Historiographical contribution to the dating of the Sciara del Fuoco of Stromboli

Abstract

The volcanic and seismic hazard that the Aeolian archipelago is subject to urges detailed multidisciplinary studies on those potentially destructive events that probably occurred as volcanism developed along with local anthropogenic history over the last 7500 years. By examining the oldest human settlements in the Aeolian Islands, from which we may deduce the population density, as well as the behaviours and lifestyles of the inhabitants, the aim was to identify a link between the sudden and irregular cultural changes and the natural calamities recorded in the profuse Aeolian volcanological literature [Gillot and Keller, 1993; Kokelaar and Romagnoli, 1995; Rosi et al., 2000; Tinti et al., 2002; Speranza et al., 2008; Calvari et al.,2011; Francalanci et al., 2013]. Recent radiometric and paleomagnetic dating have established that significant phenomena affected Stromboli during its 5th life cycle between 13,000 and 4000 BP (Neostromboli). In particular, a major eruptive phase ended about 7500-7000 years ago, followed by a period of quiescence lasting roughly 3000 years when the volcano, having reached its maximum expansion of the north sector and undergoing structural instability, was affected by massive collapses, after that of Vàncori about 13,000 years ago. These were the main and most recent landslides leading to the formation of the Sciara del Fuoco [Tinti, 2002; Francalanci et al., 2014]. Concerning the major collapse of Neostromboli, the ensuing tsunami certainly had disastrous effects along the southeastern Tyrrhenian coasts, as deduced by Tinti et al. [2002] through numerical simulations. Though investigating the dynamics causing the collapses of the sector is beyond the scope of this paper, it is possible that different phenomena such as seismic events or coastal erosion, may have caused the landslides. This would relate the two major collapses of La Sciara with the two profound economic and demographic crises marking aeolian prehistory at the beginning of the 3rd and the 1st millennium BC respectively.