A Test of Time: The Volcano of Thera and the Chronology and History of the Aegean and East Mediterranean in the Mid Second Millennium BC

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Oxbow Books, 1999 - History - 494 pages
The great mid-second millennium BC eruption of the Thera (Santorini) volcano in the Aegean Sea, has been the subject of intense popular and scholarly interest. The effects of the eruption have been linked with the destruction of the Minoan palace civilization of Crete, the legend of Atlantis and even the events described in the Biblical account of the Exodus. Scientists have studied the remains of the volcano, traced eruption products across the east Mediterranean, and sought evidence for a climatic impact in ice-cores and tree-rings. At Akrotiri, archaeologists have unearthed a major prehistoric town which was buried by the eruption, finding multi-storey houses decorated with wonderful frescoes, and full of ceramics and other finds linking this site with the contemporary civilisations of Crete, Greece, Anatolia, Cyprus, the Levant and Egypt.

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Contents

Introduction
1
A brief history of the Thera debate
7
Aims and Preliminary issues for this Study
46
Copyright

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