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Lea Abbott has called my attention to the discussion on the Late=20
Antiquity list serve concerning the A.D. 536 phenomenon. I have read=20
through the entries and find them very helpful. I will respond to some=20
of them following. My interest in this issue arises from a large number=20
of archaeological cultural phase changes that occurred in the 6th c.=20
A.D. and from an interest in long term global change. In 1996 I=20
organized a symposium on the topic at the Southeastern Archaeological=20
Conference. =20
=20
A book composed of the papers from this symposium is currently under =3D
review by the University Press of Florida. The book covers everything=20
from Cassiodorus and King Arthur to Erutria, China, the Maya Lowlands=20
and several papers on Southeastern United States. It appears to be a=20
world wide horizon marker and lends considerable insight to the events=20
of the mid first millennium A.D. The symposium was reported by one=20
observer to be the first such presentation at the Southeastern=20
Archaeological Conference to touch on the topic of King Arthur. The=20
book focuses primarily on the cross-referencing of history and=20
archaeology on the eastern coasts of the Atlantic Basin with=20
archaeology on the western coasts. The Maya, however, have just emerged=20
as a historical culture because of the recent translation of Maya=20
writing.
=20
A resume of the book:
=20
A.D. 536 AND ITS AFTERMATH-THE YEARS WITHOUT SUMMER
=20
Joel D. Gunn, Department of Anthropology, The University of North=20
Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514
=20
Global Climate Change in the First Millennium A.D.
=20
The authors of this book attempt to discover the global scale cultural=20
ramifications of the year A.D. 536cal by focusing on its detection in=20
subregional records whether they be historic, archaeological or=20
paleoenvironmental. "Records" is interpreted broadly as information
offered by the historical sciences, which include geology, archaeology,=20
and history. A prologue introduces some of the theoretical and=20
practical global climate issues that are the present day backdrop of=20
the study, most importantly the current concern with rapid global=20
change and uncertainty regarding its outcome. The next two chapters=20
further address these complex but important issues and set the=20
paleoclimatic stage for understanding cultural changes emanating from=20
global scale environmental changes in history and prehistory. Two=20
multi-chapter sections follow. In turn they search out the historical=20
and archaeological ramifications of the years without summer and the=20
centuries that precede and follow them. The book is divided into three=20
parts. Within parts, chapters are paired in concept sets that address=20
similar environments or similar regional questions relating to changes=20
in five topics: place, society, season, power, and empire. Part I sets=20
the stage for understanding the A.D. 536cal global cooling and the=20
generally cooler, often unstable, global climate of
the first millennium A.D. The objective of these chapters is to=20
understand global climate, global temperature, global change, and=20
atmospheric and oceanic circulation in a framework compatible with the=20
human scale of interaction and social studies.
=20
Part II presents the convincing, even overwhelming, historical evidence=20
from literate societies that A.D. 536cal was a watershed moment in the
history of the world. A search for a plausible boundary between=20
Classical and Modern times has been a subject of debate for much of the=20
twentieth century. Young argues that A.D. 536cal was the breakline=20
between classical and modern times. The other five chapters in Part II=20
profoundly support this contention.
=20
Part III engages the question of how archaeologists with less resolved=20
time scales can make useful contributions to understanding precisely=20
timed environmental events. Case studies from six subregions of=20
southeastern United States are presented. The answer is found more in=20
the aftermath, the 300 years following, than in the A.D. 536 event=20
itself. However, rapid culture changes and population movements are=20
implicated in more than one region. Especially important are=20
comparisons with historically observed parallel changes, or parallel=20
events (Gunn 1994) in other parts of the world.
=20
The book's parts are divided into themes, or concept sets. Each=20
concept set explores in a pair of chapters a geographic and=20
environmental issue. The concept sets emerged from the regional time=20
transects scanned by the authors through the centuries of the first=20
millennium A.D. Studies of subregional variation, both in climate and=20
cultural impacts, is greatly facilitated by pairing the contributions. =20
Six chapters of three pairs present studies of the Atlantic slope=20
(Anderson, Lilly and Webb, Mathis, Walker, Wetmore et al., Woodall). =20
To gain the perspective of other parts of the world, chapters from=20
Italy and Burgundy (Young) and Insular Europe (Jones) provide a view of=20
subregional variation there. Another pair addresses the Maya lowlands=20
of Mesoamerica (Chase and Chase, Robichaux). Two additional chapters=20
open issues in Africa (Schmidt) and Asia (Houston).
