Tree proves Greek history wrong

Tree proves Greek history wrong

Friday, April 28, 2006 05:30:06 pm IANS

SSTUTTGART (GERMANY): A fragment of an ancient tree, dug out of volcanic rock on the Greek island of Santorini has shaken the history of ancient Greece, suggesting the accepted dates of some events may be wrong by 100 years.

The research published by German and Danish scientists on Friday, involved carbon dating of the branch of an olive tree that perished in one of the world's most terrifying volcanic eruptions.

The wood, containing 72 tree-rings, had not rotted as it was sealed inside lava that quickly cooled. When trees are sawn apart, rings representing each year of growth are visible. The branch had, accordingly, been growing for 72 years.

The Bronze Age eruption on Santorini in the Cyclades has fascinated historians for more than 150 years, since it partly wiped out civilization. Archaeologists and historians divide up events and artefacts of the era into pre and post-eruption ones.

Thanks to the 3,500 year-old fragment of wood, found near the ancient village of Akrotiri, located on the southwestern tip of the island, it is possible to discern the year of the eruption, overturning some past assumptions.

Scholars say the olive last grew between 1627 BC and 1600 BC, meaning Santorini blew up about 100 years earlier than what is currently believed.

The research was conducted at the Universities of Heidelberg, Hohenheim near Stuttgart and Arhus in Denmark and the researchers used computer tomography to examine the wood's substance.

The findings appeared in the current issue of the US journal Science.

The eruption not only rained down vast amounts of lava and ash on the island, known to the ancient Greeks as Thera, but also ripped it apart and triggered a tsunami that hurled a wave up to 70 metres high at the Mediterranean coasts.

Most historians believe the tsunami led to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. The Minoan empire probably lost most of its fleet of ships, which were the key to its primacy in the Mediterranean.

Some researchers suggest that Santorini is the fabled city of Atlantis that renowned philosopher Plato says disappeared into the sea.

Links have been suggested between the eruption and many other events too that are described in the ancient myths of the region.

The story of the Flood, described both in the Bible and the Book of Gilgamesh about a Mesopotamian ruler, could have been inspired by a tsunami-style inundation. So could the extraordinary story of the escape of the Israelites from Egypt through the Red Sea.

According to the Bible, the Israelis crossed as it was dry, but the Pharaoh's chariots were overwhelmed by the returning water. In a tsunami, the sea sometimes recedes for about an hour from the coast before returning in a very high flood of similar duration.

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