Geomythology is the study of alleged references to geological

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 events in mythology

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

. The term was coined in 1968 by Dorothy Vitaliano, a geologist at Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

.

"Geomythology indicates every case in which the origin of myths

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

 and legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

s can be shown to contain references to geological phenomena and aspects, in a broad sense including astronomical ones (comets, eclipses, meteor impacts, etc.). As indicated by Vitaliano (1973) 'primarily, there are two kinds of geologic folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

, that in which some geologic feature or the occurrence of some geologic phenomenon has inspired a folklore explanation, and that which is the garbled explanation of some actual geologic event, usually a natural catastrophe'."

The claim is that oral traditions about nature are often expressed in mythological language and may contain genuine and perceptive natural knowledge based on careful observation of physical evidence. Geomythology alleges to provide valuable information about past earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

s, tsunami

Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

s, flood

Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...

s, impact event

Impact event

An impact event is the collision of a large meteorite, asteroid, comet, or other celestial object with the Earth or another planet. Throughout recorded history, hundreds of minor impact events have been reported, with some occurrences causing deaths, injuries, property damage or other significant...

s, fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 discoveries, and other events, which are otherwise scientifically unknown or difficult to trace.

To be distinguished from this are plainly aitiological tales that account for geological features without any connection to their formation; an example is the Native American legend of a giant bear chasing a couple who were saved when the land rose beneath their feet; the bear's claws left gouge marks on the sides of the uplift known today as Devils Tower

Devils Tower National Monument

Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion or laccolith located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River...

, Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

.

In August 2004, the 32nd International Geological Congress held a session on "Myth and Geology", which resulted in the first peer-reviewed collection of papers on the subject (2007).

Further reading

• Hamacher, D.W. and Norris, R.P., 2009. "Australian Aboriginal Geomythology: eyewitness accounts of cosmic impacts?", Archaeoastronomy, Vol 22, pp. 60-93.
• Mayor, A., 2000. "The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times." Princeton University Press.
• Mayor, A. 2005. "Fossil Legends of the First Americans." Princeton University Press.
• Piccardi, L. and Masse, W. B., eds. 2007. "Myth and Geology." Geological Society, London.
• Vitaliano, D. B., 1968, Geomythology, Journal of the Folklore Institute, Vol. 5, No. 1 (June 1968), p. 11.
• Vitaliano, D.B., 1973, Legends of the Earth, Indiana University Press, 305 p.