Proposed session topics
1. Meteor impacts, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions in myths and oral traditions.
2. Local knowledge of landforms, hydrographic features, geological processes, and hydrometeorological phenomena.
3. Oral traditions as empirical evidence for dating geomorphological processes (e.g. rockfalls, landslides, extreme floods, karst phenomena, hailstorms).
4. Geomythical perspectives in oral traditions and cultural narratives.
5. From geomythology to geoheritage: exploring the symbolic meanings of geosites.
6. Geo-mytho-tourism: developing new local and regional geo-brands.
7. The potential of geomyths for geoeducation and public engagement.
Orals: Fri, 8 May, 10:45–11:50 | Room 2.17
Leigh Franks ORCID 0000-0003-1817-9769
Patrick D Nunn ORCID 0000-0002-3718-614X
Adrian McCallum ORCID 0000-0001-9295-5741
Abstract
Australian Indigenous Oral Traditions preserve transgenerational memories of geological (and other environmental) events, including hazardous volcanic activity. Details within these recollections are increasingly being recognised for their potential to inform geoscientists and ethnographers about deep-time landscape evolution and related geological processes. Many traditions recall impactful events that changed or created particular landscape features that are well remembered in Indigenous narratives and are plausibly linked to identified locations. Such stories (or ‘geomythologies’) also may include eye-witness accounts of sea-level rise, meteor impacts, tsunami, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, in some cases dating from the Early Holocene (11.7 ka BP) and possibly earlier. Despite enduring memories of eruptive events in Australia, not all volcanism has associated stories, raising questions about the reasons for why some stories may have survived and others did not.
This paper builds on global research into the longevity and accuracy of oral traditions and argues that Australian Aboriginal traditions of volcanism include some of the oldest such narratives of their kind in the world. It also demonstrates how efforts to ‘authenticate’ them (from Western literate-scientific perspectives) can provide a pathway for integrating Indigenous knowledge and academic scientific approaches. This study examines the presence and absence of oral traditions across mapped volcanic provinces and identifies a correlation between story occurrence and areas of geologically recent activity. It also finds a consistent absence of such traditions where eruptive activity is known to predate archaeologically constrained human occupation of the region.
How to cite: Franks, L., Nunn, P., and McCallum, A.: Australian Aboriginal Traditions of volcanism: Ancient recollections of eruptions and their nature, purpose, and contemporary importance., EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-15309, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-15309, 2026.
Many human communities across the globe have associated seismic activity and ground motion with mythological creatures believed to roam beneath the Earth’s surface. A recurrent expression of this association is the link between snakes and earthquakes in human folklore. In the Americas, the Chumash people of southern California attributed the frequent ground shaking along the San Andreas Fault to the movements of underground serpents. In Patagonia, the struggle between the snakes Trentren and Caicai occupies a central place in Mapuche mythology, embodying tectonic uplifts and subsidence associated with subduction earthquakes. In the central Andes, the amaru, a chthonian, serpent-like deity of pre-Hispanic cosmology, was likewise associated with violent geological or climatic processes, and its appearance was commonly perceived as a rupture in the equilibrium of the world, a pachacuti. In ancient and modern Peru, earthquakes have repeatedly reshaped landscapes and profoundly affected human societies. In the absence of an intelligible pre-Hispanic writing system, indigenous oral traditions, later recorded in colonial chronicles, represent a particularly valuable, yet long underexploited, source for identifying past extreme natural events. These transgenerational memories are nonetheless rooted in empirical environmental knowledge, conveyed through alternative narrative systems.
