PLEASE NOTE:
*
Date sent: Wed, 21 May 1997 12:23:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Benny J Peiser <B.J.PEISER@livjm.ac.uk>
Subject: Conference Programme
To: cambridge-conference@livjm.ac.uk
Priority: NORMAL
** 2nd SIS CAMBRDIGE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME **
I am pleased to inform you that the organsing committee of the
Cambridge conference (i.e. Prof Mark Bailey, Prof Trevor Palmer
and
I) have now finalised the conference programme. I have attached
the
invitation together with the programme timetable below.
Can I also remind members that the last payment date for
conference
registration is 31st May 1997.
Benny J Peiser
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NATURAL CATASTROPHES DURING BRONZE AGE CIVILISATIONS:
Archaeological, Geological, Astronomical and Cultural
Perspectives
The SIS Cambridge Conference will bring together historians,
archaeologists, geologists, climatologists and astronomers in
order
to discuss whether the 'giant comet' hypothesis brought forward
by
astronomers such as Victor Clube, Bill Napier, Sir Fred Hoyle,
David Asher, Mark Bailey, Duncan Steel et al. can be
substantiated
by the archaeological, climatological and historical records.
ARCHAEOLOGY AND GEOLOGY
Ever since Claude Schaeffer published his book Stratigraphie
Comparee et Chronologie L'Asie Occidentale in 1948, there has
been
continuous scientific debate about the nature and extent of the
destructions of Bronze Age civilisations. Schaeffer claimed that
the repeated collapses of Bronze Age cultures were not caused by
action of man but instead by seismic activity. During the last
decade, eminent archaeologists and geologists have substantiated
his claim and have linked destruction layers in Aegean and Near
Eastern sites with natural disasters rather than with military
conquests. The interpretation, however, which maintains that
destruction layers or the mass abandonment of settlements were
caused by seismic or climatic catastrophes, has been disputed due
to the ambiguity of the stratigraphical record. The need for an
accurate methodology of verifying the actual cause, extent and
synchronicity of Bronze Age collapses is therefor essential.
ASTRONOMY
Research in the field of astronomical neo-catastrophism and
impact
cratering has quickened its pace since the early 1980s. An
increasing number of astronomers have suggested that a series of
cosmic disasters punctuated the Earth in prehistoric times. These
scholars claim that a more 'active' and threatening sky might
have
caused major cultural changes of Bronze Age civilisations, belief
systems and religious rituals. Can the astronomical evidence
brought forward by these astronomers be substantiated by
historical, archaeological and climatological evidence?
CULTURE AND HISTORY
In light of new astronomical and archaeological theories and the
emergence of scientific neo-catastrophism, it seems necessary to
re-assess the origins and cultural implications of apocalyptic
religions and catastrophe traditions in ancient mythologies and
rituals. In particular, the significant cultural and religious
changes at the beginning of the Bronze Age and those which
occurred
after its final collapse will be re-evaluated.
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PROGRAMME
Friday, 11th July 1997
from 15.30 Tea available
18.45 Dinner in the Dining Hall
19.45 Welcome Address: Prof Trevor Palmer (Nottingham
Trent University and SIS Chairman)
Keynote Address: Robert Matthews, FRAS (Science
Correspondent, The Sunday Telegraph)
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Saturday, 12th July
8.00 - 8.45 Breakfast
Morning Session: ASTRONOMY
9.00 - 9.35 Prof Mark Bailey (Armagh Observatory): Sources and
Populations of Near-Earth Objects: Recent Findings
and Historical Implications
9.35 - 9.45 Discussion
9.45 - 10.20 Dr Bill Napier (Armagh Observatory): Cometary
Catastrophes, Cosmic Dust and Ecological Disasters
in Historical Times
10.20 - 10.30 Discussion
10.30 - 11.00 Tea/coffee break
11.00 - 11.35 Dr Duncan Steel (Spaceguard Australia): Before the
Stones: Stonehenge I as a Cometary Catastrophe
Predictor?
11.35 - 11.45 Discussion
11.45 - 12.20 Prof Gerrit Verschuur (Memphis University): Our
Place in Space: The Implications of Impact
Catastrophes on Human Thought and Behaviour
12.20 - 12.45 Discussion
12.45 - 13.45 Buffet lunch in the Dining Hall
Afternoon Session: ARCHAEOLOGY, GEOLOGY & CLIMATOLOGY
14.00 - 14.35 Dr Marie-Agnes Courty (Institut Natinal Agronomique
Paris-Grignon): Abrupt Climate Change around 2200
BC: Stratigraphic and Geochemical evidence from the
Middle East
14.35 - 14.45 Discussion
14.45 - 15.20 Prof Mike Baillie (Queen's University Belfast):
Tree-Ring Evidence for Environmental Disasters
during the Bronze Age: Causes and Effects
15.20 - 15.30 Discussion
15.30 - 16.00 Tea/coffee break
16.00 - 16.35 Dr Benny J Peiser (Liverpool John Moores
University): Comparative Stratigraphy of Bronze Age
Destruction Layers around the World: Archaeological
Evidence and Methodological Problems
16.35 - 16.45 Discussion
16.45 - 17.20 Dr Bruce Masse (University of Hawaii): Earth, Air,
Fire and Water: The Archaeology of Bronze Age
Cosmic Catastrophes
17.20 - 17.30 Discussion
17.30 - 18.05 Dr Bas van Geel (University of Amsterdam): The
Impact of Abrupt Climate Change around 2650 BP in
NW-Europe: Evidence for Climatic Teleconnections
and a tentative Explanation
18.05 - 18.15 Discussion
18.15 - 19.00 Poster Presentations & Discussion
18.15 - 19.00 Film (by Amos Nur and Chris MacAskill): The Walls
Came Tumbling Down: Earthquakes in the Holy Land
19.00 Evening Dinner
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Sunday, 13th July
8.00 - 8.45 Breakfast
Morning Session HISTORY & CULTURE
9.00 - 9.35 Dr Victor Clube (Oxford University): Predestination
and the Problem of Historical Catastrophism
9.35 - 9.45 Discussion
9.45 - 10.20 Prof Bill Mullen (Bard College): The Agenda of the
Milesian School: The Post-Catastrophic Paradigm
Shift in Ancient Greece
10.20 - 10.30 Discussion
10.30 - 11.00 Tea/coffee break
11.00 - 11.35 Prof David Pankenier (Lehigh University):
Heaven-sent: Understanding Disaster in Chinese
Mythology and Tradition
11.35 - 11.45 Discussion
11.45 - 12.20 Prof Gunnar Heinsohn (University of Bremen): The
Catastrophic Emergence of Civilisation: The Coming
of the Bronze Age Cultures
12.20 - 12.45 Discussion
12.45 - 13.45 Lunch
Afternoon Session ARCHAEOLOGY & HISTORY
13.45 - 14.20 Prof Amos Nur (Stanford University): The Collapse
of Ancient Societies by Great Earthquakes
14.20 - 14.30 Discussion
14.30 - 15.05 Dr Euan MacKie (Hunterian Museum, Glasgow
University): The End of the Upper Palaeolithic in
the Dordogne and the 'Vitrified Forts' in Scotland
15.05 - 15.15 Discussion
15.15 - 15.50 Prof Irving Wolfe (University of Montreal): The
'Kultursturz' at the Bronze Age - Iron Age Boundary
15.50 - 16.00 Discussion
16.00 - 16.10 Benny J Peiser: Closing Address
16.10 Tea/coffee & farewell