A Third Century AD Extreme Wave Event Identified in a Collapse Faciesof a Public Building in the Roman City of Hispalis (Seville, Spain)
- Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Mario 1
- Pérez Asensio, José N. 2
- Martín Peinado, Francisco José 3
- García Vargas, Enrique 4
- Tabales, Miguel Ángel 4
- Rodríguez Ramírez, Antonio 5
- Mayoral Alfaro, Eduardo 5
- Goldberg, Paul 6
- 1 Universidad de Jaén (España)
- 2 Aix Marseille Université, (CNRS), France
- 3 Universidad de Granada (España)
- 4 Universidad de Sevilla (España)
- 5 Universidad de Huelva (España)
- 6 University of Tübingen, Germany
- Álvarez Martí-Aguilar, Manuel (coord.)
- Machuca Prieto, Francisco (coord.)
Publisher: Springer Nature Singapore
ISBN: 978-981-19-1978-7, 978-981-19-1979-4
Year of publication: 2022
Pages: 267-311
Type: Book chapter
Abstract
The southwestern coast of the Iberian Peninsula has been considered a low-probability tsunamigenic area. However, both onshore and offshore studies have characterized the occurrence of several extreme wave events (tsunamis and storm surges) in the Gulf of Cadiz during the Holocene. Among all theevents reported in literature, in recent years the third century AD EWE events are being progressively gaining importance. Sedimentary records of these events are now more evident than previously stated and can be traced in a large regional scale. Some authors have proposed that such events would explain certain abandonment facies in coastal archaeological settlements in the area. In this context, we present a high-energy deposit identified in the suburbs of the Roman city of Hispalis (Seville), in a third century AD context of traumatic collapse of a Roman public building. This paper aims to present the sedimentary structures, bedforms, and features of this deposit in its archaeological context, exploring its possible origin in a combined action of an extreme wave event and fluvial flooding. Also, a critical review of the literature about the third century AD event(s) is done.