POLYBIUS’ ‘PREVIOUS LANDSLIDE’: PROOF THAT HANNIBAL’S INVASION ROUTE CROSSED THE COL DE LA TRAVERSETTE

Abstract

Both Polybius and Livy described a landslide/landslip that blocked the Punic Army’s exfiltration from a high col on the water divide in the Western Alps. The landslide, more aptly termed rockfall, has been a source of contention amongst classicists for centuries despite the fact that only two cols—Clapier and Traversette—exhibit rockfall debris on the lee side of the Alps. While the Clapier rockfall is too small and too young to have provided blockage, the Traversette debris is nearly as Polybius described it when he re- traced the invasion route some 60 years after the event. His ‘two-tier’ description of the deposit, a doublet of younger and older rock rubble, including measurements of width and volume are close to modern measurements and prove that he knew, in advance, the route Hannibal had followed. It would take a practiced eye to correctly identify the strat- igraphic complexity inherent in the Traversette Rockfall. Here we present weathering ra- tios, soil stratigraphic, mineral, chemical and microbiological evidence in support of Po- lybius’ observations as a considerable background database for future geoarchaeological exploration.