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9. From the Mystery of Atlantis to the First Integrated Uses of Geothermal Energy

by Raffaele Cataldi Pier Domenico Burgassi

Abstract: About 3,600 years ago, a paroxysmal phenomenon of the Not knowing what happened before us Earth’s heat struck the volcanic island is like forever remaining children. of Santorini in the Southern Aegean. -Cicero This probably inspired Plato to write his account of the “lost continent” of THEFIRST MILLENNIA Atlantis. The event and the use and trade of geothermal by-products by Cretans, Mycenaeans, Phoenicians, WHOKNOWS WHAT ANCIENT MEMORIES WERE LOST ON THAT and other ancient peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean are discussed in mysterious continent called Atlantis, whose existence and the first part of the chapter. sudden sinking to the bottom of an unknown ocean was re- counted by Plato, c. 360 B.C. Let us envision a block of land The second part illustrates the influence of the Etruscans in , suddenly disappearing, engulfed in the abysses of the sea, processing, and commercializing hydrothermal minerals, using other perhaps fiom a cataclysmic event caused by the Earth‘s energy geothermal by-products, and some 3,600 years ago in the Southeastern Mediterranean. Here popularizing thermal balneology. for about millennia the most ancient European civilization, Because these activities were two developed so extensively by the that of the Minoans, had flourished on Crete and in the Etruscans, we call them the fathers of Cyclades. The reasons are unclear for the sudden disappear- industrial geothermal development. ance of the civilization at its highest developmental peak, but Revised English translation of modem scholars all agree that the end ofthe Minoan civilization Chapter 3, La geotermia en el period0 Precolombino en las Areas came fiom an exted event, striking Crete in the 15th century Mediterrhea y Mesoamericana, by R. B.C. Cataldi, P. D. Burgassi, and M. C. SuArez Arriaga (1 992). Reprinted, with permission, from Geofermia, Revista Mexicana de Geoenergiq 8, What was the cause? A Mycenaean invasion, a deadly plague, no. 3, pp. 251-264. or a phenomenon related to terrestrial heat? Some scholars have suggested a N catastrophic earthquake followed by a devastat- ing tsunami (Marinatos, 1939; Galanopdos, 1958; Nikovich and Heezen, 1965; and Luce, 1969). They could have occurred after a sudden rupture in the tectonic equilibrium at the collision margins of the northeastern sector of the African plate as it was sub- ducted beneath the eastern edge of the European plate, eventu- ally forming in the Mediterranean the Tyrrhenianvolcanic arc 0 5 km (the Eolian archipelago) I to the west and the Present morphology and bathymetry of the archipelago of Thera (present- day Santorini), Greece. Drawing by R. Cataldi Aegean volcanic arc

500

t- --- o 1 2 3 rkm

- - - - - Original profile Present profile I -- .. . Hypothetical reconstruction of cross section A-B, a morphological profile of the island of Thera before the huge explosion around 1630 B.C. Druwing by R. Cataldi (with islands including Aegina, Milos, Santorini, and Nisyros and others) to the east. The rupture probably allowed sea water to enter a magma chamber below the island of Thera (the present- day Santorini), which caused a terrifying explosion that eviscerated the central section of the old volcanic apparatus forming the original island, as the two drawings illustrate.

If so, the mysteriously quick end of Minoan civilization would be contemporaneous with the Minoan eruption that, until a few decades ago, was dated around 1500 B.C. However, accord- ing to the most recent absolute dating, it seems certain that the Minoan eruption occurred some 3,630 years ago (Hammer et al., 1987; Baillie, 1990; Harnmer and Clausen, 1990; Vougioukalakis et al., 1994; Cioni et al., 1997;Vougioukalakis, 1997; Fytikas et al., 1999). If, on one hand, these dates seem to disprove the cause and effect relationship between the Minoan eruption and the sudden disappearance of the Minoan civilization, on the other hand they do not exclude the fact that Plat0 could have drawn fiom the huge volcanic explosion occurring at Thera around 1630 B.C. the idea for his wonderfbl account of a lost continent.

