New Date For Greek Eruption That May Have Inspired Atlantis Myth

An ancient eruption on the present day Greek island of Santorini devastated the Minoan people, possibly inspiring the myth of Atlantis. (Credit: Aleksandra H. Kossowska/shutterstock) A long-standing controversy over the date of a volcanic blast that possibly inspired the myth of Atlantis may have been resolved with the aid of ancient tree rings, a new study finds. One of the largest volcanic eruptions in the past 4,000 years burst from the volcano Thera on what is now the Greek island of Santorini. The catastrophic eruptions spewed forth about 40 to 60 cubic kilometers of lava, devastating the ancient seafaring Minoan civilization, potentially inspiring the legend of the lost city of Atlantis. The effects of this eruption were felt as far away as Egypt and Turkey. And by pinpointing when this eruption happened, scientists might have a way to tie together the timelines of ancient Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the rest of the Mediterranean. However, precisely dating when this eruption occurred has proven difficult. Entire conferences have focused on the problem, said study lead author Charlotte Pearson, a dendroarchaeologist at the University of Arizona at Tucson. Using written records from Egypt and pottery retrieved from digs across the Mediterranean, archaeologists have estimated the eruption occurred between 1570 and 1500 B.C. However, other scientists analyzing a radioactive isotope of carbon in bits of trees, grains and legumes found just below the layer of ash from the eruption have dated these samples to about 1600 B.C. (Isotopes of an element vary in how many neutrons they possess in their atomic nuclei — atoms of carbon-12, the most common isotope of the element, each have six neutrons, while atoms of rarer, heavier, radioactive carbon-14 each have eight.) "The discrepancy between the radiocarbon and archaeological evidence may be as little as 30 or 40 years, but after years of long-running debate, it hasn't closed," Pearson said.