On the enigma of dating the Minoan eruption of Santorini

Abstract

The Greek island of Santorini (named Thera in ancient times) is located in the Aegean Sea and experienced a massive volcanic eruption some 3,600 y ago (∼1600 BCE). Recent geological investigations have concluded that the eruption was even more massive than originally thought (1). This eruption is commonly referred to as the “Minoan” eruption because it happened when the Minoan civilization on the neighboring island Crete was a thriving force in the Aegean and was probably affected by the eruption. The date of the eruption has been debated for many years (2), because it provides an absolute time marker for the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, no consensus has been reached for this date based on archaeological methods on the one hand and on various scientific approaches on the other hand (e.g., 14C dating, tree-ring studies, and ice core and stalagmite analysis). For quite some time, a difference of about 100 y persisted between the two methods, sometimes called the “high chronology” for an earlier date in the 17th century BCE favored by the scientific methods and a “low chronology” in the 16th century BCE favored by the archaeological methods. This discrepancy has been discussed on many occasions (3⇓–5). The importance of an exact date for the history of the Eastern Mediterranean has been metaphorically pointed out by Peter M. Warren from the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Bristol (ref. 6, p. 305): “Let us imagine that historians at some future date were investigating the political relationship between Germany and the United Kingdom when the forceful Margaret Thatcher was the latter’s Prime Minister. Some uncertainty had arisen. Most of the investigators understood Thatcher’s relationship was with the equally forceful Chancellor Helmut Kohl, but a smaller school of opinion … [↵][1]1Email: walter.kutschera{at}univie.ac.at. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

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