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
Performance principle
performance driven in addition to oral transmission
Performance principle
performance driven in addition to oral transmission
Redundancy principle
key aspects of storyline repeated to reinforce the importance and the ability or audience to remember
Duration of myth - Klamath Native American
oral tradition about Mt Mazama eruption
~7,500 yrs ago
transmitted over 250 generations
Story of llao and skell
contains geological facts about the eruption and collapse of the mountain that were unknown to scientists until the 20th century
Atlantis myth
Plato ( Timaeus and Criitas 360-347BCE)
Describes the island of atlantis
TOpography, thermal waters, rocks, political systems, tech, culture
Potential Area
Santorini, Minoan eruption 1627-1600 BCE
How was the Boxing Day 2004 event described as to the locals
The laboon
mitigation
No deaths occurred
* Early warning system
* Enhanced community resilience
