ARCHAEOSEISMOLOGY IN ITALY: CASE STUDIES AND IMPLICATIONS ON LONG-TERM SEISMICITY

Four Italian cases from central Apennines and central-eastern Alps show how the use of archaeoseismology and paleoseismological investigations on deformed archaeological remains may improve the knowledge on long-term seismicity. In the Fucino Plain (central Apennines), the displacement of a Roman canal (built during the lst-2nd century AD) was caused by the movement of one of the active faults affecting the basin. The paleoseismological analysis and available archaeological data permitted to date the event at the 5th-6th century AD and to hypothesise that this earthquake was also responsible for significant damage to the Colosseum in Rome shortly before 508 AD. At the Egna site (Bolzano province, northern Italy), the displacement of a Roman building has been paleoseismologically investigated. It probably resulted from surface faulting, thus permitting to hypothesise the occurrence of strong earthquakes in an area for which seismicity does not show significant historical earthquakes. In the Sulmona Plain (central Apennines) the occurrence of a strong event around the middle of the 2nd century AD is testified by ah epigraph. Widespread evidence of building, collapses and abandonments characterise a number of archaeologically investigated sites and confirm the age of occurrence inferred from the epigraph. In the Trento area (northern Italy), evidence of earthquake-induced damage to medieval buildings suggests that the earthquake which affected northern Italy in 1117 may have been responsible for significant damage also in the Adige Valley. Gained experience indicates that in areas where historical research does not contribute significantly to the knowledge of the effects of strong earthquakes, the use of archaeological evidence of past earthquakes may be a valuable tool to obtain information on the historical seismicity related to moderate-large magnitude events.     

IS THERE A NEAR-FIELD FOR SMALL-TO-MODERATE MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKES?

The major hazard posed by earthquakes is often thought to be due to moderate to large magnitude events. However, there have been many cases where earthquakes of moderate and even small magnitude have caused very significant destruction when they have coincided with population centres. Even though the area of intense ground shaking caused by such events is generally small, the epicentral motions can be severe enough to cause damage even in well-engineered structures. Two issues are addressed here, the first being the identification of the minimum earthquake magnitude likely to cause damage to engineered structures and the limits of the near-field for small-to-moderate magnitude earthquakes. The second issue addressed is whether features of near-field ground motions such as directivity, which can significantly enhance the destructive potential, occur in small-to-moderate magnitude events. The accelerograms from the 1986 San Salvador (El Salvador) earthquake indicate that it may be unconservative to assume that near-field directivity effects only need to be considered for earthquakes of moment magnitude M 6.5 and greater.     

The archaeology of slighting: a methodological framework for interpreting castle destruction in the Middle Ages

ABSTRACT

The use of destruction in the past, its purpose and function, is poorly understood and an under-studied area. With hundreds of excavations at castles, there is a body of archaeological evidence that can be synthesised into a study of destruction. Slighting is the damage of a high-status structure, its associated landscape and contents to degrade its value. This article aims to bring the study of destruction into the established discourse of castles and medieval archaeology. It does this by establishing a methodological framework for understanding slighting and examines its application at key sites. In doing so, a chronology and geography of slighting is produced, along with a rich understanding of how and why castles were destroyed in the medieval period. Case studies of Weston Turville (Buckinghamshire) and Degannwy (Caernarfonshire) are used to explore how the archaeological and historical records interact and can be used to corroborate each other. By examining the archaeology of destruction, a new interpretation of slighting has been advanced, understanding it as an activity rich in social meaning with implications beyond the study of castles and the medieval period.     

Performance of Degrading Reinforced Concrete Frame Systems Under the Tohoku and Christchurch Earthquake Sequences

Field investigations after the recent Tohoku and Christchurch earthquakes reported failure of structural systems due to multiple earthquakes. In most failure cases the reported damage was mainly due to dramatic loss of stiffness and strength of structural elements as a result of material deterioration due to repeated earthquake loading. This study aims to investigate the degrading behavior of reinforced concrete frame systems subjected to Tohoku and Christchurch earthquake sequences. Numerical models of RC frames that incorporate damage features are established and inelastic response history analyses are conducted. The results presented in this study indicate that multiple earthquake effects are significant.     

Damage Assessment of Unreinforced Stone Masonry Buildings After the 2010–2011 Canterbury Earthquakes

The sequence of earthquakes that has affected Christchurch and Canterbury since September 2010 has caused damage to a great number of buildings of all construction types. Following post-event damage surveys performed between April 2011 and June 2011, an inventory of the stone masonry buildings in Christchurch and surrounding areas was carried out in order to assemble a database containing the characteristic features of the building stock, as a basis for studying the vulnerability factors that might have influenced the seismic performance of the stone masonry building stock during the Canterbury earthquake sequence. The damage suffered by unreinforced stone masonry buildings is reported and different types of observed failures are described using a specific survey procedure currently in use in Italy. The observed performance of seismic retrofit interventions applied to stone masonry buildings is also described, as an understanding of the seismic response of these interventions is of fundamental importance for assessing the utility of such strengthening techniques when applied to unreinforced stone masonry structures.     

