The authors comment on the date of the formation of the Tüttensee, holding that it was not created by a meteorite in the first millennium BC as claimed in the Antiquity article, but formed at the end of the Ice Age and can have nothing to do with Phaethon and his chariot. In reply, Rappenglück et al. offer a brief defence of their thesis.
Kein Einschlag im Chiemgau Geologen und Impaktforscher widerlegen These eines Meteoritenimpakts in der Bronzezeit
Der vor einigen Jahren mit viel Medienrummel proklamierte bronzezeitliche Einschlag eines Meteoriten im Chiemgau hat höchstwahrscheinlich nie stattgefunden. Nachdem im Sommer 2010 die Befürworter der Impakt-Theorie einen Artikel in der Fachzeitschrift "Antiquity" lanciert hatten, protestierten Geologen und Impaktforscher heftig und veröffentlichen nun die Gegenargumente. Read more (German)
Title: The fall of Phaethon: a Greco-Roman geomyth preserves the memory of a meteorite impact in Bavaria (south-east Germany)
Authors: Barbara Rappenglück, Michael A. Rappenglück, Kord Ernstson, Werner Mayer, Andreas Neumair, Dirk Sudhaus and Ioannis Liritzis
Arguing from a critical reading of the text, and scientific evidence on the ground, the authors show that the myth of Phaethon - the delinquent celestial charioteer - remembers the impact of a massive meteorite that hit the Chiemgau region in Bavaria between 2000 and 428 BC.
Chiemgau impact crater refers to Lake Tüttensee, supposedly created by a Holocene meteorite impact near Lake Chiemsee and the foothills of the Alps in southeast Germany. The findings of a team of hobby-Archaeologists, calling themselves the CIRT (Chiemgau impact research team), has brought some controversy to the Geology and Archaeology community in Germany, but isn't accepted beyond the CIRT team today. Read more
Title: The fall of Phaethon: a Greco-Roman geomyth preserves the memory of a meteorite impact in Bavaria (south-east Germany) Authors: Barbara Rappenglück, Michael A. Rappenglück, Kord Ernstson, Werner Mayer, Andreas Neumair, Dirk Sudhaus and Ioannis Liritzis
Arguing from a critical reading of the text, and scientific evidence on the ground, the authors show that the myth of Phaethon - the delinquent celestial charioteer - remembers the impact of a massive meteorite that hit the Chiemgau region in Bavaria between 2000 and 428 BC.
The Holocene Tüttensee meteorite impact crater in southeast Germany by Chiemgau Impact Research Team (CIRT)
The 400 m-diameter Lake Tüttensee in southeast Germany is the largest crater in the strewn field of meteorite craters that formed in the Holocene Chiemgau impact event possibly in the 6th or 5th century BC. The crater was excavated from a Quaternary target of predominantly moraine and fluvioglacial material and is surrounded by an 8 m-height rim wall and an extensive ejecta blanket. The up to 1 m thick ejecta layer is a polymictic breccia containing heavily fractured cobbles and boulders of Alpine lithologies and is rich in organic material like wood, charcoal, animal bones and teeth. Extremely corroded silicate and carbonate clasts in the breccia point to carbonate elting/decarbonisation and/or dissolution by nitric acid. The ejecta layer has conserved an underlying fossil soil rich in organic material, too. A gravity survey reveals a zone of relatively positive anomalies around Lake Tüttensee interpreted by impact shock densification of the highly porous target rocks. Abundant, although moderate, shock metamorphism is observed to occur in clasts from the rim wall and the ejecta layer. An impact cratering process is able to explain all observed features that are completely inconsistent with a formation of Lake Tüttensee by glacial processes.
A mysterious golden pot discovered in a Bavarian lake in 2001 has been the focus of interest for archaeologists, art dealers -- and now the German and Swiss police. Its convoluted history involves Nazi cults, treasure hunters and modern-day profiteers. So there it was, the legendary "Holy Grail" -- in a safe not far from the Zurich airport. Investor Svetlana K. from Kazahkstan had been prepared for almost anything on that day last March. But when she saw what had been described as "probably the most important art-historical discovery in the Western Hemisphere" in front of her, all the other superlatives used in the four-page prospectus faded into the background.
