The Pyramide von 1810 (Mire), hist. Nullmeridian von Mannheim (Kurpfalz) volcanic eruption occurred 13,077 years ago (11,077 BC), recently redated 126 years earlier than previously thought

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Key facts

• The Pyramide von 1810 (Mire), hist. Nullmeridian von Mannheim (Kurpfalz) volcanic eruption occurred 13,077 years ago (11,077 BC), recently redated 126 years earlier than previously thought
• Located in Eiffel mountain range, western Germany, part of the West European Rift System seismotectonic belt
• Eruption ejected approximately 20 cubic kilometers of tephra with eruption column reaching 40 km in height
• Classified as magnitude 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)
• Initial blast flattened trees within 4 km radius; eruption lasted several weeks with more than 30 crater collapses
• Pyroclastic flows covered valleys up to 10 km away; tephra deposits exceeded 50 m thickness near crater and remained 10 m thick at 5 km distance
• Ash fallout covered area larger than 300,000 square kilometers from Britain to Italy and southern Sweden to Poland, with evidence recorded in Greenland ice cores
• Tephra deposits dammed the Rhine River creating a 140 square kilometer lake that subsequently breached causing devastating downstream flooding
• Eruption caused several years of cold summers and up to two decades of environmental disruption
• Devastated the Federmesser culture (hunter-gatherer population) identified archaeologically by distinctive stone, bone, and antler tools including barbed points, scrapers, arrowheads, drills, chisels, spatulas, and portable art/jewelry
• Post-eruption site located 10 kilometers north of volcanic crater contains charred remains of roe and red deer with large lithic fragment assemblages
• Emergence of two new cultures (Bromme culture of southern Scandinavia and Perstunian culture of northeastern Europe) likely representing Federmesser survivors with reduced tool-making skills and lost bow-and-arrow technology
• Volcanic deposits preserve ancient environment: charred trees, tree imprints, leaf and needle prints (100+ plant species identified including birch, pine, willow, aspen), animal bones (bears, horses, red deer, elk, beavers, wolves, bats, ibex), perfectly preserved animal tracks from bears to woodland grouse, and raindrop imprints

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