It was spring (and this is proven by seeds and pollen grains found in volcanic ash) of 1,613 BC, when the largest volcanic eruption that Humanity has known in at least the last 10,000 years occurred, which completely destroyed Thira and the nearby islands within a radius of many kilometers.
The eruption generated tidal waves that swept the coasts of nearby islands and northern Crete. While these destroyed some coastal settlements, they may not have caused the decline of the Minoan Civilization, according to volcanologist Dr. George Vougioukalakis, a researcher at the Institute of Geological and Mining Research (IGMR) and vice-president of the Society for the Support of Prehistoric Thera Studies.
Mr. Vougioukalakis, in an interview he gave to "Free Research", presented to us the new scientific data that emerged from the use of radioactive carbon (C 14), tree dating and ice dating methods, according to which the eruption occurred at least 100-150 years earlier than the conventional date (1,500 BC), which was based on comparative studies of pottery techniques and Egyptian sources. Recently, after the examination by a University of Denmark of an olive branch that had been buried in the ash of the eruption, it was finally verified that the eruption occurred in 1,613 BC and lasted only 2-3 twenty-four hours.
"E.E.": Mr. Vougioukalakis, when do you detect the eruption of the Thira volcano?
– Essentially, the issue of the dating of the eruption of the volcano of Thera has already been identified in 1,613 BC with a deviation of a few years before or after, which, however, do not exceed a decade. Our certainty was sealed with the important newly discovered find, namely an olive branch, with roots and leaves, found in the caldera of the volcano of Thera. The previous datings, which had been made on plants with a short lifespan, left us with gaps, while now we can apply a series of C 14 datings on the same sample. However, in parallel with this, other research was carried out by the American Cornell University, and at many sites in the Aegean, which confirmed 1,613 BC as the date of the eruption of the volcano, with a minimal deviation, as we said.
Does the fact that no skeletons were found either in Akrotiri or shipwrecks in the sea mean that the residents had anticipated the explosion and left much earlier?
– The evidence we have from the point of view of geology and volcanology tells us that the inhabitants of the island, with all the knowledge they had, did not have time to leave. It was practically impossible even by today's standards. The picture we have is that this huge-scale explosion developed so quickly that it was impossible to abandon the island. When the warning phenomena began and they realized that something very bad was happening, the inhabitants had no way of escaping, because there were too many of them. There were over 10,000 of them. Even if all their merchant ships, which were very many, had gathered to help them, they still would not have had time to evacuate the city, due to their number.
But the fact that neither skeletons nor shipwrecks were found at Akrotiri is due to the fact that it is the only piece of land that has been found and investigated. The ancient port, however, has not yet been found and only when we discover it and excavate the places where the inhabitants were gathered, because they would certainly have gathered at the port, will we have important and valuable information about the last dramatic hours of the city, as well as about the fate of its inhabitants. We believe that in the sunken ancient port we will find skeletons, as happened in Herculaneum, which was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius.
In the first phase of the disaster, a very strong earthquake occurred and Akrotiri was certainly abandoned, because the inhabitants of this island had a lot of experience with earthquakes, as can be seen from the continuous reconstructions and the various levels of destruction that the city suffered before its fatal final one. We see that it is destroyed again and again by successive earthquakes and rebuilt even better, as the interventions in the buildings after an Enceladus hit show us. The city is immediately evacuated and the rescue teams take action, as is done today with EMAK. They intervene selectively in buildings that may have trapped people and valuable goods inside. The part of Akrotiri that we are studying now has been destroyed by an earlier earthquake, as we can see from the interventions in the buildings. The inhabitants, having taken with them everything valuable and useful they had, abandoned the city.
Four phases are recorded in the deposition mechanisms of the explosion products.
During the first phase , a large explosive column of ash 35-36 km high is created. It lasts about 4-6 hours and throws about 2 cubic km (4.6 billion tons) of magma into the air. The enormous energy released by the evaporation of water pulverizes large quantities of magma and ejects them at high speeds (80-150 meters per second) and temperatures (150-200° C), covering the whole of Santorini with white ash. These successive explosions often create intense shock waves, the destructive effects of which have been recorded in parts of houses in the prehistoric settlement.
In the second explosive phase, clouds of vapor and ash move at high speeds radially around the explosion area.
During the third phase, the area is covered with huge amounts of volcanic ash.
During the final phase, thick clouds of hot red ash are ejected, which eventually settles on the ground or sinks into the sea.
The entire event, from the first eruptions to the creation of the caldera, must not have lasted more than a few (2-3) twenty-four hours. The volume of material ejected was estimated at at least 60 km3 of magma or approximately 150 billion tons of rock!
How powerful was this explosion? What evidence do we have?
