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The archaeology of a landslide: Unravelling the Azores earthquake disaster of 1522 and its consequences

Gerrard, CM; Forlin, P; Froude, M; Petley, D; Gutierrez, A; Treasure, E; Milek, K; Oliveira, N

The archaeology of a landslide: Unravelling the Azores earthquake disaster of 1522 and its consequences Thumbnail


Authors

P Forlin

M Froude

D Petley

E Treasure

N Oliveira



Abstract

The multidisciplinary research described here shows how archaeologists can help reconstruct past seismic episodes and understand the subsequent relief operation, rehabilitation, and reconstruction processes. In October 1522, a major earthquake and landslide struck the then capital of the Azores, Vila Franca do Campo, 1500 km from the European mainland. Damage was extensive, destroying key monuments, affecting most of the inhabited area, and leaving few survivors among the early colonists. The results from twenty-six archaeological trenches, geological and geoarchaeological investigations, and documentary analysis are reviewed here. Distinctive archaeological deposits are identified and explained, using the high density of artefacts and the erosional contact between the landslide and the pre-1522 palaeosol to reconstruct the episode in detail.

Citation

Gerrard, C., Forlin, P., Froude, M., Petley, D., Gutierrez, A., Treasure, E., …Oliveira, N. (2021). The archaeology of a landslide: Unravelling the Azores earthquake disaster of 1522 and its consequences. European Journal of Archaeology, 24(3), 388-411. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2021.4

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 28, 2021
Online Publication Date Mar 8, 2021
Publication Date 2021-08
Deposit Date Apr 21, 2021
Publicly Available Date Dec 15, 2021
Journal Journal of European Archaeology
Print ISSN 1461-9571
Electronic ISSN 1741-2722
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 24
Issue 3
Pages 388-411
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2021.4

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Published Journal Article (1.4 Mb)
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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Association of Archaeologists





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