Economy were to collapse, it would happen quickly. No one would predict it. The surprise factor is, itself, one of the causes of a collapse. The signs of imminent failure are difficult for most people to see.
TheraThe Minoan eruption of, also referred to as the Thera eruption, Santorini eruption, or the Late Bronze Age eruption, was a major with a (VEI) of 6 or 7 and a (DRE) of 60 km 3 (14 cu mi), Dated to the mid-, the eruption was. It devastated the island of Thera (now called ), including the settlement at, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of with related and.Although there are no clear ancient records of the eruption, the Minoan eruption may have been alluded to in the Egyptian, as well as the Chinese.
Since its is found in nearly all archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean and therefore serves as a, the precise date of the Minoan eruption is of high importance and still fiercely debated among archaeologists and natural scientists. Main article:Geological evidence shows the Thera volcano erupted numerous times over several hundred thousand years before the Minoan eruption. In a repeating process, the volcano would violently erupt, then eventually collapse into a roughly circular seawater-filled, with numerous small islands forming the circle. The caldera would slowly refill with magma, building a new volcano, which erupted and then collapsed in an ongoing cyclical process.Immediately before the Minoan eruption, the walls of the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring of islands, with the only entrance between Thera and the tiny island of. This cataclysmic eruption was centered on a small island just north of the existing island of in the centre of the then-existing caldera.
The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the and lava, then collapsed again.Magnitude Research by a team of international scientists in 2006 revealed that the Santorini event was much larger than the original estimate of 39 km 3 (9.4 cu mi) of (DRE) that was published in 1991. With an estimated DRE in excess of 60 km 3 (14 cu mi), the volume of was approximately 100 km 3 (24 cu mi). If so, the eruption's was 7. The volcano ejected up to four times as much as the well-recorded eruption by in 1883. The Thera volcanic events and subsequent ashfall probably destroyed all indigenous life, as occurred on Krakatoa. Only the volcanic eruption of 1815, Lake Taupo's around 180 CE, and perhaps the eruption of 946 CE released more material into the atmosphere during historic times.
Sequence On, there is a 60 m (200 ft) thick layer of white that overlies the soil clearly delineating the ground level before the eruption. This layer has three distinct bands that indicate the different phases of the eruption. Studies have identified four major eruption phases, and one minor precursory fall. The thinness of the first ash layer, along with the lack of noticeable erosion of that layer by winter rains before the next layer was deposited, indicate that the volcano gave the local population a few months' warning. Since no human remains have been found at the, this preliminary volcanic activity probably caused the island's population to flee. It is also suggested that several months before the eruption, Santorini experienced one or more earthquakes, which damaged the local settlements.Intense magmatic activity of the first major phase (BO 1/Minoan A) of the eruption deposited up to 7 m (23 ft) of and ash, with a minor lithic component, southeast and east.
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Archaeological evidence indicated burial of man-made structures with limited damage. The second (BO 2/Minoan B) and third (BO 3/Minoan C) eruption phases involved and, as well as the possible generation of. Man-made structures not buried during Minoan A were completely destroyed. The third phase was also characterized by the initiation of caldera collapse.
The fourth, and last, major phase (BO 4/Minoan D) was marked by varied activity: lithic-rich base surge deposits, flows, floods, and co- ash-fall deposits. This phase was characterized by the completion of caldera collapse, which produced. Geomorphology. The only gold object found at the excavation of, a small sculpture of an that was hidden under a floor; a thorough evacuation in advance of the catastrophe must have occurred since few artifacts, and no corpses were buried in the ash.The eruption devastated the nearby Minoan settlement at on Santorini, which was entombed in a layer of. It is believed that the eruption also severely affected the Minoan population on, but the extent of the impact is debated. Early hypotheses proposed that ashfall from Thera on the eastern half of Crete choked off plant life, causing starvation of the local population. However, after more thorough field examinations, the hypothesis has lost credibility, as it has been determined that no more than 5 mm (0.20 in) of ash fell anywhere on Crete.
Other hypotheses have been proposed based on archeological evidence found on Crete indicating that a, likely associated with the eruption, impacted the coastal areas of Crete and may have devastated the Minoan coastal settlements. Another hypothesis is that much of the damage done to Minoan sites resulted from a large earthquake and the fires it caused, which preceded the Thera eruption.Significant Minoan remains have been found above the Thera ash layer and tsunami level dating from the era, and it is unclear whether the effects of the ash and tsunami were enough to trigger the downfall of the Minoan civilization.
Some sites were abandoned or settlement systems significantly interrupted in the immediate aftermath of the eruption. As the Minoans were a sea power and depended on ships for their livelihood, the Thera eruption likely caused significant economic hardship to the Minoans. Whether the effects were enough to trigger the downfall of the civilization is intensely debated.
The conquest of the Minoans occurred in the period (1450–1400 BC). The Mycenaeans were a military civilization. Using their functional navy and a well-equipped army, they were capable of an invasion.
Mycenaean weaponry has been found in burials on Crete. This demonstrates Mycenaean military influence not many years after the eruption. Many archaeologists speculate that the eruption caused a crisis in Minoan civilization, making them vulnerable to conquest by the Mycenaeans. Chinese records A from an eruption in the late 17th century BCE has been claimed by some researchers to correlate with entries in later Chinese records documenting the collapse of the semi-legendary in. According to the, the collapse of the dynasty and the rise of the, approximately dated to 1618 BCE, were accompanied by 'yellow fog, a dim sun, then, frost in July, famine, and the withering of all '. Effect on Egyptian history Apocalyptic rainstorms, which devastated much of, and were described on the of, have been attributed to short-term climatic changes caused by the Theran eruption. The difficulty with this interpretation is that in the conventional but disputed Egyptian chronology, Ahmose I ruled from c.
1539–1514 BCE, whilst the eruption is thought to have occurred somewhere between 1642–1540 BCE.Alternatively, if the eruption occurred in the, the absence of Egyptian records of the eruption could be caused by the general disorder in Egypt around that time.While it has been argued that the damage attributed to these storms may have been caused by an earthquake following the Thera eruption, it has also been suggested that it was caused during a war with the, and the storm reference is merely a metaphor for chaos upon which the Pharaoh was attempting to impose order. Documents such as 's depict storms, but are clearly figurative, not literal. Research indicates that the Speos Artemidos stele is a reference to her overcoming the powers of chaos and darkness. Greek traditions The Titanomachy The eruption of Thera and volcanic fallout may have inspired the myths of the in 's.
The Titanomachy could have picked up elements of western folk memory, as the tale spread westward. 's lines have been compared with volcanic activity, citing 's thunderbolts as, the boiling earth and sea as a breach of the, immense flame and heat as evidence of, among many other descriptions. Atlantis. Main article:Geologist Barbara J.
Sivertsen seeks to establish a link between the eruption of Santorini (c. 1600 BCE) and the of the from in the. Other settlements The occupation (1742–1640 BCE) of the Minoan (?) palace at in the Galilee ended around 1640 BCE. Bicameralism In the controversial hypothesis, has argued that the Minoan eruption was a crucial event in the development of human since the displacements that it caused led to new and important interactions among communities.See also.References.