– It was huge. It was the largest volcanic eruption that humanity has ever experienced. It was like many Hiroshima bombs combined. The first twenty-four hours of the explosion stopped all life within a radius of 100 kilometers! Then, the “tsunamis” begin.
The first research that was done to identify the power of the explosion was, as always, on land. But the data for its size comes mainly from the underwater area around Santorini. The data on land is the volume of magma that it produced and while in 2005 we estimated that this volume was 30 cubic kilometers, in 2006 and 2007 a new good research showed us 60 cubic kilometers, which changes many things, such as the "tsunamis", which both Mr. Marinatos and Mr. Galanopoulos had mentioned, but we could not document them precisely. Today, however, we are able to confirm that there were "tsunamis", which, however, did not exceed 10 meters, that is, they were of medium size. Field research, conducted in Crete, showed that the waves were around 8 meters high. The Aegean may be an archipelago, but it is a closed sea and large waves are not favored. Modern society has experienced the eruption of Piratounto, which is 20 times smaller than Santorini, as well as that of Tambora, which has been recorded in historical times and is even smaller.
Was it the "tsunamis" that destroyed Minoan Crete?
– Crete is affected by the continuous “tsunamis”, but they only hit the coastal areas. We have identified, together with our American colleagues, at least four sites in Crete that have been destroyed by them. But it was not enough for a huge civilization, such as the Minoan, to suddenly collapse. Besides, Knossos was far away to be affected.
We still do not know the causes of the destruction of the Minoan Civilization. Perhaps it was social, a natural decline of a civilization that exhausted the margins of its development and when a society is heading towards decline, then natural disasters accelerate it. It is characteristic that in the era of their decline they begin to build fortifications, to fortify the cities with walls, etc. whereas earlier they did not exist. Certainly the destruction of the central Aegean, which also swept away the surrounding islands, would have played a very serious role in the psychology of decline, but again it was impossible to lead a healthy society to extinction. It is still an enigma, an unsolved mystery.
Thira today. Right three-dimensional schematic geological section.
In Santorini, what kind of society did we have?
– In Akrotiri, Santorini, in the “rich neighborhood”, which has been excavated, it is evident that all the residents are having a good time, happiness is widespread and there are no strong contrasts. If this image is representative, then it shows a healthy society, it shows an accumulation of wealth from their work, as well as the distribution of this wealth evenly, so that there are no animosities. There is no theocracy, nor harsh authority. People are free, relaxed, they have beautiful houses with toilets on the second floor(!), they work happily, they are rich and they enjoy their lives.
In the famous mural of Akrotiri, the rowers who appear have bent oars to face the waves.
– In prehistoric Thera, navigation was very developed and they also had very advanced technology. This is proven by the shape of the ship, the position of the rowers and the rudder. In other words, they built very strong ships, capable of traveling very far safely. But we still cannot prove anything about the strange shape of the oars. The mural of Akrotiri, which is very ancient, because we did not find anything older, confirms the communication of Santorini with the Peloponnese, because on the ships opposite, they are Messenians. This is proven by their helmets and in general by the entire representation, which appears to be a procession, related to the Peloponnese.
The olive branch, based on which all the data so far on the relations between the Minoan, Mycenaean and Egyptian Civilizations are being revised. On the left is the hole from which the olive branch was taken, whose roots reach down to the dark surface. On the upper right is the hole with the branch and below is the one-meter branch.
Are the theories of Egyptologists regarding the relations between Minoan, Mycenaean and Egyptian Civilizations overturned by new scientific data?
– Indeed. First of all, if you search Egypt for dates based on the C 14 method, you will not find a single one. The English and other Schools of Archaeology created an entire dating scale, which was based on the ages of the Pharaohs and the duration of their reigns. Today, however, they find that some Pharaohs are missing, while some have the same names. Therefore, the date of the eruption that they gave us was not documented, like today's 1,613 BC. There is a big difference, which they cannot cover.
Rocks from present-day Thira, revealing the events of the 1,613 BC eruption. Left: volcanic ash deposits from the third phase of the eruption northeast of Oia. Right: deposits of fine-grained pyroclastic ash from the fourth phase at Monolithos.
Will the volcano of Thera reactivate and erupt? ???
– We certainly expect that Santorini will have another eruption. It is just that the eruptions we expect will not have the power of the Minoan one, because Santorini produces eruptions of this size every 15,000 to 20,000 thousand years. Then it has the ability to accumulate the energy of a Minoan eruption. In the meantime, eruptions occur, such as those we experienced in 1925, 1940 and 1950. It is impossible for something similar to occur only 3,000 years later. After 10,000 years perhaps, because these intervals are gradually increasing, due to the convergence of the tectonic plates. The whole process seems to be slowing down little by little, which means that it produces less magma in space and therefore, it takes more time to accumulate. !!!
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