Open AccessHistory and Volcanology: Dialogue Overdue? The Case of a False Eruption in Medieval Italy
Author(s) -
Guidoboni Emanuela
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2010eo260002
Subject(s) - volcanology , impact crater , fifteenth , volcano , history , medieval history , phreatic eruption , ancient history , event (particle physics) , geology , archaeology , classics , seismology , magma , astrobiology , physics , quantum mechanics
Solfatara, a shallow volcanic crater on the Phlegrean Fields near Naples, Italy, is generally thought to have last erupted in 1198. However, the entire belief in this eruption is very likely based on a misinterpretation of historical records: Though mentioned in several fifteenth‐ and sixteenth‐century texts, the eruption in 1198 C.E. is not referred to in written sources such as chronicles and documents contemporary to or soon after the supposed event.