"An object of such pre-eminence has probably never been introduced onto the open art market...Given the proper promotion, experts believe its value could reach a sum of around 1 billion".
A veritable dream bargain seemed to be just within reach: The vessel -- made of 11 kilograms of gold, decorated with Celtic ornaments and said to be more than 2,000 years old -- did indeed exercise an irresistible fascination on the beholder.
In recent years, scientists at the University of Würzburg have discovered more than 80 craters around Lake Chiemsee, in southern Germany. The craters range from a few feet to a third of a mile in diameter. They may have been formed by a single parent body.
The object -- a comet or asteroid -- probably exploded as it entered Earth's atmosphere around the year 200 BC, shattering piece across a wide region. Some of the craters still show distinct ring structures. But most of them have been deformed by wind, rain, and farming. Additional evidence of the impacts includes bits of molten glass that formed when the heat of the impact melted some of the rock and soil. The impacts would certainly have been witnessed by the Celts who lived in the area at the time.
People living in southern Germany during Roman times may have witnessed a comet impact 5,000 times more destructive than the Hiroshima atom bomb.
A strewnfield of craters around Lake Chiemsee, in south-east Bavaria, may have been caused by fragments of a huge comet that broke up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Celtic artefacts found at the site, including a number of coins, appear to have been strongly heated on one side. This discovery, together with evidence from ancient tree rings and Roman reports of “stones falling from the sky”, has led researchers to conclude that the impact happened in about 200BC.
The crater field was uncovered after amateur archaeologists working in the area found pieces of metal containing unusual minerals. More than 80 craters were found in an elliptical area 36 miles long and 17 wide, ranging in size from 10 to 1,215 feet across. The largest, filled with water, now formed Lake Tuttensee.
Expand (117kb, 798 x 572) 47.8° to 48.4° N and 12.3° to 13.0° E
Around the site the team found clues that suggested an impact from space, including rock heated into glass and minerals associated with meteorites. The most likely cause was a low-density comet, 1.1 kilometres wide, that broke up at an altitude of 43 miles and fell in pieces to Earth.
"The main mass of the projectile struck the ground at 2,200 miles per hour, releasing an amount of energy equivalent to 106 million tons of TNT"
"About two seconds after the strike, people six miles away (10 kilometres) would have felt the ground shake as it would in a magnitude six earthquake. The air blast, arriving 30 seconds after impact, would have swept through at a speed of 500 miles per hour and produced a peak pressure of about 1.4 atmospheres, easily collapsing buildings, especially wooden ones. Even from 10 kilometres away, sound from the impact would have reached 103 decibels – loud enough to cause strong ear pain. Up to 90% of the trees would have blown over; the rest would have lost their branches"
Forest beneath the blast would have ignited suddenly, and continued to burn until the shock wave blew the fire out, said the scientists. The conflagration had left a thin layer of ash in and between the craters. Roman authors at the time wrote about showers of stones falling from the sky and terrifying the local population. Because of these events, the Senate in 205BC ordered that a conical meteorite known as the Needle of Cybele, which had been worshipped in Asia Minor, be brought to Rome.
"The impact undoubtedly had a major effect on the environment and people then living in the vicinity of Altoetting-Chiemgau"
"The region must have been devastated for decades. We are currently looking for gaps in the historical and archaeological records during the time we propose for the impact to better understand both the event itself and its cultural effects"
Dr Benny Peiser, a leading expert on impact events from Liverpool John Moore’s University, said the report should be treated with caution until more was known. He said the date was speculative, and pointed out that asteroids or comets a kilometre wide struck the Earth on average only once every 500,000 years. Generally such a large impact would cause much more severe and obviously traceable damage.
"In short, this is an intriguing find, but I remain sceptical for the time being. The impact cratering research community has not assessed these claims yet. That’s what needs to be done next" - Dr Benny Peiser.