Collective memory and extreme events. Symbolic implications of a possible earthquake in the Roman levels of Los Castillejos (Málaga, Spain)

Abstract

In the last few years, the study of extreme environmental phenomena has been gaining protagonism in historical research, creating a denominated “history of disasters”. In this new field of research, important efforts have been made to delimit methodological and conceptual boundaries to provide it with the necessary framework for understanding and explaining the past. In our communication we will approach a study from the temporal perspective of the longue durée, a formulation that we adopted in our thesis work as we consider that it offers a solvent interpretative platform to analyse the incidence of phenomena such as earthquakes, tsunamis or climatic changes. We will use a cross-cultural perspective to explore how the impact of this type of catastrophe is projected onto the material culture and the symbolic, religious and memory spaces of the affected communities. As a case study, we will expose how a possible seismic event documented at the called Cerro de Los Castillejos may have contributed not only to cause physical damage with the abandonment of the settlement but also symbolic damage, turning part of the site into a “marked place” from which its inhabitants interpreted that it was important to disassociate from.