Regardless of the reasons why Cretan civilization collapsed, the fact remains that other Mediter- ranean peoples came to the fore in that period: Achaeans, Dorics, Aeolians, Ionians, and Phoenicians. The Phoenicians in particular, as clever traders and expert sailors, took advantage of the fall of Crete, establishing predominance over the sea routes of the Southern Mediterra- nean fiom about 1500 to 500 B.C. Well before Ulysses, they managed to pass the Pillars of Hercules and, sailing near the western coast of Europe, pushed into the North Atlantic as far as the Cassiterides Islands (now the Isles of Scilly) for tin and to the Scandinavian peninsula for amber. However, the economic power of the Phoenicians derived only in small part fiom exporting fabrics and transferring knowledge about processing and using Tyrian purple to dye wool and linen, at which they were masters. Their power, instead, came mostly fiom maritime tr&c and trade in raw materials, minerals, and mandactured articles of all kinds.

Therefore, it is natural to think that these raw materials included not only metal-bearing ores, such as silver, copper, lead, tin, and zinc, but also many hydrothermal minerals, such as alum, borates, kaolin, iron oxides, silica, and sulkthat were used to manufacture ceramics and glazes, tint glass, prepare ointments and medicines, bleach wool, and treat textiles. All these hydrothermal minerals are associated with the active and fossil geothermal manifestations on many Mediterranean islands, such as Lesbos, Nisyros, Santorini, Milos, Aegina, Pantelleria, Lipari, Vulcano, and . The same minerals also were found at similar geothermal manifesta- tions on the mainland in Western Anatolia, Southern Peloponnesus, Phlegraean Fields, Alban Hills, Volsini Mountains, and Southern Tuscany. 139 Besides the Phoenicians, other ancient peoples of the Mediterranean area knew the sites of these manifestations quite well. This probably helped increase the trade of hydrothermal prod- ucts and expand their uses. It follows that commercialization of obsidian and certain hydrother- mal minerals, already existing on a local scale since Neolithic times in southwestern Anatolia (Mellaart, 1967), expanded regionally and was quite developed during the second millennium before the Christian era (Fytikas et al., 1999).

THEETRUSCANS, HISTORICAL FATHERS OF GEOTHERMALINDUSTRIES

TOWARDTHE START OF THE 12TH CENTURY B.C., A NEW PEOPLE LIVED IN TUSCANY,CALLING themselves Rascnna, or “men.” Others called them Tyrrhenians, and we know them as the Etruscans.

Shortly after they appeared in Tuscany, the Etruscans reached a high level of civilization in farming, draining swamps, shipbuilding, construction (includingthe vault and arch), trade, mining, metalworking, hanclicraik, and extracting and processing hydrothermal minerals, such as alum, borates, kaolin, iron oxides, and sulfur. These minerals, found in many thermal localities in , were especially abundant in Etruscan territories, particularly the Boraciferous region in Tuscany (in a triangle formed by the cities of Pisa, Siena, and Grosseto) where many natural manifesta- tions existed, such as hot springs, pools of boiling mud and water called Zagoni, steam jets known as sofloni, and hydrothermal encrustations.

Historians say the Etruscans were creative and pragmatic, capable of enjoying life. This helps us understand why one highly developed Etruscan area was a zone of Tuscany known as the Metalliferous Hills, which includes the Boraciferous region. Here the Etruscans discovered numerous deposits of metal-bearing ores, such as silver, copper, iron, manganese, lead, and zinc, as well as alabaster and hydrothermal minerals (Squarzina, 1965; Moscati, 1987). One can also understand why the natural manifestations of the Boraciferous region, aside fiom the commercial value of their hydrothermal products, stimulated the Etruscans to develop balneological and therapeutic practices. Therefore, they developed large-scale, integrated uses of geothermal resources. In 1987, Burgassi wrote:

“The settling of the ...was to bring something new in the use of geothermal energy, not only in terms of utilization of the manifestations for therapeutic purposes, but also with regard to exploitation of the salt products deposited near the edges of the lagoni.