This contribution proposes a geomythological reinterpretation of a passage from the Relación de antigüedades deste reyno del Piru, written in the mid-seventeenth century by the indigenous author Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua. The chronicle recounts the seemingly fantastic appearance of an amaru above the city of Cusco during the Inca period. Through a cross-analysis of toponymic, geomorphological, and seismological data, we suggest that the underlying event corresponds to a major earthquake during the 15th century CE. The propagation of a surface rupture across the landscape may have been perceived as the sudden emergence of a serpent-like being wriggling over the mountains and leaving an undulating surface trace. If confirmed, this account may represent the oldest seismic event documented by written sources in South America. More broadly, this oral tradition may testify to the strong imprint of earthquakes on the collective memory of Andean societies by transforming a tectonic feature into a mythogenic landscape. Beyond its scientific implications, this geomyth also holds significant potential in terms of geoheritage and geoeducation. Within the framework of a French–Peruvian initiative, this cultural narrative has been adapted into an illustrated book to raise awareness of seismic risk among younger generations.
How to cite: Combey, A., Audin, L., and Benavente, C.: When Faults Wriggle. Geomythological Evidence of a Pre-Hispanic Earthquake in Cusco, Peru, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-7009, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-7009, 2026.
The May 2019 tornado outbreak in south-central Chile abruptly reinserted tornadoes and waterspouts into public awareness, surprising both the population and parts of the atmospheric-science community. Yet historical sources indicate that these phenomena are not new in Chile, and Mapuche oral traditions preserve long-standing interpretations and practical orientations toward severe storms. Here we develop a situated geomythology framework to examine Mapuche narratives concerning the mewlen/meulén (tornado/whirlwind beings) as forms of situated knowledge (inarrumen) produced in specific territories and transmitted through oral, ritual, linguistic, and toponymic practices. Rather than reducing myth to a distorted chronicle that must be validated by a single "true" geophysical event, we analyze how narratives generate () observational resonances with physical processes and (ii) relational efficacy that guides action, memory, and care within communities. Drawing on colonial and republican written records (including early literary mentions), ethnographic archives, and contemporary references, we identify recurring descriptions of tornado behavior — cyclonic rotation, preferred approach directions, afternoon timing, and gradations of intensity — that are consistent with modern meteorological characterizations of tornadic convection. We further show that place names and vernacular uses of mewlen/meulén variants function as landscape-anchored markers of hazard memory and local prudential norms.
We argue that periods of institutional skepticism regarding tornado occurrence in Chile contributed to scarce systematic observations and delayed risk awareness, particularly in territories historically inhabited by Mapuche communities. Integrating historical–cultural evidence with meteorological perspectives can strengthen tornado climatologies in data-sparse regions and support risk communication that respects epistemic plurality while improving preparedness for rare but high-impact convective hazards.
How to cite: Rondanelli, R., Bastías-Curivil, C., Silva, M. I., and Charrier, R.: Mewlen, tornadoes and waterspouts in Chile: a situated geomythological perspective , EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22790, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22790, 2026.
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake was one of the most powerful and destructive earthquakes in European history. It struck on the morning of All Saints Day around 09:40 local time, with an estimated magnitude of 8 to 9 Mw. The initial violent shaking for 3 to 9 minutes, was followed by a Tsunami 1 hour later. In Lisbon the height of the tsunami waves is estimated around 5 to 6 meters, but in several coastal areas it may have attained over 15 meters. The disaster destroyed the powerful city of Lisbon and had a profound effect on the European Enlightenment, sparking intense philosophical and theological debates about divine judgment, the problem of evil (theodicy), and human rationality.
The higher historical record of the tsunami has been reported at Penafirme, a small locality at the Oeste Geopark, 50 km N of Lisbon. Detailed written descriptions testify the tsunami advance and the destruction of an Augustinian Order convent at the height of 16m and 700m away from the coastline. Around this place, several myths appeared, related to this geodynamic event.
i) Santa Cruz (Holly Cross) – when the fishermen saw the huge wave coming from the sea, they ran away to embrace and stay all together around a big wooden cross, which miraculously saved them.
ii) Frei Aleixo (Friar Alexis) – considered to be the only victim, this monk tried to escape the tsunami, running uphill over 80m, and dying due to exhaustion at the top, where a limestone cross signs the fatality.
iii) Ilhéu Grande (Big islet) – a small islet once existed close to the convent and local people say that the tsunami brought so much sand that it connected it to land.
iii) Quinta da Areia (Sandy Farm) - the sea surged and stopped near this rich coastal farm and two mermaids were dragged ashore; the farm workers burned the younger mermaid and the mother mermaid told them they would never have luck again, up to the fifth generation; the farm quickly declined and has been abandoned, remaining in ruins until today.
