David Keys (author)

David Keys is archaeology correspondent for the London daily paper, The Independent, frequent television commentator on archaeological matters and author of the 1999 book Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World. He has visited over a thousand archaeological sites in sixty countries. He was featured as one of the main interview subjects in the 2000 pilot to the PBS series, Secrets of the Dead giving insight into subject of the climatic catastrophe which is the subject of his book.

Catastrophe

Keys' book Catastrophe was published in 1999 by Random House. The book's thesis is that a global climatic catastrophe in A.D. 535 to 536 –– a massive volcanic eruption sundering Java from Sumatra –– was the decisive factor that transformed the Ancient World into the Medieval Era (and beyond). Ancient chroniclers recorded a disaster in that year that blotted out the Sun for months (possibly years) causing famine, droughts, floods, storms and an epidemic of bubonic plague. Keys uses tree-ring samples, analysis of lake deposits and ice cores, as well as contemporaneous documents to bolster his speculative thesis. In his scenario, the ensuing disasters precipitated the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire, beset by Avar, Slav, Mongol, and Persian invaders propelled from their disrupted homelands. The sixth-century collapse of Arabian civilization under pressure from floods and crop failure created a religiously apocalyptic atmosphere which set the stage for the emergence of Islam. In Mexico, the cataclysm supposedly triggered the collapse of Teotihuacán, while in China the ensuing half-century of political and social chaos led to a reunified nation. The book concludes with a roundup of trouble spots that could conceivably wreak planetary havoc.

Keys' most recent work is as series consultant on a television series called 'Back from the Dead' which will start on Channel 4 at 8pm on Sunday 4 September 2011. Starting with Nelsons Navy followed over subsequent weeks by documentaries on Crusaders and on Samurai.

Publishers Weekly criticized the book, writing that Keys "relentlessly overwork[s historical events'] explanatory power in a manner reminiscent of Velikovsky's theory that a comet collided with the earth in 1500 B.C."^[1] Writing in The New York Times Book Review, Malcolm W. Browne instead insisted that "this book must be taken seriously, if only as a reminder that survival in a world threatened by real dangers hangs by a very slender thread."^[2]

See also

• Extreme weather events of 535–536

References

1. ^ Publishers Weekly
2. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/02/27/reviews/000227.27brownet.html

[1] [2]

Persondata
Name	Keys, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death