240 “From the first point of view ...numerous vestiges and handmade objects exist that attest to widespread therapeutic use among the Etruscans of the hot springs, saline encrustations, and thermo-mineral muds near Larderello. From the second point of view, it must be borne in mind that traces of boric salts have been found in the glazes of Etruscan plates and crockery (Fiumi, 1943), a fact testifying to how these people, many centuries before Christ, had already developed a high degree of skill in the grinding and chemical treatment of the borates, and also in mixing these products with the other substances that composed their fine pottery....”

So much development in the Boraciferous region helps explain why the Etruscans also stimu- lated the practice of balneotherapy in other areas near geothermal manifestations in Southwest- ern Italy, where they had founded a number of colonies. In some of these zones the Etruscans also extracted and processed the hydrothermal products associated with the manifestations. This probably occurred between the 8th and 5th centuries B.C. at Populonia, Roselle, and Saturnia in Tuscany; Bolsena, Tarquinia, Cerveteri, and Veio in Latium; and in the Phlegraean Fields in Campania. Major Etruscan centers or colonial settlements are documented in all these areas, which have important hydrothermal manifestations. Especially in Roselle, Satumia, Bolsena, and Veio, the establishment of Etruscan towns and villages was probably encouraged by the presence of hot springs andor products of hydrothermal alteration with practical appli- cations. Though probably less enterprising than the Phoenicians and other ancient Mediterra- nean peoples in long-distance transport and marketing of hydrothermal products, the Etruscans were by far the most active in extracting, processing, and using the products themselves. For this reason we consider the Etruscans fathers of industrial development for geothermal re- sources.

To say that the decline of the Etruscans in the 3rd century B.C. was caused solely by the conflict of interest arising between them and other Mediterranean peoples to control production and trade of the raw materials and hydrothermal products in which Etruria abounded would be an historical exaggeration.However, it seems plausible to hypothesize that Etruscan control over the areas where major Italian geothermal manifestations were located aroused the interest and then an ambition for possession by an emerging people like the Romans. This hypothesis is supported by the fact noted on the following mapthat many natural manifestations were in strategic positions along main Etruscan communication routes, which were later retraced by some of the major consular roads.

A summary follows of the locales and the uses of geothermal by-products in the Mediterranean area fiom the 6th millennium B.C. through the 3rd century B.C.

242 Use of geothermal by-products in the Mediterranean area from the 6th millennium B.C. to the 3rd century B. C.

Principal by-products (in alphabetical order)

Alum Obsidian Borates Silica Iron oxides Thermo-mineral muds Kaolin Travertine Native sulfur

Main areas from which by-products originated from west to east)

Continental areas Mediterranean islands Italy Greece and Turkey Tyrrhenian Aegean Southern Tuscany Southern Peloponnesus Ponza Lesbos Volsini Mountains Western Anatolia Ischia Aegina Sabatini Mountains Lipari Milos Alban Hills Vulcano Thera (Santorini) Phlegraean Fields Pantelleria N isy ro s Y$li

Principal uses of by-products

Manufacturing stone objects Masonry Manufacturing ceramics Preparing ointments & other medications Manufacturing enamels Bleaching wool Manufacturing and coloring glass Treating cloth

242 Legend

....*a. JVVVVV. High-temperature geothermal manifestations .V v v v v. vvv Areas of Etruscan influence ..u.vw.YY: (fumaroles, hydrothermal alterations, etc.) * Thermal springs Major Etruscan towns 5 Etruscan routes \d A Other Etruscan towns Roman consular roads approximately following the Etruscan routes

Location of Etruscan towns and main Etruscan and Roman routes linking the sites of principal geothermal manifestations in Central and Southern Italy. Drawing by R. Cataldi, drafting by T. Boyd

143 CITEDAND SELECTEDREFERENCES

Baillie, M. 1990. Irish tree rings and an event in 1628 B.C. Herodotus c. 440 B.C. The histories, vol. 1. InHerodotus, In Thera and the Aegean world, 111. B.d. 3. D. A. Hardy, ed. vol 1. Reprint 1921, A. D. Godley, trans. Harvard University The Thera Foundation, London. Press and W. Heinemann Ltd., London and New York.