关于建立国内馆藏文物防震应急管理体系的探讨

我国地处环太平洋地震带和欧亚地震带间,因地震导致的馆藏文物损毁现象时有发生。近年来,我国馆藏文物防震技术研究取得了不少成果,并在部分博物馆成功进行了一体化防震示范应用。但总体而言,馆藏文物防震风险预防和应急管理水平仍相对滞后,部分博物馆存在防震措施不合理、日常管理匮乏、应急能力不足等现象,亟待健全馆藏文物防震应急管理体系,其中应急预案的编制尤为重要。通过建立完善的应急管理体系,博物馆能够全面提高防震意识和应急处置能力,合理利用各类防震措施降低潜在风险,更好地保护馆藏文物。     

Tracking Fish and Human Response to Earthquakes on the Northwest Coast of Washington State,USA: A Preliminary Study at Tse-whit-zen

Evidence of large earthquakes occurring along the Pacific Northwest Coast is reflected in coastal stratigraphy from Oregon to British Columbia, where there also exists an extensive archaeological record of Native American occupation. Tse-whit-zen, a large Native American village dating between ～2800 yrs BP and the historic era, located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, was excavated with exceptionally fine stratigraphic control allowing for precise comparison of these natural and cultural records. Here we report on the ～10,000 fish remains from one 2 × 2 m excavation block; this assemblage spans the timing of one seismic event, allowing study of changes in relative taxonomic abundance through time that may coincide with earthquakes or other environmental changes. Results indicate a wide variety of fish taxa were used throughout the dated occupation. Comparisons of fish use before and after one earthquake event shows a decline in salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.) and an increase in herring (Clupea pallasii), shifts consistent with earthquake-related habitat loss. This serves as a pilot study for a large-scale collaborative project that is drawing on the range in animal types (invertebrates, mammals, birds, and fishes) to assess human response to gradual and abrupt environmental change at Tse-whit-zen.     

5.12汶川地震中四川可移动文物及其建筑受损情况调查

四川省文博单位所藏大量可移动文物在5.12汶川地震中遭受不同程度损毁,其受损原因极具研究价值。采用文物受损信息调查表、实地调查与再核实、数据统计与分析等方法,针对受损可移动文物所处大环境、小环境及其存放或展示方式,结合每件可移动文物的受损状态进行统计研究。基本探明汶川地震中文博单位建筑和可移动文物受损原因和类型,为提升文博工作者的文物防震保护意识和开展文物防震保护研究提供基础资料。     

Pencils and Pixels: Drawing and Digital Media in Archaeological Field Recording

Within the context of a growing emphasis on digital recording, what is the place of analog drawing in archaeological fieldwork? In this article, we situate the increased application of digital drawing methods by providing several historical examples of archaeological field drawing in British archaeology to demonstrate the connection between understanding the archaeological record and illustration. Given this background of analog archaeological recording, we then explore the current state of archaeological field drawing and the affordances of digital illustration for recording and interpreting the archaeological record, review literature in architecture and design regarding the cognitive function of analog and digital drawing, and discuss the possible future implications of born-digital or paperless archaeology.     

‘Handle with care’: literature,archaeology, slavery

This article examines the relationship between literary and bioarchaeological approaches to slavery, and investigates how the methods and priorities of each discipline might inform each other in understanding what it was like to be enslaved. Both bioarchaeologists and creative writers have attempted to access the inner lives of enslaved people, yet there has been little interaction between them. This paper offers an account of a research project which brought together a literary scholar, two archaeological scientists and seven creative writers to explore how writing might not only communicate a history understood through archaeological evidence, but could itself inform approaches to that evidence. We discuss two key themes which emerged from the project: Conversation and Caring. These themes were crucial to the interdisciplinary process, as it was only through attention to our relationships with each other that we could begin to reassess the nature of material in each of our disciplines.     

