Olive shrub buried on Therasia supports a mid-16th century BCE date for the Thera eruption

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Pearson, C., Sbonias, K., Tzachili, I., Heaton, T.J.
• Other Authors: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Geosciences, University of Arizona, Anthropology, University of Arizona
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Research 2023
• Subjects: ice core
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/673848; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33696-w

The precise date of the 2nd millennium BCE (“Minoan”) eruption of Thera (Santorini) has long been a focus of controversy due to a discrepancy between archaeological and radiocarbon-based dating of materials from stratigraphic layers above and below tsunami, ash and pumice deposits resulting from the eruption. A critical, though controversial, piece of evidence has been four segments of a radiocarbon-dated olive tree branch, buried on Thera during the eruption. Here we report new radiocarbon evidence from an olive shrub found carbonized by the same eruption deposits on neighboring Therasia (Santorini). The Therasia olive shrub dates slightly younger than the previous olive branch. Calibrated results and growth increment counts indicate increased probabilities for a mid-16th century BCE date for the eruption, overlapping with multiple volcanic sulfate markers from ice core records. © 2023, The Author(s). Open access journal This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [e-mail].