This discovery benefited from the accurate dating of volcanic eruption, which erupted about two generations of lava before Icelanders changed their religious beliefs.
But why does volcanic eruption turn people to monotheism? The researchers said that the answer is the same as "V? The famous medieval poem Lusppa predicted that volcanic eruption would help lead to the downfall of pagan gods. [Cracking the password: 10 The most mysterious ancient manuscript]
Neovolcano historians have long known that Vikings and Celts settled in Iceland around 874 AD, but they are not sure about the date of the Eldega lava flood, which was the biggest eruption that hit Iceland in the past thousands of years. Researchers say knowing this date is crucial because it can tell scientists whether the eruption-a huge event that released about 4.8 cubic miles (20 cubic kilometers) of lava into Greenland-affected the settlements there.
This is a 25-mile-long (40-kilometer-long) Eldega Rift, which was formed by a volcano in southern Iceland in a big eruption. (Clive Oppenheimer) Investigators checked the ice core records. Their research results show that the volcanic eruption occurred less than 100 years after human beings settled on the island. The researchers said that the volcano began to erupt lava in the spring of 939 AD, and it lasted for at least some time until the autumn of 940.
"This makes the volcanic eruption completely consistent with the experience of the first two or three generations of Icelandic settlers," said Clive Oppenheimer, head of the study. Professor of volcanology at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom said in a statement that some of the first Icelandic immigrants were brought to Iceland at a very young age, and they probably witnessed the volcanic eruption with their own eyes.
This discovery is consistent with the medieval chronicles of Ireland, Germany and Italy, which recorded the spread of smog in 939. In addition, tree ring data show that in 940, the northern hemisphere was one of the coldest summers in the previous 1500 years, which was a cold wave, consistent with a large amount of volcanic sulfur released into the atmosphere, the researchers said.
"1940, the summer cooling is most obvious in central Europe." "The average summer temperature in Scandinavia, Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alaska and Central Asia is 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) lower," Marcus Stoffel, a professor and co-researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, said in a statement, and then it appeared.
"The problem is that winter is difficult and summer is dry. Locusts invade and livestock die. " Tim nuefeld, an environmental historian at Georgetown University in Washington, said: "Famine is not everywhere, but in the early 1940s, we read about famine and huge mortality in parts of Germany, Iraq and China." .
Iceland, the hometown of volcanoes, has no words from this period.
About two generations after the eruption of Mount Eldega in 1000, Icelanders officially converted to Christianity. The researchers said that this is likely to be related to "V? Luspa ". [1 1 the largest volcanic eruption in history]
The "v" in the doomsday poem? Lusp A was written after the volcanic eruption, about 96 1 year. Researchers say it describes how volcanic eruptions and meteorological events mark the end of pagan gods, who will be replaced by a strange god. Poetic
It partly explains that "the sun began to turn black and the land sank into the sea;" Bright stars fall from the sky ... flames fly high. According to the translation, "heaven itself,"
Considering that the eruption of Mount Eldega can be traced back to before the creation of this poem, Icelanders who have experienced this fiery scene may review these events and write this poem, "The purpose is to * * * Christianize Iceland in the second half of the 10 century, and the researchers wrote in the research report published online in the journal Climate Change Today (19 March):
This is an original article about life science.