The Eruption of the Volcano on Thera and the Destructions on Crete

As Mr. Pichler and I discussed in "Nature" Vol. 267, No; 5614, June 30, 1977 the destructions on Crete in ca. 1450 B.C. (LM IB) were not caused by the volcano on Thera but were due to a regional earthquake of non-volcanic origin, perhaps accompanied by warlike events.

The likelihood of the occurence of a single unrepeated eruption of the Santorini Volcano is strengthened by Mr. Doumas's observations of stratigraphy on Akrotiri. Thus, the existence of a layer of humus, which has been interpreted as evidence of a revival for some decades, is by no means certain; the apparent humus-layer appears to be nothing more than a kind of debris, which the inhabitants cleared away after the first earthquake at Akrotiri.

The stratigraphy of the Upper Pumice Series shows clearly that the eruption of the Santorini Volcano was followed immediately or very soon afterwards by the collapse of the caldera, and this evidence cannot be reconciled with that of the destructions which occured fifty years later on Crete. If tsunamis, volcanic earthquakes and ash-fall devastated Crete as a consequence of the collapse of the caldera on Santorini, then this must have happened immediately following the eruption of this volcano.

Marinatos and Mr. Hood showed that it is possible to connect Cretan destructions from the end of LM IA with a Therean volcanic catastrophe of about 1.500 B.C. At Gournia lower parts of the settlement suffered, and the destructions at Knossos, Mochlos, Pseira, Zakros, and perhaps also at Amnissos, Nirou Chani and Malia, can be seen in the same connection. But those destructions on Crete at the end of LM IA do not really suggest a complete catastrophe: there is no sign of a cataclysmic interruption of the flourishing Late Minoan culture.

As shown by the destructions at low lying places (Amnissos, Nirou Chani, Malia Gournia, Mochlos) tsunami-waves could not have reached more than 10 - 15 metres in height. Even if at ca. 1500 B.C. Minoan ships were damaged, we know that the Minoan Thalassocracy did not come to an end. If ash-fall covered the fertile land on Crete at ca. 1500 B.C. nevertheless no evidence exists of a famine.

If today we find some traces of volcanic ashes in LM levels, these traces are to be regarded only as witness of an earlier or the same volcanic explosion that destroyed Akrotiri at the end of the 16th century B.C. As we have no supporting evidence for the existence of a second explosion of the Santorini Volcano there is therefore no sense in postulating at the end of LM IB the existence on Crete of new volcanic ashes or pumice-stones fallen from the sky, or of destruction, fire, famine, loss of fleet etc. caused by the Thera Volcano.

The only possible theory which may be offered to reconcile the eruption and the collapse of the Santorini Volcano with both the destruction of Akrotiri and of LM IB palaces and settlements on Crete is to regard both events as having occurred simultaneously. This was Marinatos's idea prior to his excavations at Akrotiri. But later and also in his latest statement he vacillated on this question and could not escape the fact that between the stylistically latest pottery of Akrotiri and the Marine Style of the Cretan catastrophic levels there is a gap of about one generation.

Taking into consideration both stylistic and volcanologic arguments Mr. Luce and others recently have again tried to connect the latest pottery from Akrotiri with that of Cretan LM IB. Mr. Luce dates the Theran finds relatively late and the respective Cretan pottery as early as possible. Thus he assesses the extensive catastrophe of the Santorini Volcano at ca. 1470 B.C. This hypothesis is not inconsistent with the archaeological and geological stratigraphy on Santorini, but it does not agree with the above-mentioned observations of earlier i.e. LM IA destructions of volcanic origin on Crete. Above all, this hypothesis fails to explain the fact that in spite of the close relations between Minoan Crete and Thera there is no trace of imported Cretan Marine Style ceramic on Thera although this pottery is known from many other Aegean places further away from Crete. The marine motives in Theran frescos, the well-known plaster table of offerings (in the same technique) and the polychrome "kymbe" from the "House of the Ladies" are by no means Theran reflections of the Cretan Marine Style.

Decisive for the dating of the catastrophe at Akrotiri are the stylistically latest imports of Minoan pottery. A study by Mr. Niemeier which will appear shortly shows that the latest Minoan imported ware on Thera is dissimilar to the so-called sub-LM IA ceramic, which is contemporary with LM IB ceramic on Crete. The latest Minoan vases imported to Thera from Crete are of LM IA date.

On the other hand, as studies by Warren, Hankey, Betancourt, Coldstream and others have shown, LM IB must have lasted until the middle of 15th century B.C. Apart from this a period beginning 1470 and ending 1370 B.C. would be too long for the lifespans of the LM II and LM III A1 ceramic styles.

Mr Hoeckman's proposal to date the Theran and Cretan catastrophes both in ca. 1425 B.C. is based on the supposition that a Cypriote cup belongs to the White Slip II style. In fact this cup belongs to White Slip I and would suggest a more plausible destruction date for Thera of ca. 1500 B.C. Mr. Pomerance's theory of a much later Theran eruption here remains undiscussed for lack of time.

Finally I would like to illustrate with some slides that the LM IB destructiom in Minoan palaces and villas find a likely explanation with regional earthquakes.

The much discussed question of (additional) warlike events must remain open, because even today we have insufficient information.

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