risk and reducing disaster (6th ed.). Routledge.

Riede, F and Sheets, P (eds), 2020 Going Forward by Looking Back: Archaeological Perspectives on Socio‐Ecological Crisis, Response, and Collapse, New York, Berghahn

McAnany, PA and Yoffee, N (eds), 2010 Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press

Gerrard, CM, Forlin, P and Brown, PJ (eds), 2021 Waiting for the end of the world? New perspectives on natural disasters in medieval Europe, London, Routledge.

Part I

Natural hazards and their archaeological signatures

Sintubin M, Stewart IS, 2008 ‘A logical methodology for archaeoseismology: A proof of concept at the archaeological site of Sagalassos, southwest Turkey’, Bull Seismol Soc Am., 98: 2209–2230.

Forlin P, Reicherter K, Gerrard CM, Bailiff I, García Porras A, 2024, ‘Recovering a lost seismic disaster. The destruction of El Castillejo and the discovery of the earliest historic earthquake affecting the Granada region (Spain)’, PLoS One 19: e0300549.

Dey H and Beverly GT, 2010 ‘Tsunamis and the port of Caesarea Maritima over the longue durée: a geoarchaeological perspective’, Journal of Roman Archaeology, 265–284.

Gerrard, C, Forlin P, Gutierrez, A, et al., 2021 ‘The archaeology of a landslide: Unravelling the Azores earthquake disaster of 1522 and its consequences’, European Journal of Archaeology, 24 (3), pp.388–411.

Degroot, D, et al. 2022 ‘The history of climate and society: a review of the influence of climate change on the human past’, Environmental Research Letters, 17 (10), p.103001.

Riede, F, 2008 ‘The Laacher See-eruption (12,920 BP) and material culture change at the end of the Allerød in Northern Europe’, Journal of Archaeological Science 35 (3), 591–599.

Sørensen, L, 2010 ‘The Lacher See volcanic eruption. Challenging the idea of cultural disruption’, Acta Archaeologica 8, 276–287

Part II

Resilience, Cultural Change and Collapse

Harper, K, 2017, The fate of Rome: Climate, disease, and the end of an Empire, Princeton University Press. (also available in Italian)

Diamond, J, 2011 Collapse how societies choose to fail or succeed, Penguin.

McAnany, PA and Yoffee, N (eds), 2010 Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability, and the Aftermath of Empire, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press

Barnett, L, 2019 After the flood. Imagining the global environment in early modern Europe, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press.

Gerrard, CM and Petley, DN, 2013 ‘A risk society? Environmental hazards, risk and resilience in the later Middle Ages in Europe, Natural Hazards, 69(1), 1051–1079. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0750-7

Guttman-Bond, E, 2019, Reinventing Sustainability: How Archaeology Can Save the Planet, Chapter 1: Learning from the past, pp. 1-23.

Davis, D, 2020 ‘Studying human responses to environmental change: Trends and trajectories of archaeological research’, Environmental Archaeology 25(4): 367-380.

Middleton, G, 2017 ‘The show must go on: Collapse, resilience, and transformation in 21st-century archaeology’, Reviews in Anthropology 46(2-3): 78-105.

Redman, C, 2005 ‘Resilience theory in archaeology’, American Anthropologist 107(1): 70-77.

Forlin, P and C Gerrard, 2017 ‘The archaeology of earthquakes: The application of adaptive cycles to seismically-affected communities in late medieval Europe’, Quaternary International 446: 95-108.

Svensson, E et al, 2020 ‘As far as you can come’? Historical archaeology on vulnerability and marginalization of life at the bottom of the social ladder’, Post-Medieval Archaeology 54(2): 165-185

Yazdi, LP, 2010 ‘Public and Private Lives in Iran: An Introduction to the Archaeology of the 2003 Bam Earthquake’, Archaeologies 6 (1), 29–47.

Nakamura, F, 2012, ‘Memory in the debris: the 3/11 great east Japan earthquake and tsunami’, Anthropology Today 28 (3), 20–23

 

 

Teaching methods

The course is designed around frontal lessons and seminars. Every few lectures, the class includes a 1-hour discussion slot on the topics covered (seminar). During those seminars, students will present and discuss selected scientific contributions listed above. Participation to such sessions is strongly recommended, as it is an integral part of teaching and assessment.

Assessment methods

Assessment will include: a) attendance and contribution to the course and the seminar sessions, b) a 10-min presentation agreed with the teacher during the course c) an oral exam and/or a final written essay to be agreed with the course organiser.  

For non-attending students, the final exam will be previously agreed with the teacher.

Teaching tools

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students 

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Forlin