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Cited by 18Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and HistoryMaritime and Coastal ArchaeologyGeological and Geophysical Studies

Constraining the landscape of Late Bronze Age Santorini prior to the Minoan eruption: Insights from volcanological, geomorphological and archaeological findings

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Karátson, Dávid, Telbisz, Tamás, Gertisser, Ralf, Strasser, Thomas, Nomikou, Paraskevi, Druitt, Timothy, Vereb, Viktor, Quidelleur, Xavier +1 more·2020·Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
DOI 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2020.106911
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Abstract

One of the best known places on Earth where volcanology meets archaeology and history is the volcanic island of Santorini (Thíra), Greece. It is famous for the cataclysmic Late Bronze Age (Minoan) Plinian eruption which destroyed the Minoan culture that flourished on the island. Hosting a central, flooded caldera bay and, within that, the active islands of Palaea and Nea Kameni, Santorini volcano has been the focus of international research efforts for over one and a half centuries. In this paper, we summarize recent findings and related ideas about the Minoan physiography of the island, also known as Strongyli, from a volcanological, geomorphological and archaeological point of view. As proposed as early as the 1980s, a central caldera bay existed prior to the Late Bronze Age. Probably characterised by a smaller size and located in the northern part of the present-day caldera, this earlier caldera bay was formed during the previous Plinian eruption – called Cape Riva eruption – c. 22,000 years ago. Within the caldera bay, a central island, Pre-Kameni, existed, named after the present-day Kameni Islands. High-precision radioisotopic dating revealed that Pre-Kameni started to grow c. 20,000 years ago. Whereas volcanologists have accepted and refined the caldera concept, archaeologists have generally favoured the theory of an exploded central cone instead of a pre-existing central caldera. However, analysis of the Flotilla Fresco, one of the wall paintings found in the Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri, reveals the interior of a Late Bronze Age caldera that may be interpreted as a realistic landscape. Approximately 3600 years ago, the island of Strongyli was destroyed during the explosive VEI = 7 Minoan eruption. Pre-Kameni was lost by this eruption, but its scattered fragments, together with other parts of Strongyli, can be recovered as lithic clasts from the Minoan tuffs. On the basis of photo-statistics and granulometry of the lithic clasts contained in the Minoan tuffs, complemented by volumetric assessment of the erupted tephra and digital elevation model (DEM) analysis of alternative models for the pre-eruptive topography, the volume of Pre-Kameni can be constrained between 1.6 and 3.0 km3, whereas the volume of the destroyed portion of the ring island of Strongyli between 9.1 and 17.1 km3. Of these, the larger values are considered more realistic, and imply that most of the destroyed part of Strongyli was incorporated as lithic components in the Minoan tuffs, whereas up to 3 km3 of Strongyli might have been downfaulted and sunken during caldera formation and is not accounted for in the lithics.

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  • At Akrotiri, a temporal sequence of stages immediately leading to the eruption is identified: major earthquake, clearance/repair, abandonment, precursory eruptions with four thin pumice layers, and the massive Minoan eruption.

    “Excavation and study at Akrotiri has identified a temporal sequence of stages in the period immediately leading to the eruption: (i) major earthquake, (ii) systematic clearance/repair works, (iii) abandonment of the town-presumably because of first signs of volcanic activity or renewed seismicity -removing most portable valuables but leaving stored foodstuffs and other materials, carefully secured”

    From Second Intermediate Period date for the Thera (Santorini) eruption and historical implications (2022) · cites this paper as [47]

    Section 2 says earthquakes and precursory explosions preceded the Minoan eruption and that Akrotiri’s inhabitants might have escaped, but it says their timing is not fully constrained. It does not establish the claimed sequence of clearance and repairs, abandonment with valuables removed and food secured, or four thin precursory pumice layers. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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3 of the 72 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 14