=20
Each pair of chapters in a concept set emphasizes the best data a =3D
region offers students of global change, both historical and/or =3D
archaeological. In Eurasia, Africa and Mesoamerica, historical records=20
reveal the scope of A.D. 536 cal consequences among empires, dynasties,=20
and economic and military balances of power. In central Italy, the=20
personal ambitions of Justinian, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire=20
clashed with the consequences of the A.D. 536 event. In other areas=20
such as southern Britain, history and archaeology are combined with=20
mythology and poetry to fathom the consequences at the time of King=20
Arthur. This is also true of the Mesoamerican studies of the regional=20
states of Tikal and Caracol. =20
=20
The Lilly and Webb chapter is paired with Wetmore et al. as they=20
address multiple instances of cultures in highly dissected terrain. =20
They are just across an artificial state border from each other. This=20
methodology amounts to subdividing a sample to see if results can be=20
replicated. I should emphasize that the experiments are replicated; I=20
did not anticipate that the results would be replicated. Contradictory=20
opinions were tolerated, even encouraged. The only requirement was=20
that the authors come to thoughtful conclusions.
=20
While the authors were encouraged to avoid esoteric terminology as much=20
as possible, two archaeological concepts assist the reader in=20
understanding how archaeologists think and interpret results. The first=20
is that of landscape and the second is horizon style. The=20
interpretative context of cultures, both prehistoric and historic is=20
taken to be a landscape, which is a reconstruction of conditions at=20
some time in the past. Thus, human experience with climate was enacted=20
in landscapes of inferred characteristics gained from site excavation,=20
historical sources, and paleoenvironmental data. The reconstructed=20
"landscape" is understood in a broad sense to reflect not only terrain=20
but also geophysical, hydrological and cognitive aspects.
=20
The horizon style is a familiar concept to archaeologists. Horizon =3D
styles usually involve an artifact type that is quickly widespread=20
across regions and soon disappears leaving marks of similar time=20
between those possessing it. Though not in the usual sense, the A.D.=20
536 cal event provides a type of horizon style of worldwide scope.
The globe circling case studies of this volume illustrate cultural and
personal reactions to the events surrounding A.D. 536cal and subsequent
centuries. The authors address issues of both contemporary and=20
scholarly interest. In the contemporary domain, the growing attention=20
that rapid, global-scale climate change and its impacts on societies=20
are justly demanding attention. The question raised among=20
archaeologists is what they might contribute to understanding such=20
changes. =20
=20
Students of the earth system cannot be certain at this time that global=20
warming will not precipitate climatic transformations as vast of=20
magnitude and broad of expanse as those experienced in the sixth =20
century A.D. Archaeologists clearly have the potential to investigate=20
social phenomena at substantial time depths and in ways inaccessible to=20
others. Who else studies social phenomena associated with the end of=20
the ice age over 10 millennia ago? The fates of Paleolithic cave=20
painters in Europe and Paleoindian elephant hunters in the Americas has=20
been an enduring fascination for over 200 years. Publication on the=20
topic began in 1797 with John Frere. One of the driving issues of the=20
volume, the question that glues together history and archaeology and=20
makes a horizon style/snap-to-grid methodology important is the=20
question of archaeological data and global events.
=20
Archaeologists have utilized near-event scale phenomena since the 1930s=20
when the concept of horizon styles was offered as a dating technique
(Trigger 1989:192). Horizon styles are constituted of rapidly=20
spreading, short lived cultural traits. When the spread of these=20
traits can be traced across more than one region, they provide a means=20
of cross-dating other cultural phenomena in the affected regions.
