22. One Hundred Years Sooner for This Volcano!
Sturt Manning
Sturt W. Manning, Classics, led a radiocarbon study of tree rings and seeds showing that the Santorini volcanic eruption, an important event in Aegean prehistory, occurred in the late 17th century B.C, 100 years earlier than previously believed. The discovery may rewrite the Late Bronze Age history of Mediterranean civilizations. The Santorini volcano, one of the largest eruptions in history, buried towns but left archaeological evidence in the surrounding Aegean Sea region. Aegean and Near Eastern cultures were building blocks for Greek and European early history, and scientists have long used the eruption to align Aegean and Near Eastern chronology. To date it would define a whole century of archaeological work and establish an absolute timeline. The researchers analyzed 127 radiocarbon measurements from short-lived samples, including tree-ring fractions and harvested seeds collected in Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, and Turkey. They coupled these analyses with a complex statistical analysis to assign precise calendar dates to the cultural phases of the Late Bronze Age. Manning dates the eruption to between 1660 and 1613 B.C. The redating could mean new knowledge about alliances and intercultural influences previously thought improbable.