The Year Without Summer

February 28, 2006 8:00 AM

The Lost Kingdom of Tambora, Pompeii of the East, was recently uncovered by an oceanographic team from the University of Rhode Island and Indonesian researchers. The kingdom was buried when Mount Tambora violently erupted in 1815, and set the conditions for 1816, the Year Without Summer. It was not the first, or last time, that a volcano eruption affected the world.
posted by Atreides (15 comments total)

New York Times coverage of lost kindgom, here.
posted by Atreides at 8:01 AM on February 28, 2006

Fascinating. Thank you.
posted by S.C. at 8:12 AM on February 28, 2006

Effects of this event are amazing... without it we'd have no Mormons, no horror movies, and no bicycles. Fascinating stuff.
posted by saladin at 8:16 AM on February 28, 2006

1815 is ancient now?
posted by zonkout at 8:47 AM on February 28, 2006

Nor Frankenstein, apparently. This is really fascinating.
posted by Gamblor at 8:50 AM on February 28, 2006

Satellite imagery via Google Maps. Although it seems that some news sources out there are using satellite image of a different volcano .
posted by KirkJobSluder at 8:51 AM on February 28, 2006

On second look, it appears to be the the same volcano from a different perspective, but I'm baffled as to why the rest of the peninsula vanishes in the radar image.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 8:59 AM on February 28, 2006

It kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it? One volcanic eruption can change the atmosphere for months and yet we worry about the fact we use too much hairspray or BBQ too many hamburgers and let's not forget gas emmisions. Mankinds habits mean very little when compared to what nature can do.
posted by Tablecrumbs at 9:01 AM on February 28, 2006

"Scientists say bronze bowls, ceramic pots and other recovered artefacts shed light on an ancient Indonesian culture."


I'm sorry, but 1815 is not "ancient."

Cool post though.
posted by stenseng at 9:38 AM on February 28, 2006

"It kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it? One volcanic eruption can change the atmosphere for months and yet we worry about the fact we use too much hairspray or BBQ too many hamburgers and let's not forget gas emmisions. Mankinds habits mean very little when compared to what nature can do."


Fuckin' A! Stretch Hummers for Everybody!!!

(cue Louie Louie)
posted by stenseng at 9:40 AM on February 28, 2006

This is really interesting. Nice stuff.
posted by bardic at 11:12 AM on February 28, 2006

Mankinds habits mean very little when compared to what nature can do."

Yet what happens to mankind can affect nature in surprising ways: Europe's "Little Ice Age" may have been triggered by the 14th Century Black Death plague, according to a new study.
posted by homunculus at 11:32 AM on February 28, 2006

It kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it? One volcanic eruption can change the atmosphere for months and yet we worry about the fact we use too much hairspray or BBQ too many hamburgers and let's not forget gas emmisions. Mankinds habits mean very little when compared to what nature can do.

Don't be so sure.
posted by b1tr0t at 12:03 PM on February 28, 2006

I just saw a decent IMAX movie about Santorini last weekend. More "Wow! The past is cool!" than science or archaeology, but had some nice CGI of the eruption devastating the island, and a discussion of how there isn't one single corpse to be found -- suggesting enough warning for a boat escape, which may have been swamped by a tsunami, leaving no trace of the civilization.
posted by dhartung at 2:36 PM on February 28, 2006

Can't wait till find out about their language ... and translate their writings!!
As in the case of the Asirians and other civilisations, it would be fascinating to learn about their culture this way.
posted by Brainstormer at 8:04 AM on March 2, 2006