  1. Brecoulaki, H., Stocker, S.R., Davis, J.L., Egan, E., 2015. An Unprecedented Naval Scene from Pylos: First Considerations. Mycenaean Wall Paintings in Context: New Discoveries, Old Finds Reconsidered. National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Historical Research, Athens, pp. 260-291.
  2. Cosmopoulos, M., 2015. A Group of New Mycenaean Frescoes from Iklaina, Pylos. Myce- naean Wall Painting in Context: New Discoveries, Old Finds Reconsidered. National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Historical Research, Athens, pp. 249-259.
  3. Druitt, T.H., McCoy, F.W., Vougioukalakis, G.E., 2019. The Late Bronze Age eruption of San- torini Volcano and its impact on the Ancient Mediterranean World. Elements: an in- ternational magazine of mineralogy. Geochem. Petrol. 15 (3), 185-190.
  4. Eriksen, U., Friedrich, W., Buchardt, B., Tauber, T., Thomsen, M., 1990. The stronghyle cal- dera: geological palaeontological stable isotope evidence from radiocarbon dated stromatolites from Santorini. In: Hardy, D.A., Doumas, C.G., Sakellaris, J.A., Warren, P.M. (Eds.), Thera and the Aegean World III. 2, pp. 139-150.
  5. Fouqué, F., 1879. In: Masson, G. (Ed.), Santorini et ses Eruptions. Libraire l'Academie de Medicine, Paris (440 p).
  6. Friedrich, W.L., Kromer, B., Friedrich, M., Heinemeier, J., Pfeiffer, T., Talamo, S., 2006. San- torini eruption radiocarbon dated to 1627-1600 BC. Science 312 (5773), 548.
  7. Karátson, D., Gertisser, R., Telbisz, T., Vereb, V., Quidelleur, X., Druitt, T., Nomikou, P., Kósik, S., 2018a. Reconstructing the Late Bronze Age intra-caldera island of Santorini, Greece. In: Corsaro, R.A., Di Giuseppe, M.G., Isaia, R., Mormone, A., Nave, R. (Eds.), Ab- stracts Volume of the International Meeting Cities on Volcanoes 10, "Millenia of Strat- ification between Human Life and Volcanoes: Strategies for Coexsitance" (Naples, Italy).
  8. McClelland, E., Thomas, R., 1990. A palaeomagnetic study of Minoan age tephra from Thera. In: Hardy, D.A., Doumas, C.G., Sakellaris, J.A., Warren, P.M. (Eds.), Thera and the Aegean World III. 2, pp. 129-138.
  9. Morris, S.P., 2000. From Thera to Scheria: Aegean art and narrative. The Wall Paintings of Thera: Proceedings of the First International Symposium, pp. 317-333.
  10. Pyle, D.M., 1990. New estimates for the volume of the Minoan eruption. In: Hardy, D.A., Doumas, C.G., Sakellaris, J.A., Warren, P.M. (Eds.), Thera and the Aegean World III. 2, pp. 113-121.
  11. Strasser, T.F., Chapin, A.P., 2014. Geological formations in the Flotilla Fresco from Akrotiri. In: Touchais, G., Laffineur, R., Rougemont, F. (Eds.), Physis: l'environnement naturel et la relation homme-milieu dans le monde égéen protohistorique. Aegaeum 37, pp. 57-64.
  12. Vereb, V., 2016. A Szantorini vulkán minószi kitöréstermékeinek fotóstatisztikai és térinformatikai elemzése (Photo-statistical and GIS Analysis of the Minoan Products of Santorini Volcano: in Hungarian). MSc thesis. Eötvös University (75 p).
  13. Wiener, M.H., 2009. The state of the debate about the date of the Theran eruption. Time's up: 197-206. In: Warburton, D.A. (Ed.), Time's up! Acts of the Minoan Eruptive Chro- nology Workshop, Sandbjerg, November 2007. Monographs of the Danish Institute at Athens vol. 10. Aarhus University Press, pp. 197-206.
  14. Wohletz, K., Brown, W., 1995. Particulate size distributions and sequential fragmentation/ transport theory. Proceedings of US (NSF) Japan (JSPS) Joint Seminar, Santa Barbara, CA, pp. 235-241.

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Authors
Karátson, D., Telbisz, T., Gertisser, R., Strasser, T., Nomikou, P., Druitt, T., Vereb, V., Quidelleur, X., & Kósik, S.
Affiliations
  • Eötvös Loránd University (HU)
  • Keele University (GB)
  • Providence College (US)
  • National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Université Paris-Sud (FR)
  • Massey University (NZ)
Corresponding author
Karátson, Dávid
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-09
Volume
401
Pages
106911
ISSN
0377-0273 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2020.106911
OpenAlex
W3022391678
Cited by
18
References
72
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2
FWCI
14.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Keele Research Repository (Keele University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • ELTE Digital Institutional Repository (EDIT) (Eötvös Loránd University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Maritime and Coastal Archaeology
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
Keywords
Santorini, Minoan eruption, Late Bronze Age, caldera, lithic clasts, tephra volume, Akrotiri

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