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Article ID: CBB925961797

Psellos’ Petrified Root: Transmutations and Natural Wonders from Classical Antiquity to Byzantine Times (2020)

Marco Bellini (Author)

Physis: Rivista Internazionale di Storia della Scienza
Volume: 55
Pages: 223-242

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Biology Geology Fossils Medieval 11th century Byzantium Psellos, Michael Constantinos

This paper analyses a specific case of petrifaction described by the Byzantine scholar Michael Psellos. It starts with a passage from Psellos’ How to Make Gold, which describes a petrified oak root, and gives an account of various instances of petrifaction reported by ancient authors. A distinction between hot and cold petrifactions is proposed along with a possible explanation for the petrified root, although it is uncertain whether ancient sources were dealing with an actual piece of petrified wood or one of the first recorded observations of fulgurites.

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