All these local stories and myths testify the importance given by local people to remarkable natural hazards, such as a huge tsunami. These myths and the historical importance of the event and the ruins are a vivid reminder of the importance of geodynamic processes in shaping the landscape and the communities’ traditions at the Oeste UNESCO Global Geopark.
How to cite: Pimentel, N.: Local myths related to the 1755 Tsunami at Penafirme (Oeste Geopark, Portugal), EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-5984, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-5984, 2026.
By mapping folklore narratives of the “supernatural” and ritual activities onto the landscape, interdisciplinary research demonstrates that village and estate boundaries embody liminal symbolism, marking thresholds between the “world of the living” and the beyond. Oral traditions concerning apparitions, sacrifices, burials, deaths, and the killing of folkloric beings are particularly concentrated along cadastral and estate boundaries, endowing them with a “supernatural” dimension and preserving traces of Slavic cultic spaces. Interdisciplinary analysis combining folkloristics, anthropology, archaeology, and geodesy further reveals that many old landscape boundaries were marked by Slavic and Christian sacred sites. Historical records and ethnological research also indicate that landscape boundaries were connected with a variety of ritual activities, one of the most interesting being “death resting places.” Several mythical mountains in the landscape of the Slovenian Karst function not only as boundary markers but also as cosmogonic mountains, threatening people with floods from within. Such is the case of the hill named Čuk, where a serpent or devil was believed to control the water inside the hill, and ritual processions were organized to protect the villages below from flooding. Another cosmic mountain is Nanos, which was believed to stand on pillars, and if they were to collapse, the region would be flooded. Drawing on these and similar oral traditions related to specific landscape features, the paper reflects on the meanings that such flood-threatening mountains held in traditional culture.
How to cite: Hrobat Virloget, K.: Mythological landscape of Karst, Slovenia. From the symbolism of boundaries to mountains floods. , EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22259, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22259, 2026.
For centuries the Sibillini Mountain Range, in the Italian Apennines, has been inhabited by mysterious legendary tales, celebrated by poems, romances, travel diaries and even scientific investigations. On the top of Mount Sibyl (2,173 mt.) the entrance to a large cave is present, now obstructed: according to the legend it housed the subterranean abode of an oracular Sibyl, a prophetess and seductive queen. Another legend lives on Mount Vettore (2,476 mt.), a different peak raising just a few miles away: there lies a glacial lake, in which the cursed body of Pontius Pilate, the ancient prefect of Judaea, would rest guarded by legions of demons. To them necromancers would have resorted, in past centuries, for the consecration of their grimoires.
Since the late eighteenth century, the two legends have been an object of study for philologists, medievalists, folklorists and other scholars. Research has mainly been conducted on the sibylline legend, considered as an independent tale, in search of a mythical connection to classical Sibyls. However, a correct approach to both legends should be based on the following question: how can the Sibillini Mountain Range host two different, mythically-mighty, mutually-independent legendary tales, on two neighboring peaks?
A new insight on the origin of this legendary tradition has been recently proposed by the author of the present abstract, based on a geomythological approach.
The applied methodology has included a phased analysis specifically designed to address the multi-layered stratification of the legendary material living amid the Sibillini Mountain Range.
