Volcanoes Giveth, and Taketh Away

"At that time in Mexico, farmers weren't thinking in geological terms," said archeologist Payson Sheets of the University of Colorado. "They were thinking in terms of an angry god."

The people created traditions that reinforce their memories of the eruption, Sheets explained, including an annual procession from the old cathedral -- now mostly buried by lava -- to the new town site. Similar traditions in other cultures help preserve historic information about volcanic disasters.

The Sunset Crater case was different in that the eruption there left thinner layers of volcanic material in many places. Instead of smothering the land, it acted like mulch and helped some soils become more arable.

In this way the eruption was a boon to local people, explained Mark Elson, a coauthor on the paper and archeologist for Desert Archeology, Inc., in Tucson.

Both cases also offer lessons to modern people, say the researchers, particularly in terms of emergency response.

"What we find is that the lower the level of social complexity, the better the response," said Elson. He cites, for example, hurricane Katrina, when communications at multiple levels complicated the response and victims were left to wait for help from the government.

"We are so trained to rely on hierarchies," Elson said. But the small families and extended family groups at Sunset Crater were on their own and could act appropriately to the major disruption and their displacement. "Probably nobody died at Sunset Crater...One of the lessons is to engage [emergency response plans] at the ward or neighborhood level."

Related Links:

Larry O'Hanlon's blog: Earth Impacts

Planet Green

Climate Effects of Volcanic Eruptions

How Stuff Works: Volcanoes