THE IMPACT OF THE CLIMATE CATASTROPHE OF 536–537 AD IN ESTONIA AND NEIGHBOURING AREAS

Abstract

Introduction In 536-541 AD a short-term and sudden cooling took place in the northern hemisphere which has caught the attention of researchers only quite recently. In 1983, Richard Stothers and Michael Rampino published a list of volcanic eruptions prior to 630 AD known from historical sources (Stothers & Rampino 1983). Their list included a veil of dust or dry fog that darkened the sky for almost a year in 536-537 AD and caused crop failure. Dendrochronologist Mike Baillie found physical evidence of the event studying the tree rings of Irish oak (Baillie 1994). During the last decades, numerous publications (e.g. Randsborg 1997; Axboe 1999; 2001a; 2001b; Baillie 1999; Keys 1999; Gunn 2000; Hoilund Nielsen 2006; Graslund 2008; Graslund & Price 2012; Arrhenius 2013) have discussed the historical significance and impact of the 536-537 event as well as its archaeological manifestations and written sources. The emergence of this new research topic is due to recent advancements in climate reconstructions based on natural science. Having access to much higher-resolution climate records makes it possible to discuss the demographic, economic, and cultural impacts of climate change more precisely (Widgren 2012, 126). The event in question appears clearly in the growth rings of trees in the northern hemisphere, namely in the common oak (Quercus robur) and families of pine (Pinus). Tree rings show abnormally little growth in 536 and the following years. A similar pattern has been found in tree rings from 540 in the southern hemisphere, for example in southern Chile and Argentina (Baillie 1999; 2007; Gunn 2000; Jones 2000; Young 2000 and citations therein). Tree rings of the northern hemisphere show that growth was hampered in two periods. After recovery a new, even sharper drop emerged in 540-541 (D'Arrigo et al. 2001, 240). According to tree rings, extraordinarily cold weather continued in the northern hemisphere until the year 545 (Graslund & Price 2012, 430 and citations therein). Traces of the event can be found in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The earliest studies referred to the high sulphuric acid content of ice deposits in Greenland from around 540 which indicate the volcanic origin of the event (see Stothers & Rampino 1983; Stothers 1999). Later researchers have also found evidence of substantial sulphate deposits in ice layers from Greenland and Antarctica, supporting the notion of volcanic dust (e.g. Traufetter et al. 2004; Larsen et al. 2008; Ferris et al. 2011). Most scientists who have studied the causes of the event of 536 have concluded that it was caused by an immense volcanic eruption in the tropical zone of Earth (see Stothers & Rampino 1983; Stothers 1999; Larsen et al. 2008). Several volcanoes and places have been proposed (see Stothers 1984; Keys 1999; Wohletz 2000). The most convincing evidence so far refers to the Tierra Blanca Joven eruption of the Ilopango caldera in central El Salvador (Dull et al. 2001; 2010; Oppenheimer 2011, 254 ff.). Others believe that a comet or a meteorite explosion caused the event (Baillie 1999; 2007; Rigby et al. 2004). Magnetite and silicate spherules found from the ice layers of 536-537 in Greenland support this alternative explanation (Abbott et al. 2008). Similar sphelures have been found in northern Australia from a supposed metorite crater in the Gulf of Carpentaria (Abbott et al. 2008; Subt et al. 2010). Thus, natural scientists have not agreed on what caused the climate anomaly of 536-537. Nevertheless, according to tree growth rings it was the worst shock to the ecosystem within the last 2000 years (Baillie 2007, 106). Antti Arjava (2006) has studied written evidence from Mediterranean sources of the extraordinary event of 536-537. In several of these sources it appears that a darkening of the sun was observable in the Mediterranean region during more than a year. Bishop Michael the Syrian writes in his 12th century chronicle, quoting the 6th century ecclesiastical historian John of Ephesos: Each day it shone for about four hours, and still this light was only a feeble shadow. …