The results of the first phase rendered it possible to outline the manifest lineage of the legend of Mount Sibyl from the Matter of Britain, in which a similar character named 'Sibyl' is widely present as a companion and alter ego of Morgan le Fay; at the same time, the well-known medieval origin of the legend of Pontius Pilate and his corpse was fully retraced: a tale that has been narrated in a long series of works since the High Middle Ages, showing that the legend of the Sibillini Mountain Range is the local version of a wider tradition.
The subsequent analysis has cast a specific light on the potential presence of an earlier legendary tradition, marked by a dark hue and significant otherworldly characters. This more ancient narrative was certainly a main attraction factor for the later, medieval legends.
Finally, it clearly appeared that the cave and the lake were fundamental elements in the original, underlying legend, as geographical landmarks and possible access points to some sort of Otherworld in the beliefs of the local populations in antiquity.
As a conclusion, the original legend was conjecturally connected with the peculiar seismic behaviour of the Sibillini Mountain Range, whose territory is recurrently stricken by devastating earthquakes (2016, 1979, 1859, 1730, 1703, 1328, 99 B.C., 268 B.C. and beyond). The presence of a cult of earthquake demons to be appeased was envisaged. This is an unprecedented result, never proposed before by other scholars: a bright instance of mythogenic landscapes, cultural narratives and intangible geoheritage.
How to cite: Sanvico, M.: The Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy: a Disregarded Geoheritage now Unveiled, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-2327, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-2327, 2026.
Posters on site: Fri, 8 May, 14:00–15:45 | Hall X2
Dante’s Inferno has been profitably examined in geological terms. Although the landscape traversed by Dante and Virgil springs primarily from the poet’s imagination, it also contains numerous real-world geological events such as earthquakes and landslides. The poet’s Hell is also highly mythologized with copious references to classical myths, since biblical sources say little about the actual features of Hell. This poster builds on geological studies of the poem by considering the geophysical elements of Satan’s fall from Heaven, an event touched on in Jewish and Christian scriptures and paralleled somewhat by the Greek myth of the Titanomachy. Although Dante was not a scientist, he was one of the first persons in history to think through the physical effects of a large mass slamming into the earth at high speed. In Dante’s vision, the devil’s size and velocity are such that when he lands, he instantly creates Hell, a massive, circular, terraced crater that reaches to the center of the earth. This poster will place Dante’s medieval understanding of the physics of this event into conversation with meteoritics and the scientific understanding of impacts such as the K-T event, which destroyed most of the non-avian dinosaurs, and the moon’s possible formation that resulted when a Mars-sized planet (named Theia) collided with the early earth. The modern study of meteors was not firmly established until the 19th century; prior to this point, meteors were seen as merely atmospheric phenomena, and were not connected to rocks falling from the sky. Only after scientific study of the 1833 meteor shower (known today as the Leonids and re-occurring about every 33 years, in the constellation Leo), did astronomers realize that meteors were astronomical events. Dante’s poetic anticipation of some of the insights of meteoritics thus confirms the Inferno as a mythogenic landscape and presents numerous opportunities for geo-education.
How to cite: Burbery, T.: Meteoritics and Dante's Inferno: Examining Satan's Fall as an Impact Event , EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-14300, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-14300, 2026.
Erratic boulders are among the most striking geological features left behind by former ice sheets. In Poland, repeated advances and retreats of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet (FIS) during the Pleistocene resulted in the deposition of thick sequences of clastic sediments and fragments of Scandinavian bedrock of varying sizes, including large erratic boulders. These impressive geological objects are not only valuable archives of past glacial activity, but also play an important role in society, functioning as natural resources, prominent landscape markers, and rich sources of geomythological narratives.
This study examines the distribution and characteristics of large erratic boulders in Poland. These features were identified using published literature, maps, and catalogues of environmentally protected sites, such as registers of natural monuments. A comprehensive GIS database was compiled, incorporating all available information on each boulder, including location, dimensions, petrography, and, where possible, historical background. Many of these erratics possess considerable cultural significance for local communities, giving rise to legends and myths, serving as esoteric or symbolic places, or commemorating important historical events. This contribution presents and discusses the most compelling legends and myths associated with large erratic boulders in Poland.