=20
References and Related Reading
=20
Baillie, M. G. L. (1994) Dendrochronology Raises Questions about the =20
Nature of the AD 536 Dust-veil Event. The Holocene 4:212-217.
Baillie, M. G. L. (1995) Patrick, Comets, and Christianity. Emania=20
13:69-78.
Berry, Walter E. (1987) Southern Burgundy in Late Antiquity and the
Middle Ages. In Regional Dynamics: Burgundian Landscapes in Historical
Perspective, edited by C. Crumley and M. Marquardt, pp. 447-609, =3D
Academic Press, Orlando.
Birdsell, Joseph B. (1973) A Basic Demographic Unit. Current=20
Anthropology 4:337-356.
Broecker, Wallace S. (1995) Chaotic Climate. Scientific American=20
273:62-69.
Bryson, Reid A. (1988) Civilization and Rapid Climate Change.=20
Environmental Conservation 15:7-15.
Bryson, Reid A. (1994) Orbital History, Volcanism, and Major Climate
Changes: On Integrating Climate Change and Culture Change. Human=20
Ecology 22:115-158.
Bryson, Reid A. and Thomas J. Murray (1977) Climates Of Hunger: Mankind=20
And The World's Changing Weather. The University of Wisconsin Press.
Bryson, R. A. and B. M. Goodman (1980) Volcanic Activity and Climatic
Changes. Science 207:1041-1044.
Denton, George and Wibjorn Karl (1973) Holocene Climatic=20
Variations-Their Pattern and Possible Cause. Quaternary Research=20
3:155-205.
Fialko, Vilma, William J. Folan, Joel D. Gunn, and Ma. del Rosario
Domenguez Carrasco (1998) Investigations in the Intersite Areas=20
Between Yaxha-Nakum-Tikal. Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting=20
of the Society for American Archaeology, Seattle.
Folan, William J., Joel Gunn, Jack D. Eaton, and Robert W. Patch (1983)
Paleoclimatological Patterning in Southern Mesoamerica. Journal of=20
Field Archaeology 10:453-468.
Gill, R. B. (1994) The Great Maya Droughts. Unpublished Dissertation,=20
The University of Texas at Austin.
Gribbin, John, and Mary Gribbin (1997) Fire on Earth. St.. Martin's
Griffin, New York
Gunn, Joel (1994) Global Climate and Regional Biocultural Diversity.=20
In Historical Ecology, edited by Carole L. Crumley, pp 67-97. School=20
of American Research, Santa Fe.
Gunn, Joel D. (1997) A Framework for the Middle-Late Holocene=20
Transition: Astronomical and Geophysical Conditions. Southeastern=20
Archaeologist 16:134-151.
Gunn, Joel D., and R. E. W. Adams (1981) Climatic Change, Culture, and
Civilization in North America. World Archaeology 13:85-100.
Gunn, J., W. Folan, and H. Robichaux (1994) Un Analisis Informativo
sobre La Descarga del Sistema del Rio Candelaria en Campeche, Mexico:
Reflexiones acerca de Los Paleoclimas que Afectaron a Los Antiguos =3D
Sistemas Mayas en Los Sitios de Calakmul y El Mirador. In Campeche Maya=20
Colonial, edited by W. Folan, pp. 174-197, Universidad Autonoma de=20
Campeche, Campeche Mexico.
Gunn, J., W. Folan, and H. Robichaux (1995) A Landscape Analysis of the
Candelaria Watershed in Mexico: Insights into Paleoclimates Affecting
Upland Horticulture in the Southern Yucatan Peninsula Semi- Karst.
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 10:3-42.
Gunn, Joel, C. Crumley, E. Jones, and B. Young (1995) Landscape=20
Analysis of Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages. Submitted for=20
review.
Kauffman, Stuart (1995) At Home in the Universe: The Search for Laws of
Self-Organization and Complexity. Oxford University Press, New York.
Lamb, H. H. (1977) Climate: Present, Past and Future: Climatic History=20
and the Future. Vol 2, Methuen and Co. Ltd., London.