基于概率法的木构古建筑地震破坏综合评价方法

为了研究木构古建筑地震破坏状态评估的准确性,应用概率的方法,以结构损伤指数、最大层间位移角作为评价因子,建立了地震破坏综合评价模型,提出了基于概率法的木构古建筑地震破坏综合评价方法。该方法在综合现状分析与实验数据,在一定烈度下计算各种破坏状态等级中每一种破坏状态出现的概率,古建筑地震破坏状态应为概率最大的地震破坏状态,从而比较准确地判别木构古建筑地震破坏程度。并对经受过汶川地震的两种结构形式的古建筑进行了验证,从而验证了该方法的合理性和有效性。这一方法将提高木构古建筑震害预测的准确性,为古建筑抗震加固提供有效的理论支持。     

Envisioning Artifacts: a Classic Maya View of the Archaeological Record

This paper explores a Classic Maya (ca. AD 250–900) “material vision”—that is, a locally determined and culturally specific way of understanding the material world, its salient qualities, and associated meanings—based on evidence found in hieroglyphic texts from across the Maya world. Understanding Classic Maya ways of seeing the material world is an important undertaking as part of exploring alignments and misalignments between ancient indigenous and modern archaeological understandings of what today we view as “artifacts.” This topic is explored in the article through two related inquiries: first, I look at “artifacts” (i.e., materials that qualify as such, in an archaeological material vision) recorded in the hieroglyphic record, yielding thematic understandings of objects related to form and function, wholeness versus brokenness, and the relational potential of objects. Second, I use ten hieroglyphic property qualifiers that indicate Maya material perceptions and categories to gain explicit insight into some organizing principles within a Maya way of visualizing the material world. Throughout the article, I ask: can we envision archaeological objects using Maya conceptions, and how does this way of seeing align or misalign with archaeological material engagements?     

Reconstructing Iron Age Community Dynamics in Eski?ehir Province, Central Turkey

Current understanding of the Iron Age polity of Phrygia in Central Anatolia is primarily based on excavations and survey in the region of the Phrygian capital of Gordion. In order to expand our knowledge of the Phrygian polity, we assess the scale and nature of Iron Age communities in the western (Eski?ehir) region of Phrygia. We address the challenge of interpreting ceramics derived from large-scale archaeological survey by utilizing Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) of ceramics from 12 sites across the region collected by the Eski?ehir archaeological survey project as well as an excavated assemblage from ?ar H?yük. While the uniformity in ceramic technology and styles suggest the region is part of the larger Phrygian community, NAA results reveal that (a) ceramic production was regionally highly localized with limited evidence of standardization during the Iron Age and (b) based on evidence of community interaction it is possible to establish a partial chronological sequence of development. These results have implications not only for understanding the internal dynamics within the Phrygian core but also for developing a methodology for comparing ancient polities using commensurate units of interacting communities. The present study is part of the larger Anatolian Iron Age Ceramics project (http://www.une.edu.au/a-ia).     

Archeoseismicity and environmental crises at the Sialk Mounds,Central Iranian Plateau,since the Early Neolithic

During the long-lasting cultural sequences of the Shurābeh and Sialk archeological mounds (6200–550 BC) the inhabitants encountered numerous diversified crises along a narrow fertile passageway at the edge of the Central Iranian Plateau Great Desert. Some of the threats may be attributed to earthquakes, drastic climatic changes, and man-made environmental deterioration, which possibly led to the settlement withdrawing at different stages toward a more suitable location. Our study identified the occurrence of a large-magnitude earthquake around 3800 BC along the Kāshān fault, which is well-documented by various lines of circumstantial evidence, including: (i) numerous contemporaneous smashed skeletons and artifacts underneath collapsed walls and ceiling debris in several different areas; (ii) tilted and collapsed walls; (iii) nearly N–S oriented fallen large storage jars; and (iv) nearly vertical deep ground fractures cutting walls and floors of the Sialk III₅ South Mound settlement. Archeological data also shows additional stratigraphic discontinuities and damages that may be attributed to earthquakes. However, damage features in limited exposed trenches are less conclusive and require additional careful excavations. Apparent ancient paleo-architectural innovative attempts to enhance the coherency/elasticity of the structures and minimize earthquake damage to buildings were also noted, suggesting the indigenous earthquake hazard mitigation endeavor. There seems to be a correlation between some site abandonment dates and possible drastic regional draught/cooling events. The natural and anthropogenic impacts addressed in this study constituted major threats to the sensitive archeological settlements at the fringe of the desert and the vicinity of the Kāshān active fault since antiquity.     

Relationships between Modified Mercalli Intensity and Engineering Ground-Motion of the Earthquakes in Persia

New empirical relationships between modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) and engineering ground acceleration (PGA) of the earthquakes were generated for the Iranian territory. MMI and PGA values were gathered from 16 large earthquakes. We derived two sets of relationships which predict MMI in terms of PGA; each developed using both horizontal and three components of accelerograms. The first set is independent of earthquake magnitude and epicentral distance. Better results were observed when magnitude and epicentral distance conditions were included into equations. They might be used for both rapid assessments of ground shaking and also mapping damage potential in Iran and neighboring area.     

