With apologies for the earlier mis-posting...

Dear Colleagues,

We wish to draw your attention to the following scientific workshop that will be held at Osmangazi University, Eskesehir, in western Turkey, on 20-22 June 2004.

 

CONFRONTING CATASTROPHE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
 

Human development over the last 11,500 years (the Holocene) is set against an environmental backdrop of climatic and geological instability. The natural actions of sudden and dramatic climatic shifts and of extreme geophysical events ensure that nature in the ancient world was in flux, not balance. But what are the cultural resonances of rapid environmental change? How did past human communities adapt to and recover from a constantly moving and frequently harmful natural world? And, most critically, how can we disentangle the cultural consequences of natural change from those of human action?

 

This 3-day workshop seeks to bring together an interdisciplinary forum of geologists, archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, climate scientists, and ecologists to critically examine human responses to past rapid environmental change. The convenors encourage submission of research presentations that are seeking to elucidate the cultural history of major environmental downturns or reconstruct the environmental history of dramatic cultural transitions. Contributions with an emphasis on establishing high-resolution chronologies of cultural and environmental change are particularly welcome.

 

Abstract deadline: 15 January 2004

 

The workshop is the joint initiative of two current international research projects: (1) International Council for Science (ICSU) - ‘Dark Nature - Rapid Natural Change And Human Responses’, and (2) International Geological Correlation Programme Project 490 – ‘The Role Of Holocene Environmental Catastrophes In Human History’.

 

An associated fieldtrip around key cultural and geological sites in western Turkey will take place immediately following the workshop (24-30 June 2004).



A first circular with further details of the scientific programme, the fieldtrip and the local and international scientific committee is currently in preparation. However, those interested in participating are encouraged to contact the main lead convenors as early as possible:



Dr Erhan Altunel,

Osmangazi University,

Eskesehir,



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Dr Iain Stewart
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow G12 8QQ,
UK.



Tel: +44 (0) 141 330 6653 or ext. 6653
Fax: +44 (0) 141 330 4894
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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Dr Iain Stewart
Department of Geography & Topographic Science
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)141 330 6653 or ext. 6653
Fax: +44 (0)141 330 4894
Mobile: 07751572478
E-mail: [log in to unmask]