Ladurie, E. L. (1971) Times of Feast, Times of Famine: A History of
Climate Since the Year 1000. Translated by B. Bray, Doubleday, New=20
York.
Lovelock, James (1989) Geophysiology. Transactions of the Royal=20
Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 80:169-175.
Murdock, George P., and Douglas R. White (1968) Standard Cross-Cultural
Sample. Ethnology 8:329-369.
Rao, Joe (1996) The Leonids' Last Hurrah? Sky & Telescope 11:74.
Rasmussen, Kaare L., Henrik B. Clausen, and Gregory W. Kallemeyn (1995)=20
No Iridium Anomaly after the 1908 Tunguska Impact: Evidence from a=20
Greenland Ice Core. Meteoritics 30:634-638.
Stommel, Henry, and Elizabeth Stommel (1979) The Year Without a Summer.
Scientific American 240:176-186.
Stothers, R. B. (1984) Mystery cloud of AD 536. Nature=20
307(5949):344-345.
Trigger, Bruce G. (1989) A History of Archaeological Thought. =20
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Wendland, W. M., and Reid A. Bryson (1974) Dating Climatic Episodes of=20
the Holocene. Quaternary Research 4:9-24.
=20
Responses to some of the Late Antiquity list serve comments:
=20
Morton Axboe 1jun98. In Baillie's Emania article in the references=20
above has some information of the impact on Christianity. Also=20
Elizabeth Jones' article in the book has discussions of possible=20
impacts on Christians. One of the things that kindled my interest in=20
the question is why Gregory of Tours spent the first years of his=20
tenure rebuilding burned churches. Does anyone know about this?
=20
Dennis C. Clark 3jun98. A book by Gribbon and Gribbon called Fire on=20
Earth was published in 1997 that discusses a lot of what is known about=20
meteor impacts though not much on A.D. 536. Very good materials for=20
analogy such as the Tunguska event for example. The gentleman from=20
Ireland is Baillie cited above.
=20
Matthias Bode 3jun98. Someone has been reporting a investigations of a
possible impact in the British Isles. This is not confirmed so just=20
something to watch. There has been some discussion in the geophysical
literature recently of meteor impacts on one side of the world causing
earthquakes on the other because the earth's spherical shape acts like=20
a lense to focus the energy on the opposite side. The accounts of
earthquakes in Constantinople seem unusual to me but I would be=20
interested to hear from someone who has a depth of knowledge on=20
earthquakes in the area at that time.
=20
Lorenzo Smerillo 4jun98. Elizabeth Jone's chapter in my book suggests =3D
that the date of King Arthur's death was moved to a later time in=20
legend because of the gravity of the events surrounding A.D. 536 in the=20
culture. Also, the creation date of the Book of Kells seems to have=20
been moved back to that time in legend. Perhaps you are looking at a=20
similar cultural process with Gregory the Great.
=20
Matthias Bode 4jun98. According to the author of the Chines chapter in=20
my book they do report an unusual astronomical event in A.D. 535. =20
Although it could be related to the dust veil of A.D. 536-537, it is=20
not clear at all what is concerned. Baillie discusses atmospheric=20
phenomena in legend that resemble the Tungusca event such as bright=20
light at night in his Emania article. He also discusses the confusion=20
related to the Greenland ice cores.
=20
Timothy L. Bratton 8jun98. Stothers 1984 Nature article documents an=20
extended event that reduced incoming solar radiation to 10 percent of
normal. Someone is looking into what are called "slow smokers" for a
second symposium I am organizing for the SEAC meeting this fall in=20
Columbia South Carolina. However, unless this can be documented, it=20
would have to be a truly grand event of volcanism or many volcanoes. =20
Chichon is a possible candidate according to a book by Richardson Gill=20
that will probably be published by University of New Mexico Press this=20
year.=20
=20
Still, I think that an atmospheric encounter with dust filtering down=20
from low orbit as following the 65 million year ago event is a good=20
candidate; we have to await evidence.
=20
K. Dimitris 8jun98. Hmm, too bad about the date uncertainty of=20
Philostorgious. See discussion of earthquakes above.