Burgassi, P. D. 1987. Historical outline of geothermal Luce, J. V. 1969. The end of Atlantis. Thames and Hudson technology in the Larderello region. Geothermal Resources Ltd., London. Council Bulletin, 16, no. 3, 3-18. (See Chapter 13 in this volume). Marinatos, S. 1939. The volcanic destruction of Minoan Crete. Antiquity, no. 13, 425-439. Cioni, R., L. Gurioli, A. Sbrana, and G.Vougioukalakis. 1997. Precursory phenomena and destructive events related to the Mellaart, J. 1967. Catal HUyUk: A Neolithic town in 1628 B.C. Minoan and 79 A.D. (Vesuvius) Plinian eruptions. Anatolia. In new aspects of antiquity. M. Wheeler, ed. Inferences from the stratigraphy in the archaeological areas. Thames and Hudson Ltd. and The Camelot Press, London In Volcanoes, earthquakes and archaeology.Geological and Southampton. Society of London (in press). Moscati, S. 1987. L'Italia prima di Roma. Electa Edit., Dionysius of Halicarnassus. c. 20 B.C. Roman antiquities, Milan. vol. 1. In Quaderni urbinati di cultura classica, no. 10. Reprint 1970. D. Musti. Nikovich, D. and B. C. Heezen. 1965. Santorini tephra.In Submarine geoIogy and geophysics. Closton Papers, 17. Fiumi, E. 1943. L 'utiluzazione dei lagoni boraciferi della Toscana ne11 'industria medievale. University of Florence, Pallottino, M. 1973. Etruscologia. 6th ed. Hoepli Edit., CYA Edit., Florence. Milan.

Fytikas, M., G. Margomenou Leonidopoulou, and R. Cataldi. Plato. c. 360 B.C. Timaeus. In Plato, vol. 7. Reprint 1926, 1999. Geothermal energy in ancient Greece: From R. G. Bury, trans. Harvard University Press and W. mythology to late antiquity (3rd century A.D.). (See Chapter Heinemann Ltd., London and New York. 6 in this volume). Squarzina, F. 1965. Italia mineraria. A.M.I. Edit., Rome. Galanopoulos, A.G. 1958. On the location and the size of Atlantis. Praktika Akad. Athin., no. 35, 401-41 8. (In Greek, Vougioukalakis, G. 1997. The volcano of SantorinKorfes, with an English abstract). no. 124, 32-38. (In Greek).

Hammer, C. U. and H. B. Clausen. 1990. The precision of Vougioukalakis, G., D. Mitropoulos, C. Perissoratis, A. ice-core dating. In Thera and the Aegean world, 111. B.d. 3. Andricopoulos, and M. Fytikas. 1994. The submarine D. A. Hardy, ed. The Thera Foundation, London. volcanic centre of Kolumbos, Santorin. Proceedings of the 7th Congress of the Geological Society of Greece, 30, no. 3, Hammer, C. U., H. B. Clausen, V. L. Friedrich, and H. 351-360. (In Greek). Tauber. 1987. The Minoan eruption of Santorin in Greece, dated to 1645 B.C.? Nature Bd., no. 328/6130, 517-519.

The Authors:

Raffaele Cataldi Pier Domenico Burgassi 55, Via del Rorghetto 2, Via G. Galilei 56124 Pisa, Italy 56044 Larderello (Pisa), Italy Telephone/Fax: 39.050.59.8 1.07 'Telephone: 39.05 8.86.74.89 E-mail : rafcatatin. it

144 Quanta Roma Fuit, Ipsae Ruinae Docent (“Even ruins speak and teach us the greatness of Rome”)

Both the Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum, upper right) and the Baths of Caracalla (the patio is depicted) were significant monuments of Imperial Rome. Hundreds of public buildings aimed at entertainment and thermal bathing were erected in the Roman Empire between the 1st and the 4th centuries A.D. Many, including the above, were made or faced with travertine, an elegant building stone with tiny holes-still used today, and a very important hydrothermal product. Photo, 1963, and reconstruction of the Baths of Caracalla patio by R. Cataldi