Ongoing Debate
The Kethari Collapse: Technological Failure or Religious Crisis?
This debate remains unresolved. The scholarly community is divided.
Dr. Helena Vasquez-Mori
23
votes (43%)
54 total votes
Dr. Emeka Okonjo
31
(57%) votes
The Kethari collapse circa -1100 was primarily driven by the exhaustion of accessible copper and tin deposits in the Ashenmere highlands. Metallurgical analysis of Late Kethari bronze shows increasingly degraded alloy composition — tin content drops from 12% to under 4% in the final century. Without reliable bronze production, the temple-administered economy collapsed. The Seven Flames theology was a casualty, not a cause.
Supporting Evidence(click to expand)
The Kethari collapse was triggered by a crisis of religious legitimacy following the catastrophic eruption of Mount Serath circa -1120. The eruption destroyed two of the Seven Temples and killed the Flame-Speaker. Without the oracular system, the Council of Seven Flames could not reach consensus. Political fragmentation followed religious fragmentation. The bronze shortage was real but secondary — the Kethari had weathered material shortages before through temple-mediated redistribution.