Biostratigraphic Evidence Relating to the Age‐Old Question of Hannibal's Invasion of Italy,I: History and Geological Reconstruction |
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| Authors: | W C Mahaney C C R Allen P Pentlavalli A Kulakova J M Young R W Dirszowsky A West B Kelleher S Jordan C Pulleyblank S O'Reilly B T Murphy K Lasberg P Somelar M Garneau S A Finkelstein M K Sobol V Kalm P J M Costa R G V Hancock K M Hart P Tricart R W Barendregt T E Bunch M W Milner |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geography, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;2. Quaternary Surveys, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada;3. School of Biological Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, UK;4. School of the Environment, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada;5. GeoScience Consulting, Dewey, AZ, USA;6. School of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland;7. Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia;8. Centre de Recherche en Géochimie et Géodynamique (GEOTOP), Université du Québec et Montréal (UQAM), Montréal Québec, Canada;9. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;10. Centro de Geologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ci?ncias da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal;11. Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;12. School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK;13. Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble cedex 9, France;14. Department of Geography, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada;15. Geology Program, School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA;16. MWM Consulting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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| Abstract: | Controversy over the alpine route that Hannibal of Carthage followed from the Rhône Basin into Italia has raged amongst classicists and ancient historians for over two millennia. The motivation for identifying the route taken by the Punic Army through the Alps lies in its potential for identifying sites of historical archaeological significance and for the resolution of one of history ' s most enduring quandaries. Here, we present stratigraphic, geochemical and microbiological evidence recovered from an alluvial floodplain mire located below the Col de la Traversette (~3000 m asl—above sea level) on the French/Italian border that potentially identifies the invasion route as the one originally proposed by Sir Gavin de Beer (de Beer 1974 ). The dated layer is termed the MAD bed (mass animal deposition) based on disrupted bedding, greatly increased organic carbon and key/specialized biological components/compounds, the latter reported in Part II of this paper. We propose that the highly abnormal churned up (bioturbated) bed was contaminated by the passage of Hannibal ' s animals, possibly thousands, feeding and watering at the site, during the early stage of Hannibal ' s invasion of Italia (218 bc ). |
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| Keywords: | Hannibalic War Second Punic War Environmental Parameters Invasion Route Question Hannibal Route Enigma Unmasked |
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