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View of Santorini: the rest of the former volcanic island of Thera
Photo: Michael Runkel / Westend61 / imago
The volcanic eruption on the Aegean island of Thera more than 3500 years ago is of great interest to scientists from a wide variety of disciplines.
The biggest bang of the Bronze Age, accompanied by earthquakes, ash rain and tsunamis, was one of the most violent eruptions in the last millennia.
Geoscientists and volcanologists alike are fascinated by the numerous traces that it has left around the world.
But the eruption is also important for archaeologists.
The reason: The ash layers in the ground that the volcano left behind can be found in numerous excavations in the eastern Mediterranean.
They are a fixed point in archeology from which dates can easily be deduced.
Because if you know exactly when the volcano erupted, then you have a generally valid time marker in the stratigraphy, the sequence of the earth's layers in the ground, in many places.
However, there have been long discussions about the point in time of the volcanic eruption, which today is mainly evidenced by the largely ring-shaped islands of the Santorin archipelago as remains of the former volcanic island of Thera.
Most experts suspect the mega-explosion sometime in the 16th or 17th century BC.
In the past, researchers have already analyzed many of the traces left by the eruption in order to determine when the eruption occurred more precisely. The eruption can be demonstrated, for example, by means of tree rings and in the ice of the two poles. Previous studies have focused primarily on deposits of pumice stone, ash, and loose fragments of lava.
A research team led by Vasif Sahoglu from Ankara University draws their conclusions, however, mainly from tsunami deposits in the city of Cesme-Baglararasi. The place on the Turkish west coast, located on a headland west of Izmir, was once considered a regional center. It is around 230 kilometers from the volcano. After the excavations there, the scientists from Turkey, Israel and Austria re-dated the catastrophe, according to their study in the proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences (»PNAS«).
After analyzing layers of the earth containing residues from marine life such as lagoon cockles (Cerastoderma glaucum) and limpets (patella), the team assumes that the site was hit by several tsunami waves at the time.
The researchers also conclude from the one-sided alignment of the rubble that the destruction came from tsunamis and not from earthquakes.
For example, parts of the fortress wall and adjacent houses were washed inland.
Radiocarbon dates of the layers come at different dates, none of which is older than 1612 BC.
That would exclude the oldest dating to date.
Two skeletons of a young man and a dog
The researchers divide the tsunami deposits, which are more than a meter thick, into four sections, which are separated from one another by volcanic ash, among other things.
During the excavation, the team also found the first documented alleged victims of the flood disaster - two skeletons, of a young man and a dog.
Isolated deep pits within the tsunami layers therefore testify that people were looking for survivors and dead in the rubble.
"The human skeleton was about three feet below such a pit, suggesting that it was too deep to be found and was therefore (probably unknowingly) left behind."
Overall, the scientists reconstruct different phases of the outbreak: According to them, the first tidal wave led to severe destruction and also to the death of the young man.
A second wave followed a few hours later, possibly related to the same eruption phase of the volcano.
A somewhat longer period of rest was followed by a third, smaller tsunami, which also washed up charred material.
After that, a period of rest of several days began, during which people cleared away rubble and looked for the injured and dead.
“Unfortunately for them, another tsunami struck, with a force similar to that of the first tidal wave.
It left another thick layer over the already destroyed area and filled the pits that had already been dug, ”the researchers write.
Uninhabitable for at least a hundred years
The damage caused by the outbreak therefore had long-term consequences for the Cesme-Baglararasi: The tsunamis and ash rain damaged structures and water pipes and destroyed crops, according to the team.
The once prosperous city was no longer inhabited for at least a century.
The Satorin volcanic eruption is also known as the Minoan Eruption.
He wiped out the settlement of Akrotiri, which was uncovered during excavations on Satorin.
For a long time, research assumed that the volcanic eruption triggered the fall of the Minoans, the earliest advanced civilization in Europe, on Crete further south.
In the meantime, however, this thesis is considered out of date.
joe / dpa