Thera eruption in 1613 BC

ANA ^ | 12/03/2008 | SIMELA PANTZARTZI

[Mike Fieschko]

Two olive branches buried by a Minoan-era eruption of the volcano on the island of Thera (modern-day Santorini) have enabled precise radiocarbon dating of the catastrophe to 1613 BC, with an error margin of plus or minus 10 years, according to two researchers who presented conclusions of their previously published research during an event on Tuesday at the Danish Archaeological Institute of Athens. Speaking at an event entitled "The Enigma of Dating the Minoan Eruption - Data from Santorini and Egypt", the study's authors, Dr. Walter Friedrich of the Danish University of Aarhus and Dr. Walter Kutschera of the Austrian University of Vienna, said data left by the branch of an olive tree with 72 annular growth rings was used for dating via the radiocarbon method, while a second olive branch -- found just nine metres away from the first -- was unearthed in July 2007 and has not yet been analysed.

The researchers said both olive tree branches were found near a Bronze Age man-made wall, giving the impression that they were part of an olive grove situated near a settlement very close to the edge of Santorini's current world-famous Caldera. The two trees were found standing when unearthed, and apparently had been covered by the Theran pumice immediately after the volcano's eruption.

According to the two scientists, other radiocarbon testing from archaeological locations on Santorini and the surrounding islands, as well as at Tel el-Dab'a in the Nile delta in Egypt, corroborate the dating based on the olive tree.

On the other hand, as the two researchers pointed out, archaeological evidence linked with the Historical Dating of Ancient Egypt indicate that the Thera eruption must have occurred after the start of the New Kingdom in Egypt in 1530 BC.

The two researchers said their find (olive tree) represents a serious contradiction between the results of the scientific method (radiocarbon dating) and scholarly work in the humanities (history-archaeology), with both sides holding strong arguments to support their conclusions.

The radiocarbon dating places the cataclysmic eruption, blamed for heralding the end to the Minoan civilisation, a century earlier than previous scientific finds.

The eruption and the subsequent devastation throughout the Aegean has long piqued researchers' interest, with many scholars pointing to Plato's reference of the "lost continent of Atlantis" on vague memories, passed down generation to generation in the ancient Greek world, of the catastrophe.

Caption: A view towards the west from the crescent-shaped Cyclades island of Santorini (ancient Thera) overlooks the Caldera and the rock isle in the middle, where the inactive volcano that erupted in early antiquity is located today.

[Mike Fieschko]

ping. Found via the rogueclassicism blog.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

I guess we know what happened to Atlantis now.

[pierrem15]

The two researchers said their find (olive tree) represents a serious contradiction between the results of the scientific method (radiocarbon dating) and scholarly work in the humanities (history-archaeology), with both sides holding strong arguments to support their conclusions.

Or, it just means there was a large eruption prior to the catastrophic eruption that affected Egypt.

Duh.

[BenLurkin]

1700 BC Minoan Linear A script.

1700 BC Palace of Knossos on Crete.

1680 BC Hurrians occupy Assyria.

1600 BC Founding of the kingdom of Kush, Nubia.

1600 BC Shaft burials in Mycenae.

1600 BC Canaanite alphabet.

1595 BC King Mursilis of the Hittites sacks Babylon. Begin of Babylonian “dark ages.”

1550 BC Kingdom of Mittani is founded.

1523-1070 BC The New Kingdom of Egypt.

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

Santorini Ping.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks! It’s been posted before, but that was a few years ago.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Well if the scientific results are confirmed, it means that the Egyptologists have mislaid a century in there somewhere, right?

[SunkenCiv]

The upshot is, the pushing back of the date of the supposed super-eruption means the Egyptian chronology -- which is already out of whack anyway, padded as it was by goofballs in the 19th century –- has to be stretched backward another 100-150 years, screwing up any synchronisms established between Egyptian chronology and other civs of the Near East and Med.

There was no super-eruption of Thera in historical times, or in late prehistoric times. The caldera is over a 100K years old. The only surviving ancient record of an eruption on Thera dates to about 200 BC, and Herodotus discusses the island at length, and never mentions it -- no doubt because he lived before 200 BC. :')

[SunkenCiv]

"Even when, during the respective Thera Conferences, individual scientists had pointed out that the magnitude and significance of the Thera eruption must be estimated as less than previously thought, the conferences acted to strengthen the original hypothesis. The individual experts believed that the arguments advanced by their colleagues were sound, and that the facts of a natural catastrophe were not in doubt... All three factors reflect a fantasy world rather than cool detachment, which is why it so difficult to refute the theory with rational arguments." -- Eberhard Zangger, "The Future of the Past: Archaeology in the 21st Century", pp 49-50.