This research was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (grant numbers 2023/49/N/HS3/02181 and 2022/46/E/ST10/00074).
How to cite: Tylmann, K.: Great Glacial Giants: Erratic Boulders in Poland as Sources of Geomythology, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-16628, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-16628, 2026.
The association of supernatural imagery with elements of the landscape was a common phenomenon in traditional cultures (Piotrowski 2024; Juśkiewicz et al. 2025). This process depends on the cultural context and encompasses two fundamental levels of the relationship between the abiotic environment and humans: symbolic interaction or/and utilitarian interaction. Symbolic interactions shaped the perception and meaning of erratic boulders. Legends (belief narratives) – similar to myths – link the existence of geological objects with the actions of supernatural forces, such as devils or mythically inclined figures, e.g., giants (Motz 1982, 70-71; Lanza, Negrete 2007, 61). Examples of such correlations can be found in Kashubian folk beliefs, where peninsulas were said to have been created by giants known as Stolem (Gulgowski 1911, 169). In Pomerania, legends associate glacial erratics with both mythological beings (for example giants and devils) and historical figures (Huns, Teutonic Knights, Swedes), who rise to the rank of mythical heroes (Kolberg 1965, 375; Lorentz 2020, 148). Similar phenomena can be observed in other regions of Europe, such as Scandinavia, where rocks and stones were often attributed to the activities of trolls and giants or heroes in England (Oinas 1976, 6-7). A significant number of boulders bear traces of human processing, such as incisions and chisel marks, aimed at breaking the rock or producing millstones. These activities had both functional and symbolic dimensions. Glacial erratics and all forms of human activity associated with them should be regarded as part of geocultural heritage, encompassing both material and immaterial aspects. Their value lies at the intersection of geology and culture. Such an approach reveals their multidimensional semiotic nature. Integrated into the processes of meaning-making and valuation – typical of human world-ordering – they generate representations characteristic of a given culture and historical period. Recognizing glacial erratics as geocultural heritage thus allows us to link natural and cultural landscapes, highlighting their role as tangible markers of human interaction with the environment across time.
Acknowledgements
This paper was conducted as part of two research projects funded by the National Science Centre in Poland (grant No. 023/49/N/HS3/02181 and grant No. 2019/35/B/HS3/03933)
References
Juśkiewicz, W.; Jaszewski, J.; Brykała, D.; Piotrowski, R.; Juśkiewicz, K. B.; Alexander, K.M., 2025. Supernatural beings of Pomerania: postmodern mapping of folkloristic sources. Journal of Maps 21(1). DOI: 10.1080/17445647.2024.2434015
Kolberg, O. 1965. Pomorze, t. 39, Wrocław-Poznań.
Lanza, T.; Negrete A. 2007. From myth to Earth education and science communication. In: Myth and Geology, eds. L. Piccardi and W. B. Masse. Geological Society. Special Publication 273: 61-66.
Lorentz F. 2020. Zarys etnografii kaszubskiej. In: Lorentz F.; Fischer A. Zarys etnografii Kaszub. Gdynia.
Motz, L. 1982. Giants in Folklore and Mythology: A New Approach. Folklore 93(1): 70-84.
Oinas, F.J. 1976. The Finnish and Estonian folk epic. Journal of Baltic Studies 7(1): 1-12.
Piotrowski, R. & Juśkiewicz, W. 2024. Folk Narratives about Water Bodies in the Southern Baltic Lowland: From Geomythological Interpretations to Examples of Symbolic Eco-Symbiosis. Folklore 135(4):534-552. DOI: 10.1080/0015587X.2024.2410055
How to cite: Piotrowski, R., Brykała, D., and Czubla, P.: Giants, Huns, and the Devil: Geofolklore of Erratic Boulders in the Southern Baltic Lowlands and Their Geocultural Significance, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-10470, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-10470, 2026.
