Earthquakes buried in ancient Greece?

The great period of the Greeks, the Mycenae period, suddenly disappeared around 1,200 BC. This is the moment that marks the beginning of a dark period in ancient Greece. Scientists are finding ways to prove earthquakes are the cause of the collapse of the Greek period.

Mycenae's disappearance is a mystery in the Mediterranean. The most popular explanation for this disappearance is wars with invading enemies or a lower class uprising. Some scientists argue that one of the country's frequent earthquakes may have contributed to the collapse of culture. At the ruins of Tiryns, a large palace, geologists hope to find evidence to confirm whether an earthquake is the culprit.

Tiryns is one of the major cities of Mycenae. On top of a limestone hill, the lord of the region built a castle with thick and massive walls, because only 'supernatural forces' could create large limestone blocks. come like that. The walls are about 10m high and 8m thick, with a mass of 13 tons.

The leftover part of the giant wall was built by
Mycenaes are found at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

Klaus G. Hinzen, a geologist at the University of Cologne in Germany and project director, presented the preliminary study results of the group on April 19, at the annual meeting of the American Seismic Society. in Salt Lake City.

Hinzen and his colleagues created a 3D model of Tiryns castles based on laser scans of remnant structures. Their goal is to determine whether the collapse of the wall may be caused by an earthquake. The geophysical sweep of sediments and rock layers below the surface will provide information for technical studies of how the ground will vibrate during a seismic.

This work is very complicated, because many blocks were moved by amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1884 and then restored the 20th century. By connecting the images together, the team found the part The wall has not changed. They also hope to use a technique called luminescence on and under soil masses. This can help determine whether the walls are toppled all at once like in an earthquake.

"This is really a challenge because of the previous moves. We want a cautious look based on the initial conditions , " Hinzen said.

Another obstacle: finding deadly earthquakes that have ever happened. There is no written record of the recession of the Mycenae period that depicts a major earthquake, which has never been handed down in folklore. Mr Hinzen also said that compared to other areas of Greece, this area has quite a few epicenter."There is no evidence for an earthquake at the moment, but maybe the strong operation in this area has sucked it in , " he said.

Mycenae residents prioritized the victory fortress on the top of a limestone hill and surrounding sediments. This makes it possible to easily focus vibrations, even from distant earthquakes. Researchers also plan to study Midea's ancient Mycenae cities. The group performed similar work to investigate ancient earthquakes in Turkey, Germany and Rome.