Cover Image

Volcanic eruption eye-witnessed and recorded by prehistoric humans

Human footprints in hydrovolcanic ash near Çakallar volcano (Kula, Western Turkey) were discovered in 1968. A nearby pictograph interpreted as depicting Çakallar volcano would define it as the oldest site where humans demonstrably eye-witnessed a volca̶nic eruption and possibly artistically record...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ulusoy, Inan (Author) , Sarikaya, M. Akif (Author) , Schmitt, Axel Karl (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 18 April 2019
In: Quaternary science reviews
Year: 2019, Volume: 212, Pages: 187-198
ISSN:0277-3791
DOI:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.030
Online Access:Verlag, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.030
Verlag, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379118308709
Get full text
Author Notes:İnan Ulusoy, M. Akif Sarıkaya, Axel K. Schmitt, Erdal Şen, Martin Danišík, Erdal Gümüş
Description
Summary:Human footprints in hydrovolcanic ash near Çakallar volcano (Kula, Western Turkey) were discovered in 1968. A nearby pictograph interpreted as depicting Çakallar volcano would define it as the oldest site where humans demonstrably eye-witnessed a volca̶nic eruption and possibly artistically recorded it. Despite Çakallar's volcanological and cultural importance, its eruption age has remained controversial. Here, two independent dating methods, cosmogenic 36Cl and combined U-Pb and (U-Th)/He zircon (ZDD) geochronology, yielded the first internally consistent eruption ages controlled by detailed volcanostratigraphic mapping. Concordant 36Cl ages of 4.7±0.6 ka (errors 1σ) were obtained for a cone-breaching lava flow. ZDD ages for crustal xenoliths from scoria deposits directly overlying the footprints yielded an age of 4.7±0.7 ka. This firmly places the Çakallar eruption and prehistoric human footprints, and plausibly the rock art, into the Bronze Age, reinforcing the notion that prehistoric artwork recorded natural events.
Item Description:Gesehen am 21.08.2019
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:0277-3791
DOI:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.030

Similar Items