Traces of the Eruption in Cyprus?

It is tempting to associate these facts with the eruption of the volcano of Santorini, but absolute proof is still missing. Pumice from Hala Sultan Tekke came from Nisyros and Thera, respectively before and after 1200 B.C. Ashes from destruction layers of about 1200 B.C. have unfortunately not yet been analysed.

Did the eruption of the volcano of Thera have any effects on the island of Cyprus? This paper will examine if there are any geological or archaeological traces of the outburst of Thera on Cyprus.

GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Pumice has been found in quantities on the north-western coast of Cyprus near Ayia Irini. 700 tons of pumice were commercially extracted in 1933 -1934 from a raised beach at least 30 metres above sea level. The pumice was not of Cypriote origin. (Pomerance 1970, 24; Moore 1960, 64. 90). The Geological Survey Department of Cyprus also reports other pumice deposits on the north coast of Cyprus, e.g. in the higher levels of a raised beach at Ayios Photios on the north coast (Moore 1960, 64. 90).

Fornaseri, Malpieri and Tolomeo (1975) have analysed pieces of pumice from the Morphou Bay, from Morphou to Kormakiti. All the pieces came from the surface except for some samples found in the Roman city of Ayia Irini which was abandoned around A.D. 160. Yiali and Kos can be taken into consideration as source locality for some of the pieces. Other pieces came from the upper tephra layer of Santorini. Pumice from Yiali, Kos and Thera was present in the Roman city of Ayia Irini, thus dating before A.D. 160 (cf. Quilici 1971, 150. 159). Dr. Nicolaou has presented other evidence for pumice in Cyprus (Nicolaou 1976).

Pumice has been discovered in our excavations in the Late Cypriote Bronze Age town at Hala Sultan Tekke. A small piece of pumice was discovered in 1972 in Area 8, layer 4, attributed to Late Cypriote IIIA2 or about the middle of the 12th century B.C. Mr John A. Gifford has analysed it and writes as follows: "The modal value (23 out of 30 grains measured) of the index of refraction lies between 1.508 and 1.509. This range, combined with the fact that hypersthene is the most common phenocryst mineral present in the pumice, identifies it as a sample of the "Upper Tephra" deposit of Thera. Bond has the most recent compilation of characteristics of Eastern Mediterranean pumice deposits. Your sample probably belongs to the 15th century BC eruption, since the only other recorded major ash fall from Thera occurred in AD 726. I am not aware of anyone studying documented samples of the 8th century AD Thera pumice to see if its index of refraction differs significantly from that of the 15th century BC explosion pumice, but in any event this does not directly concern your particular sample, since it has a stratigraphic context.

As you probably know, a relatively large deposit of pumice extended along the shore of Morphou Bay near Ag. Irini, with lesser deposits along the north coast. Fornaseri et al. (1975) identified pumice samples from the Ag. Irini area as coming from Thera, Kos and possibly Yiali. With the large dispersion of ash from the 15th century BC Thera explosion toward the southeast, it is not surprising that fragments found their way to the coast around the salt lakes."

A piece of pumice for polishing was found in a rubbish pit at Hala Sultan Tekke dating from the latter part of the 13th century B.C. (Åström et al. 1976, 117). It has also been analysed by Mr John A. Gifford, who writes:

"The provenance of your pumice fragment from Trench 3, cannot be identified as easily as the first one from F 1062, layer 4. The suite of heavy minerals in the Trench 3 fragment contains predominately hypersthene with accessory magnetite and hornblend; the light mineral phenocrysts are quartz and feldspar. This corresponds to typical phenocryst compositions for both Thera and Nisyros pumice. However, the index of refraction of the Trench 3 pumice (glass) is 1.502, which points more towards Nisyros as the source. Thera pumice has an average index of refraction of 1.509, and it is unlikely that it varies by as much as ± 007 (Rapp, in fact, found a spread of about 1.506 to 1.512).

To further complicate matters, published criteria that might be used to distinguish between Thera and Nisyros pumice are in major disagreement, although this may be unavoidable due to inhomogeneities in the erupted material itself. No Bronze Age eruptions of the Nisyros volcano are presently known; a preliminary terminus ante quem for the most recent volcanic activity there is given by Neolithic obsidian artifacts found within the volcanic caldera. In sum I would accept it as more probabte that the pumice from Trench 3 at Hala Sultan Tekke is an "inherited" fragment from a pre (?)-Neolithic eruption on Nisyros rather than an aberrant piece of Thera pumice. I recall to you that the Italians identified pumice from at least three sources - Thera, Yiali and Kos - from samples collected around Ayia Irini, and of course the Bronze Age inhabitants of the island were not in a position to distinguish one source area from another (unless there are some differences in the usefulness of the various pumices that we don't know about)."

It is interesting to note that pumice from Nisyros occurs before 1200 and pumice from the upper tephra of Thera after 1200 B.C. at Hala Sultan Tekke.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Dikaios interpreted two destructions at Enkomi as due to earthquakes dated by him 1525 B.C. and 1425 B.C. respectively. Dikaios was inclined to synchronize the former with the earthquake which destroyed Knossos at the end of Middle Minoan IIIB and the latter with the earthquake which preceded the eruption of the volcano at Thera (Dikaios 1969 - 1971, 230. 480. 505; Åström 1972, 758 - 759; Dickinson 1977, 30).

It is clear that the first destruction at the end of Late Cypriote IA occurred when Late Minoan IA cups had already reached Enkomi. The catastrophe is therefore later than the MM IIIB earthquake at Knossos and it may be contemporary with the earthquake at Thera.

Destructions of other fortresses have been recorded in Cyprus at Nitovikla and Nikolidhes in Late Cypriote I, but the relative and absolute chronology is not quite clear and it is uncertain why they were destroyed (Åström 1972, 30 - 34. 764).

In Late Cypriote I there is a shift in importance from sites in the northwestern part of the island to the south-eastern coast (Åström 1972, 765). Professor Karageorghis has suggested that the tsunamis following the volcanic eruption of Thera destroyed the fields in north-western Cyprus (Karageorghis 1971, 7 - 9). It is true that there were some flourishing sites in Late Cypriote I at Ayia Irini, Stephania and Toumba tou Skourou, but these sites in the north-west were insignificant thereafter. It is tempting to link these facts with the eruption of Santorini. The huge pumice layers in this part of Cyprus have not been analysed, but they may have come from Thera.

Several sites in Cyprus were destroyed and covered with ash around 1200 B.C. (Åström 1972, 775. 777, n. 4). Unfortunately neither the ashes from these destruction layers nor from other sites elsewhere have been examined to determine whether they contain volcanic material or not.

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