[SunkenCiv]

ARCHAEOLOGY: New Carbon Dates Support Revised History of Ancient Mediterranean
Science Magazine | 4/28/2006 | Michael Balter
Posted on 04/27/2006 4:59:30 PM PDT by Lessismore
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1622847/posts

Olive branch solves a Bronze Age mystery
Yahoo/MSNBC (Science) | 3:04 p.m. ET April 27, 2006 | Kathleen Wren
Posted on 04/28/2006 8:59:40 AM EDT by The_Victor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1623102/posts

-also related-

How Old Tree Rings And Ancient Wood Are Helping Rewrite History
Science Daily | 10-27-2007 | Cornell University
Posted on 10/28/2007 11:05:05 AM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1917591/posts

New Ice-Core Evidence Challenges the 1620s age for the Santorini (Minoan) Eruption
Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 25, Issue 3, March 1998, Pages 279-289 ^ | 13 July 1997 | Gregory A. Zielinski, Mark S. Germani
Posted on 07/29/2004 12:25:45 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1180724/posts

Debate Erupts Anew: Did Thera’s Explosion Doom Minoan Crete?
International Herald Tribune | 10-23-2003 | William J. Broad
Posted on 10/23/2003 2:47:33 PM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1006850/posts

[SunkenCiv]

reprise from a couple years ago.

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[SunkenCiv]

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[Ken H]

Sounds like Thera lot of eruptions:)

[blam]

Santorini Eruption Much larger Than Originally Believed

University Rhode Island ^ | 8-23-2006 | Todd McLeish

Media Contact: Todd McLeish, 401-874-7892

Santorini eruption much larger than originally believed; likely had significant impact on civilization

KINGSTON, R.I. – August 23, 2006 – An international team of scientists has found that the second largest volcanic eruption in human history, the massive Bronze Age eruption of Thera in Greece, was much larger and more widespread than previously believed.

[snip]

[KamperKen]

Would you mind citing your source for the caldera being over 100,000 years old? I’ve never read this before and I’m not doubting, just very curious. I would like more information.

Herodotus lived in the 5th century BC and the volcano in the middle of the caldera and lagoon, Nea Kamena, rose above the surface of the water in 196 BC, I believe.

I’ve visited Santorini several times now and it’s as stunningly scenic as its history is fascinating.

The Greek archeologist Spyridon Marinatos originally proposed Santorini as the probably source of the Atlantis legends. The most compelling explanation of the source of the Atlantis legend can be read in Graham Hancock’s “Underworld”. It was not Santorini (or the town of Hellike, as others have theorized).

[Berosus]

David Rohl now believes that it was the eruption of 1160 B.C., not an earlier one, that wasted Crete and left pumice as far away as the Nile delta. The critical point is that according to discoveries made by Manfred Bietak at Tell ed-Daba (Avaris), Thutmose III must have been the ruling pharaoh, whenever it happened.

[SunkenCiv]

:’) There was a big eruption tracing to Thera 22,000 years ago, and (although no one can probably figure it out for sure) the big gap on the west side of caldera may date from that. In the book linked above (the Zangger title) that 22K year ago eruption generated pumice (I think it was, I don’t have the book here) found in Crimea (ditto). But anyway, it’s an old volcano. Some pumice which had been worked into some kind of artifact was excavated in Egypt (I think at Tell ed-Daba; a google search of FR for “Sturt Manning” will locate a post about this) had been assumed to be from Thera, but turned out to be from the Kos volcano, iow, 102K year old eruption. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

:’) Schorr, writing as Isaacson to avoid problems during his postgrad studies, noted that the old conventional 1500 BC date was referenced by Velikovsky, but due to the artifacts found under the eruption layer, the supposed supereruption would have to be dated centuries later. [”Some Preliminary Remarks about Thera and Atlantis” Israel M. Isaacson; followed by editors’ “A Reply to Isaacson”, KRONOS, Vol. I, No. 2, summer 1975]

[SunkenCiv]

whoops...

The Greek archeologist Spyridon Marinatos originally proposed Santorini as the probably source of the Atlantis legends. The most compelling explanation of the source of the Atlantis legend can be read in Graham Hancock's "Underworld". It was not Santorini (or the town of Helike, as others have theorized).

I agree, not Santorini, not Helike; also not Crete, not Anatolia (both Zangger and Peter James put Atlantis there), or that little island that succumbed to a tsunami during the Peloponnesian War. :')