汶川地震导致的壁画文物震害研究——以广元市觉苑寺大雄宝殿壁画为例

为保护壁画文物,以四川省广元市剑阁县大雄宝殿为例,对汶川地震作用下殿内壁画的震害进行了研究.根据震后勘查结果,讨论了大雄宝殿壁画的典型震害症状,分析了古建筑侧脚构造对壁画抗震的有利影响.根据大雄宝殿壁画加固工艺作法及古建筑榫卯连接特点,建立了大雄宗殿的震前有限元模型.为研究汶川地震作用下壁画的震害特征,首先对其进行了模态分析,然后将模拟汶川地震波进行调幅,然后作用于大雄宝殿进行地震反应分析.通过采用时程分析法,获得了地震作用下不同时刻壁画整体的内力与变形响应峰值,并获得了典型节点的地震响应曲线.结果表明:大雄宝殿壁画开裂与空鼓的主要原因是面层与墙体粘结不牢导致的受拉破坏;地震作用下壁画保持稳定的振动状态;为提高壁画的抗震性能,壁画木框与外墙板间应加强连接,并在空隙处填塞隔震材料,同时应加强壁画本身保养工作.     

Identification of metal residues associated with bit-use on prehistoric horse teeth by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis

Our ability to identify evidence of the use of horses for transportation from archaeozoological remains is important for improving our understanding of the role of horses in socioeconomic changes throughout prehistory. When a horse is used with a bit, the bit can come into contact with the anterior (‘front’) surface of the lower second premolar (P₂). Here, results of X-ray microanalysis, undertaken in a variable pressure scanning electron microscope, of chemical elements on the anterior surface of four archaeological horse P₂ are presented. Analysis of dental materials (enamel and cementum) returned expected results, with calcium, phosphorous and oxygen dominating. Iron-rich residues are also identified on the front of two of the teeth, which are interpreted here as deriving from contact with iron bits. It is proposed that such analyses may provide a useful additional method for identifying bitting damage in archaeological horses or corroborating interpretations made from macroscopic examinations.     

Actualistic research into dynamic impact and its implications for understanding differential bone fragmentation and survivorship

The relationship between bone mineral density and archaeological bone survivorship has played a critical role in zooarchaeological and taphonomic studies in recent decades. Numerous studies have suggested that higher-density skeletal element portions survive more frequently than lower-density element portions when archaeological assemblages are affected by some taphonomic processes. Interpretations of density mediated destruction have become commonplace in the archaeological literature, and are often used to explain the absence of certain bone elements and element parts in zooarchaeological assemblages. This study explores the effects of rockfall on bovid elements in varied environmental conditions and the differential survivorship of their element parts, and has implications for understanding the taphonomic processes through which bones are subjected to dynamic loading. Actualistic rockfall experiments conducted on twelve samples of frozen, fresh, and semi-dried bovid bones reveal that the generally low-density epiphyseal ends of bone elements resist fracture and analytical deletion with more frequency than the higher-density diaphyses. This evidence suggests that bone density does not correlate with likelihood of breakage or effective archaeological “destruction” when rockfall and other processes that result in dynamic impact are in action. While this research does not question the relationship between bone mineral density and the likelihood for archaeological survivorship as the result of some taphonomic processes, it presents one specific set of taphonomic processes that result in the differential survivorship of low density bone elements parts and the fragmentation and destruction of higher density element parts. This research presents evidence that shows that dynamic impact is a process capable of fragmenting and sometimes destroying high-density elements while low-density elements survive.     

Seleucia Pieria: an ancient harbour submitted to two successive uplifts

Historical sources ascribe the foundation of Seleucia (Seleukeia) Pieria to Seleucos I Nikator, shortly before the foundation of Antioch in the late 4th century BC. The Seleucia Pieria site seems however to have been inhabited earlier, perhaps from around 700 BC, possibly by a Greek population under an Assyrian ruler. The city became of considerable military importance during the wars between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids; it was occupied by the Romans in the 1st century BC, but had practically disappeared in the 6th century AD.
Geomorphological surveys in the area have revealed the existence of elevated marine notches and rims bioconstructed by vermetids, oysters and calcareous algae, which occasionally erode or intersect the archaeological sites, showing that two rapid land uplift movements, probably of seismic origin, took place during the late Holocene. The first movement, which occurred about 2500 ± 100 years bp, was the strongest one and caused a local vertical displacement of about 1.7 m, which may have severely affected the earlier Greek settlement. Though several earthquakes are reported to have occurred in the area during the following ten centuries, none of them seem to have been strong enough to cause significant vertical displacements. The second movement occurred around 1400 years bp, probably in May 526 AD, when a great earthquake followed by tsunami waves is known to have caused devastating damage in Antioch and Seleucia. According to geomorphological data supported by several radiocarbon dates, the earthquake was accompanied by a 0.7 to 0 8 m upheaval. This seismotectonic event also caused a rapid silting of the Seleucia Pieria closed harbour basin and entrances, thus preventing its further use.