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NEIL MACDONALD ON EPIGRAPHIC RECORDS: A VALUABLE RESOURCE IN REASSESSING FLOOD RISK AND LONG-TERM CLIMATE VARIABILITY

HISTORICAL FLOOD RECORDS are increasingly being recognized as a valuable tool in understanding the long-term frequency and magnitude of extreme events—events that have rarely been recorded using conventional river flow recording approaches (within the UK there are relatively few records in excess of fifty years of length, with only a handful over seventy-five years length).1	1
Epigraphic markings—the lines, nicks, or scores indicating the level of previous floods—are one type of historical record. They can be found in many urban centers with major rivers and are normally located on structures near the river that can be easily viewed during flood events. As a result, most records are preserved on bridges (or on their buttresses) and walls (defensive structures). Epigraphic records represent a valuable tool in understanding the nature and frequency of extreme flood events and, on rare occasions, also contain information relating to droughts. Smeaton's Bridge in Perth, Scotland, for instance, contains numerous markings relating to floods, but also information on a low flow on the River Tay from the late nineteenth century (see Figure 1).2 These markings provide valuable records of rare events, events often missing from conventional records simply because of their failure to occur in the relatively short period over which scientific river flow information has been collected. The presence of an epigraphic record often can be attributed to an individual's interest or to the presence of a significant event; an event of such an extreme nature that no living individual could recall an event of such magnitude. As a result, the level is marked into a wall or bridge for posterity so that future generations will have some means of recounting the extent of the flood.3 As a result of this initial record, future flood events may be recorded, providing a long contextual chronology of floods, which, over time, produces a valuable record of high magnitude-low frequency events.	2
Figure 1: Smeaton's Bridge Epigraphic Flood and Drought Markings, Perth, Scotland. Photo courtesy of the author.
A series of high magnitude floods in Europe in the last decade has led to concerns over the frequency of such flood events in a changing climate. The inclusion of historical records is increasingly being seen as a valuable tool in the reassessment of flood and drought risk. Epigraphic records present a useful contribution to the re-evaluation of flood risk in many sites within Europe, par-ticularly for older cities, such as Perth, Scotland (see Figure 1), Nottingham, Eng-land (see Figure 2), Vallon, France, Cra-cow, Poland, and Eibelstadt, Ger-many, among oth-ers.4 Often these sites have a long history of residence, or importance as monastic, trade, or governmental cen-ters. The presence of historical flood records does not necessarily rely upon long residency at a site, so that epigraphic records can contribute to understanding the long-term flood magnitude-frequency relationship on some rivers that have relatively short population residency timescales.	3
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