Another Look Yields New Theory for Destruction of Olympia

Yet another example of old sites being re-examined in light of new theories and new technologies to yield startling results!

Past Horizons
Thursday, July 7, 2011 | Featured, News
The Tsunamis of Olympia

Olympia, the Sanctuary of Zeus and venue of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, was probably destroyed by tsunamis that reached far inland, and not as previously believed, by earthquakes and river flooding.

This is the latest theory put forward by University Prof. Dr. Andreas Vött from the Geographical Institute of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz (JGU). Vött examined the site in the exploration of Paläotsunamis that have taken place over the last 11,000 years along the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean. The Olympic-tsunami hypothesis has been put forward due to sediments found in the vicinity of Olympia, which were buried under an 8 metres thick layer of sand and other debris, and only rediscovered around 250 years ago.

“The composition and thickness of the sediments we have found, do not fit with water flow of the river Kladeos and geomorphological events such as earthquakes,” sad Vött. It was previously believed that an earthquake in 551 AD. destroyed the shrines and afterwards floods from the Kladeos filled the ancient buildings. However, Vött was puzzled that the small river Kladeos that flows past the Olympic site would need to have first been buried under several metres of sediment, in order to cut 10-12 metres deep at its ancient overflow level. In cooperation with the local Council of Antiquities and colleagues from the Universities of Aachen, Darmstadt, Freiburg, Hamburg and Cologne, Vött and his team researched extensively in the area using modern geomorphological geoarchaeological methods.

The results suggest that the region was hit several times by major catastrophic floods and was covered by sediments in the past. Mussel and snail shells and the remains of foraminifera (marine protozoa) clearly indicate a marine origin. The sediments must have arrived at speed from the coast towards Olympia which has an altitude of about 33 metres above sea level.

“Olympia is now 22 km from the sea, but previously the coast was at least 8 km, further inland,” explains Vött. In his scenario: tsunamis from the sea built up then ran into the narrow valley of Alpheus – which also includes the River Kladeos – with great force, and then rushed over the saddles in the range of hills that lie behind Olympia. The sanctuary then becomes flooded and the water flows slowly out, as the Alpheus valley is blocked by the incoming tsunami and its sediments. This suggests that in the context of deposited sediment sequences in the area, such a scenario has been repeated several times during the last 7,000 years; with one of the most recent events occurring in the 6th Century AD. which carried with it the final destruction of Olympia.

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