What is the 'hanger stone' that appears from the bottom of the river where the water level has dropped due to drought and warns of hunger?



When people in the past were struck by disasters or epidemics, they sometimes left warnings for future generations on inscriptions . . In Europe, where water shortages are becoming more serious due to record-breaking heat in 2022, the inscription ' Hunger Stone ' that warns of hunger left at the bottom of rivers by ancient people has become a hot topic.

Hunger stone - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_stone

A hanger stone is a hydrological relic that was common in medieval Europe. When a drought occurred, a stone engraved with a warning message was buried in the riverbed, and a warning was issued when the stone was visible in a future drought. They are mainly made by German settlers from Germany and other European countries, some of them from the 20th century onwards.

You can see what the actual Hunger Stone looks like by looking at the picture of the embedded tweet below.



Among them, the 1616 hanger stone buried in the Elbe River flowing in the northern part of the Czech Republic is engraved with 'Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine (if you see me, please cry)'.



When a record heat wave hit Europe in 2022, news spread on the Internet that `` a hunger stone warning of hunger appeared from the dried up riverbed ''. Various media, such as the economic media Business Insider , the American daily newspaper Miami Herald , the British newspaper Daily Telegraph , and the online newspaper The Independent , have also reported on this case.

However, most of the tweets and news on the Internet are reprinted news of the 2018 drought when the hanger stones appeared. It is pointed out.

'If You See Me, Cry': Hunger Stones in Some Czech And German Rivers - Truth or Fiction?
https://www.truthorfiction.com/if-you-see-me-cry-hunger-stones-in-some-czech-and-german-rivers/

Are 'Hunger Stones' Emerging Along Europe's Rivers Due to 2022 Drought? | Snopes.com
https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/08/18/hunger-stones-drought/

When context is key: “Hunger stones” go viral, but news first broke in 2018 | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/08/viral-hunger-stones-tweet-left-out-context-original-story-was-from-2018/

Fact-checking site Truth or Fiction points out that the attached image of the tweet that triggered the news was already published in 2019 and was not newly published in 2022. On the other hand, they claim that they have not found any news or content indicating that ``a new hanger stone has been discovered'' after June 2022. In addition, due to the construction of a dam in the tributary of the Elbe River in the first half of the 20th century, it seems that a hanger stone can be seen for about one-third of the year.

Truth or Fiction contributor Kim LaCapria said the initiating tweet was posted on Reddit on August 10, 2022, saying, ``Today I learned that there is a hanger stone in Central Europe. The letters carved on the stones at the bottom of the river are visible only when the flow is low, and it is said that they warn of drought that causes starvation.” .


In the background of the spread of the topic of the Hunger Stone on the Internet, there arenews that bodies sunk in the riverbed of Lake Mead , Nevada, USA were discovered one after another due to drought, and that during the Second World War that was sunk in the riverbed It is believed that there is an impact such as news that unexploded ordnance was found in drought.

The truth of the news that the hunger stone will be discovered in 2022 is uncertain, but it is true that Europe is suffering from a drought that could expose the hunger stone. At a press conference on August 6, the European Commission's Joint Research Center said the drought could be the worst in 500 years. Senior researcher Andrea Toreti said, 'Based on my experience, this drought is even worse than 2018.'

On August 17, 2022, Reuters released a video of Hunger Stone taken at the Rhine River in Germany. However, at least the hunger stones in the video were engraved in 1947 at the earliest, and most of them are from the 21st century, some of which were made during the 2018 drought. There is also

Germany's drought uncovers ominous 'hunger stones' | Reuters Video
https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/germanys-drought-uncovers-ominous-hunger-id750726709

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