Until the early 20th century, the economy operated in a nearly zero-waste manner, where tools and utensils were utilized until they were completely worn out and subsequently repurposed. A prime example of this historical circular economy is the reuse of millstones and quernstones. On the Southern Baltic Lowlands, these objects were often crafted in situ from Pleistocene erratic boulders transported by the Scandinavian ice sheet. Due to their high production costs and durable material, worn-out stones were rarely discarded; instead, they were adapted for new, often symbolic or structural roles.
Beyond their primary function in food production, these stones developed a specific emotional and cultural bond with human communities. In folklore and biblical tradition, the millstone became a powerful symbol of transformation, death, and rebirth. This spiritual dimension is reflected in their widespread use in sacred and funerary contexts. Millstones were commonly repurposed as altars, ciboria, and gravestones in both Christian and Jewish cemeteries. A unique regional phenomenon, particularly prevalent in Northern Poland and Northeastern Germany, was the practice of embedding millstones into the exterior walls of churches, where they served both as construction material and objects of local symbolic significance.
Structurally, the mass and pre-existing axial holes of these stones made them ideal for stabilizing monuments. Historical and archaeological evidence points to their use as foundations and socket-stones for high crosses. In these cases, the stones provided a ready-made anchorage system for large stone or wooden shafts.
In the modern era, these artifacts have transitioned into the realm of geotourism and geoeducation. Often featured in lapidaries or integrated into the small architecture of public parks and private gardens, they continue to document the enduring relationship between human creativity and geological resources. This long-standing practice of stone reuse demonstrates an early mastery of sustainable material management and remains a vital part of our geocultural heritage.
This work was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (Grant No. 2019/35/B/HS3/03933).
How to cite: Brykała, D., Czubla, P., Piotrowski, R., Bartz, W., and Juschus, O.: Secondary Use of Millstones and Quernstones as an Example of Historical Circular Economy and Geocultural Heritage, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-10700, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-10700, 2026.
Mythogenic landscapes are environments where geological features and physical processes actively shape myths, beliefs, and cultural imaginaries. This contribution explores the role of mineral-specific physical properties—particularly those of quartz and tourmaline—in the development of symbolic narratives, ritual practices, and geomyths associated with prehistoric landscapes. Quartz and tourmaline are widely documented in archaeological contexts worldwide, including rock art sites, ritual deposits, burials, and ceremonial spaces, suggesting that their cultural significance extends beyond purely utilitarian uses.
Both minerals exhibit remarkable electrical and luminous behaviors. Tourmaline displays strong piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties, generating electric fields, particle attraction, and ash reorientation when subjected to pressure or heat. Quartz, in addition to being piezoelectric, exhibits triboluminescence: the emission of visible light when fractured, struck, or knapped. These effects can produce sparks, flashes, and electrostatic phenomena that are directly observable without specialized technology. In prehistoric contexts—during tool production, rock engraving, or campfire activities—such phenomena may have been perceived as manifestations of vital or solar forces acting within stone.
Ethnographic, linguistic, and archaeological evidence indicates that quartz has been interpreted in several cultures as a “solar stone,” a material associated with light, power, and cosmological significance. The recurrent presence of quartz in ritual and symbolic contexts suggests that its luminous and electrical responses contributed to its mythogenic potential. Similar interpretations can be proposed for tourmaline, whose pyroelectric behavior is reflected in vernacular names such as ash-attractor, pointing to empirical observations of its interaction with fine particles.
This paper argues that these minerals acted as abiotic cultural agents within mythogenic landscapes, mediating between geological processes and human perception. Their physical properties may have inspired solar motifs in rock art, geomyths explaining landscape features, and beliefs linking stone, light, and spiritual power. Such interpretations highlight how geophysical phenomena contributed to intangible geoheritage long before scientific explanations emerged.
