Going Forward by Looking Back

Felix Riede is Professor of Archaeology at Aarhus University in Denmark. He heads the Laboratory for Past Disaster Science, and his research focuses on the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Europe.

“This collection presents diverse studies of climate disasters and human responses, with a particular focus on how knowledge of past catastrophes and resilience in their aftermath can contribute to risk reduction in the future…This is a must-read book on how the world today will face and deal with recurrent disasters through the lens of deep history over time.   Highly Recommended.” • Choice“This book is causing me to think about how greater attention to environmental hazards through an archaeological lens can shine light on both the strengths and weaknesses of human societal responses…[It] represents an exciting attempt to bring the heft of deep history to bear on the formidable climate‐related challenges before us.” • American Anthropologist“The authors have analysed voluminous data from various sites to present a cogent picture of the response by societies to disasters resulting from volcanic eruptions, floods and droughts. The book should be read by policymakers and administrators to strengthen their work in finding disaster relief measures which are people friendly. The book has significant value.” • International Journal of Environmental Studies“This is an important body of work which significantly pushes the boundaries of the scope of archaeology… The volume is quite diverse, thematically, geographically, and in regard to the approach and methodological and theoretical perspectives taken. They add up to a highly interesting, stimulating, thought provoking, and inspiring work.” • Christian Isendahl, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

• List of Illustrations, Figures and TablesIntroduction: Framing Catastrophes ArchaeologicallyFelix Riede and Payson SheetsSection I: FireChapter 1. Do Deep-Time Disasters Hold Lessons for Contemporary Understandings of Resilience and Vulnerability?: The Case of the Laacher See Volcanic EruptionFelix Riede and Rowan JacksonChapter 2. Risky Business and the Future of the Past: Nuclear Power in the Ring of FireKaren HolmbergChapter 3. Do Disasters Always Enhance Inequality?Payson SheetsChapter 4. Political Participation and Social Resilience to the 536/540 CE Atmospheric CatastrophePeter Neal PeregrineChapter 5. Collapse, Resilience, and Adaptation: An Archaeological Perspective on Continuity and Change in Hazardous EnvironmentsRobin TorrenceChapter 6. Continuity in the Face of a Slowly Unfolding Catastrophe: The Persistence of Icelandic Settlement Despite Large-Scale Soil ErosionAndrew Dugmore, Rowan Jackson, David Cooper, Anthony Newton, Árni Daníel Júlíusson, Richard Streeter, Viðar Hreinsson, Stefani Crabtree, George Hambrecht, Megan Hicks and Tom McGovernChapter 7. Coping through Connectedness: A Network-Based Modeling Approach Using Radiocarbon Data from the Kuril Islands of Northeast AsiaErik Gjesfjeld and William A. BrownSection II: WaterChapter 8. The Materiality of Heritage Post-disaster: Negotiating Urban Politics, People, and Place through Collaborative ArchaeologyKelly M. BrittChapter 9. Mound-Building and the Politics of Disaster DebrisShannon Lee DawdyChapter 10. Catastrophe And Collapse in the Late Pre-Hispanic Andes: Responding for Half a Millennium to Political Fragmentation And Climate StressNicola SharrattChapter 11. Beyond One-Shot Hypotheses: Explaining Three Increasingly Large Collapses in the Northern Pueblo SouthwestTimothy A. Kohler, Laura J. Ellyson, and R. Kyle BocinskyChapter 12. Inherent Collapse? Social Dynamics and External Forcing in Early Neolithic and Modern Southwest GermanyDetlef Gronenborn, Hans-Christoph Strien, Kai Wirtz, Peter Turchin, Christoph Zielhofer, and Rolf van DickChapter 13. El Niño as Catastrophe on the Peruvian CoastDaniel H. Sandweiss and Kirk A. MaaschChapter 14. A Slow Catastrophe: Anthropocene Futures and Cape Town’s “Day Zero”Nick ShepherdConclusion: Rewriting the Disaster Narrative, an Archaeological ImaginationMark SchullerIndex