Avellino eruption

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The Avellino eruption of Mount Vesuvius (ital. Pomici di Avellino) occurred in the 2nd millennium BC and is estimated to VEI 6. It was Radiocarbon dated to 1660 BC (± 43 years), making it a possible candidate for the 1620s BC climatic disturbances.

The Avellino eruption vent was apparently 2 km west of the current crater, and the eruption destroyed several Bronze Age settlements. The remarkably well-preserved remains of one were discovered in May 2001 near Nola by Italian archaeologists, with huts, pots, livestock and even the footprints of animals and people, as well as skeletons. The residents had hastily abandoned the village, leaving it to be buried under pumice and ash in much the same way that Pompeii was later preserved. The eruption was larger than the ones of 79 (VEI 5) and 1631 (VEI 4) with pyroclastic surge deposits distributed to the northwest of the vent, the surges travelling as far as 15 km from it, and lie in the area now occupied by Naples.

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