By integrating mineral physics, archaeology, and geomythology, this study emphasizes the need to evaluate geoheritage not only for its scientific value but also for its culture-shaping significance. Recognizing the mythogenic role of quartz- and tourmaline-rich landscapes enhances their potential for geoeducation, public engagement, and geotourism, reinforcing the deep and enduring connections between humans and the dynamic Earth.
This publication is part of the grant RYC2023-042760-I, funded by MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ESF+.
How to cite: Freire-Lista, D. M. and MacCoy, M.: Quartz and Tourmaline: Light, Electricity, and the Geophysical Roots of Mythogenic Landscapes, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-7929, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-7929, 2026.
The contribution approaches early navigation and geography from a historical and interdisciplinary perspective, focusing on the role of the sky as a central reference system for spatial orientation, knowledge transmission and geographic thinking. Examining the Sumerian invention of constellations as "paths" and Isaac Newton's guessings about the sense of ancient Greek constellation design as practical and symbolic tools for navigation, the paper highlights how geographic knowledge was structured and preserved prior to the emergence of standardized cartography. Based upon examples from antiquity, the presentation situates early geographic practices within their cultural and scientific contexts and addresses the close relationship between astronomy and geography in the formation of early geoscientific thinking. The contribution is intended for an interdisciplinary audience and aims to stimulate discussion on the historical foundations of spatial knowledge and navigation.
How to cite: Wirth, K. and Buchroithner, M. F.: Heaven and Earth –How Early Geoscientists Inscribed Terrestrial Routes into the Sky, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22418, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22418, 2026.
Posters virtual: Wed, 6 May, 14:00–18:00 | vPoster spot 4
EGU26-2312 | Posters virtual | VPS32
Mythogenic Mountain Landscapes and Shakta Sacred Geographies: Cultural Memory of Geodynamic Processes in the Indian SubcontinentWed, 06 May, 15:03–15:06 (CEST) vPoster spot 4
Mythogenic Mountain Landscapes and Shakta Sacred Geographies: Cultural Memory of Geodynamic Processes in the Indian Subcontinent
Nigam Dave, Shrishti Kushwah, Ankita Srivastava, Dharmanshu Vaidya
Mountain landscapes of India are characterised by active tectonics, complex relief, and frequent exposure to earthquakes, landslides, and hydrological disasters. While geospatial hazard research models these processes using physical datasets, culturally grounded responses to long-term environmental instability remain less expolored within landscape-based analyses. This paper examines mythogenic mountain landscapes by analysing how Shakta sacred geographies function as spatial expressions of cultural memory associated with geodynamic processes.
The study focuses on selected Shakta-associated sacred sites situated in tectonically and geomorphically dynamic regions, including Kamakhya (Nilachal Hill, Assam), Jwalamukhi/Jwala Devi (Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh), Naina Devi and Chintpurni (Shivalik foothills, Himachal Pradesh), and Jayanti at Nartiang (Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya). Using GIS-based spatial profiling, site locations are analyzed in relation to relief, drainage corridors, and regional deformation zones. We also comparatively interpret recurring mythic motifs and ritual-temporal practices.
The analysis reveals patterned concentrations of sacred sites along mountain–plain transitions and structurally complex landscapes associated with environmental volatility. By situating landscape-scale patterning rather than site-specific belief, the study invites cross-disciplinary discussion on the role of geomythology in geoheritage interpretation and risk awareness. Recognising such mythogenic landscapes suggests culturally grounded perspectives for disaster-risk communication in regions facing increasing multi-hazard pressures.
How to cite: Dave, N., Kushwah, S., Srivastava, A., and Vaidya, D.: Mythogenic Mountain Landscapes and Shakta Sacred Geographies: Cultural Memory of Geodynamic Processes in the Indian Subcontinent, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-2312, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-2312, 2026.
