Maybe I am just being stupid because coffee hasn’t kicked in, but I don’t understand what you mean by ‘low ash’ in this statement. Akrotiri on Santorini (Thera) was covered in some places by 50 meters of ash. However, the residents must have had warning by a series of preceding earthquakes, etc, because as of today, they haven’t uncovered any bodies that got caught in the volcanic deposits.
Now, whether or not the explosion killed off the Minoan civilization on Crete is more debatable, as most of the evidence of destruction inland (scorched buildings, etc.) seems to date a number of years after the volcano. Maybe that is the confusion? Santorini is about 70 km north of Crete, and was wiped out by the volcano. The Minoans on Crete were definitely affected by the blast, but probably not wiped out, but the Minoan culture on Santorini (Thera) definitely was destroyed.
LOL, no, I don’t think it has anything to do with you being stupid or your lack of coffee!
I may have misread the Wikipedia entry which spoke of the Minoan segment living on Crete, which was over 100km from the eruption and didn’t get much.
From what I can tell, the Minoans on Crete were like an outpost or Minoan colony, where the ones that got entombed on Santorini were the main body?
My knowledge of history during those times is spotty at best...I defer to you on this!