=20
Pamela G. Sayre 8jun98. I would like to know the date that the=20
Euphrates froze. The Nile is reported in Lamb (1977) to have frozen in=20
829. This is a good indicator of a global cold excursion at that time. =20
Perhaps this freezing of the Euphrates could serve a similar purpose.
=20
Phil Burns 9jun98. Good resume of Baillie's work mentioned above. =20
Forest fires: I have been wondering for some time if the droughts that=20
would follow a cooling event would result in widespread forest fires,=20
and where the biomass was great enough, fire storms that would inject=20
soot into the upper atmosphere. According to the nuclear winter=20
research soot injected into the upper atmosphere from fire storms would=20
be the major cause of global cooling from nuclear war. Fire storms=20
following volcanoes or meteors could amplify the immediate effects of=20
the event lengthening the usual few months that dust remains in the=20
atmosphere. There was a near fire storm in British Columbia following=20
the 1982 El Chichon eruptions from drought in the forests which made me=20
wonder about this. I have yet to encounter anyone who has done work on=20
this problem.
=20
Morten Axboe 10jun98, I would like to know about the freezing of the=20
Black Sea too.
=20
Timothy L. Bratton 10Jun98. High latitude volcanoes can't have much=20
effect on the global climate because the dust migrates poleward. =20
Equatorial volcanoes have much greater effects. El Chichon in 1982=20
dropped global temperatures like a rock in a month because it circled=20
the earth with a dust cloud at the equator where most of the solar=20
radiation comes in (see Rampino and Self in Sci. Amer). If there a=20
record of Vesuvius emitting ash slowly over a long period of time, this=20
might be an interesting question.
=20
The description of dry fog for 18 months in widespread locations is =3D
very strange. Also, A.D. 536, as is discussed by Hugh Robichaux in my=20
book is the beginning of the Maya Early-Late Classic Hiatus; he makes a=20
very good argument for vast changes in the Maya lowlands being related=20
to the event. In Africa, in Erutria, Peter Schmidt finds the sudden and=20
inexplicable collapse of formidable Erutrian Empire. This phenomenon=20
was not limited to the northern high latitudes. In my next round of=20
studies I am going to explore effects south of the equator.
=20
The information in plague and fleas in interesting and needs to be=20
considered.
=20
A comet did pass inside the Earth's orbit in the early eighth century,=20
a condition that increases debris in the vicinity of the Earth, and=20
there might be observable climate impacts, but I haven't seen anything=20
on the early sixth century. Baillie has some material in his Emania=20
article on multiple meteor phenomena over a couple of decades around=20
A.D. 536 that needs to be looked into in more detail. This will be=20
treated in the coming symposium but I do not know what the outcome will=20
be yet.
=20
Solar radiation needs to be considered as a background factor.
=20
The century of greatest volcanism in the Holocene was the third=20
century, i.e., the end of the Roman Golden Age according to Bryson and=20
Goodman 1980. There isn't much evidence for extensive volcanism in the=20
sixth century.
=20
Pamela G. Sayre 11jun98. Oh, here is the Euphrates freezing. 608=20
doesn't ring any bells but it is an interesting piece of information to=20
work with.
=20
Do the earthquake records not go back beyond 543? Or was there more
earthquake activity following A.D. 543?
=20
Timothy L. Bratton 11jun98. Wouldn't a near miss address most of these
concerns and still leave debris floating down from the upper=20
atmosphere?
=20
Pamela G. Sayre 14jun98. 18 hrs? If this is true it will rewrite most =3D
of the literature on this question since Stothers 1984 article. I=20
don't have the article handy to check and see if you and he are talking=20
about the same thing. 18 hours is well within the time range of a=20
volcanic phenomenon. When Tambora erupted in 1815 the area was dark for=20
hundreds of miles around at least through the next day.
=20
J.J. van Ginkel 15jun98. So, are we saying that 18 months are still=20
not involved, the change from years to hours being the topic of=20
discussion?
=20
Joel D. Gunn
Department of Anthropology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
jdgunn@email.unc.edu
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