Geomythology Flashcards
Dorothy Vitaliano
legends of the earth : their geological origins
Georges Cuvier
Complied ancient Greek , North and South American accounts of giat bones –> extinct species
Euhemerus
4th BCE Ancient Greece interpretation of myths in which accounts are presumned to originate from real historical events
Why myths are created
Enabling individual and community recover from disaster by rationalising event
(psychological tool)
Adaptation of society to the environment
Enhanced community knowledge
Myth’s role in science
Add hazardous events to the historical record ( mitigation )
Cultural understanding needed to effectively mitigate against hazards
Ligusitic strategy themes to the origin of myrhs
familiar analogies used (snow, hurricane, waterfall)
-event described with physical human attributes ( personified ) , malicious intent
- unfamiliar /supernatural elements
-higher sense of power behind event
What were the eye whitness the mount st helens event in 1980
Like
snowflakes”, like “a
giant sifter was over
you
inky waterfall
black chalk dust
orange lightening
serpent tongues
What happened during the Soufrière Hills, Montserrat event
Fire was pitching on the pavement by the school
and the air
sly and sneaky
heavy winds were like a hurricane
it grips your soul
Hawaii
myths attached to royal
genealogies
Encode dateable natural events
relating to Pele and astronomical
events.
Historical model of myth transmission – illuminating the conservation process
Conservation Principles
Snapshot, Expertise, Performance and Redundancy
How long to myths last?
over 250
generations
Harry truman’s song
Describes the relationship between population and the volcano ( personified as a higher being )
Why did local residents use stories to describe the incident despite having scientific knowledge and understanding
prefer terms to emulate a sense of familiarity and coping mechanism
Snapshot principle
during or immediately after observation of a natural event
Expertise principle
likely created and perpetuated by educated people