Thera, or the modern day island, Santorini is located in the Aegean Sea, about 200km south east from the mainland of Greece and 70km south of Crete. It is the southern most member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73km squared. Thera was devastated by one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the last seven thousand years around 3,500 years ago. The volcanic eruption left a large caldera surrounded by ash deposits hundreds of feet deep, and its effects may have indirectly led to the collapse of the Minoan Civilization on the island of Crete.
The excavations of German, Baron Hiller von Gaertingen revealed the ruins of Ancient Thera on Mesa Vouno. A small team of Hiller von Gaertringen’s collaborators investigated …show more content…
The inexplicable end of this civilization made many archaeologists, among which Professor Marinatos and Evans, to associate it with the eruption of the Santorini Volcano.
The relationship between Thera and the Minoan civilisation on Crete included the discovery of the inscriptions in Linear A script, as well as similarities in artefacts and fresco styles.
The date of the volcanic eruption on Thera is a very controversial issue among Aegean scholars. It was originally thought to have occurred around 1500 BC based largely on the archaeological evidence such as pottery. However, scientific investigations have suggested other dates more than 100 years earlier. Spyridon Marinatos’s proposed theory is that the volcanic eruption that destroyed Thera was directly linked to the destruction of the Minoan civilisation, usually dated at around 1450 BC. He dated the eruption at 1500BC on the basis of pottery sequences. Marinatos’s two central arguments were that the volcanic eruption on Thera caused huge tsunamis that hit the northern and eastern coasts of Crete, 100 kilometres to the south. Destroying the palaces, harbours and most importantly the Minoan Fleet, the basis of the Minoan power. This catastrophe would have subsequently affected Minoan trade, an important part of the Minoan economy. The second argument was that the volcanic ash (tephra) from the eruption settled over a wide area of Crete, destroying crops and contaminating the soil for periods long enough to seriously affect Minoan
The excavations of German, Baron Hiller von Gaertingen revealed the ruins of Ancient Thera on Mesa Vouno. A small team of Hiller von Gaertringen’s collaborators investigated …show more content…
The inexplicable end of this civilization made many archaeologists, among which Professor Marinatos and Evans, to associate it with the eruption of the Santorini Volcano.
The relationship between Thera and the Minoan civilisation on Crete included the discovery of the inscriptions in Linear A script, as well as similarities in artefacts and fresco styles.
The date of the volcanic eruption on Thera is a very controversial issue among Aegean scholars. It was originally thought to have occurred around 1500 BC based largely on the archaeological evidence such as pottery. However, scientific investigations have suggested other dates more than 100 years earlier. Spyridon Marinatos’s proposed theory is that the volcanic eruption that destroyed Thera was directly linked to the destruction of the Minoan civilisation, usually dated at around 1450 BC. He dated the eruption at 1500BC on the basis of pottery sequences. Marinatos’s two central arguments were that the volcanic eruption on Thera caused huge tsunamis that hit the northern and eastern coasts of Crete, 100 kilometres to the south. Destroying the palaces, harbours and most importantly the Minoan Fleet, the basis of the Minoan power. This catastrophe would have subsequently affected Minoan trade, an important part of the Minoan economy. The second argument was that the volcanic ash (tephra) from the eruption settled over a wide area of Crete, destroying crops and contaminating the soil for periods long enough to seriously affect Minoan