Issue Date
2004-01-01Keywords
absolute ageAegean Islands
Asia
Bayesian analysis
C 14
calibration
carbon
Cenozoic
chronology
Cyclades
dates
eruptions
Europe
Greece
Greek Aegean Islands
Holocene
isotopes
measurement
Mediterranean region
Middle East
Miletos Turkey
Quaternary
radioactive isotopes
samples
Southern Europe
statistical analysis
Thera
Turkey
volcanoes
western Turkey
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Bronk Ramsey, C., Manning, S. W., & Galimberti, M. (2004). Dating the volcanic eruption at Thera. Radiocarbon, 46(1), 325-344.Journal
RadiocarbonDescription
From the 18th International Radiocarbon Conference held in Wellington, New Zealand, September 1-5, 2003.Additional Links
http://radiocarbon.webhost.uits.arizona.edu/Abstract
The eruption of the volcano at Thera (Santorini) in the Aegean Sea undoubtedly had a profound influence on the civilizations of the surrounding region. The date of the eruption has been a subject of much controversy because it must be linked into the established and intricate archaeological phasings of both the prehistoric Aegean and the wider east Mediterranean. Radiocarbon dating of material from the volcanic destruction layer itself can provide some evidence for the date of the eruption, but because of the shape of the calibration curve for the relevant period, the value of such dates relies on there being no biases in the data sets. However, by dating the material from phases earlier and later than the eruption, some of the problems of the calibration data set can be circumvented and the chronology for the region can be resolved with more certainty. In this paper, we draw together the evidence we have accumulated so far, including new data on the destruction layer itself and for the preceding cultural horizon at Thera, and from associated layers at Miletos in western Turkey. Using Bayesian models to synthesize the data and to identify outliers, we conclude from the most reliable 14C evidence (and using the INTCAL98 calibration data set) that the eruption of Thera occurred between 1663 and 1599 BC.Type
Proceedingstext
Language
enISSN
0033-8222ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1017/S0033822200039631