A new study based on ancient tree rigs comes to settle the long-standing controversy over the date of a volcanic blast that possibly inspired the myth of Atlantis.
Thera, a volcano located under what is now the picturesque island of Santorini, gave the world one of antiquity’s largest volcanic eruptions in the past 4,000 years. Thera’s effect was so catastrophic that the lave eruptions charred up to 40 to 60 cubic kilometers away, causing the end of the Minoan civilisation; it was felt as far as Turkey and Egypt.
According to several theories it was this volcanic eruption that inspired the legend of the lost city of Atlantis. Until now, it had been hard for scientists to pin point the exact date this eruption occurred, however, according to Science Advances Journal, study lead author Charlotte Pearson might have found a way to clarify that.
“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, who is 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 analysing 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.
Based on that, Pearson and her colleagues used radiocarbon dating and tree rings to find more precise date for the eruption.
“Each tree ring is a time capsule of the carbon isotopes in which it grew. And carbon-14 radioactively decays at a steady rate, acting like a clock. By analyzing the levels of carbon isotopes within tree rings, scientists can estimate how old tree rings are.”
Modern radiocarbon dating can now work on slivers on wood containing as little as just one single tree ring which helped scientists refine dates for Thera’s eruption by analysing 285 samples from 1700 to 1500 BC covering the time from before, during and after the Thera eruption.
“No one should think that this work in any way undermines the validity of radiocarbon dating,” Pearson explained.
“This work is part of a community effort towards improving and refining the existing resource. This is the scientific process in action.”
The study revealed that ruler IntCal13 may not accurately represent carbon-14 levels between 1660 and 1540 BC placing the time of the event between 1600 and 1525 BC.
Radiocarbon scientist at the University of Arizona and study co-author Greg Hodgins suggested that the ruler used to measure time in the past may need a slight modification.
“The implications of this work may apply not just to Thera, “but to anyone using radiocarbon dating for this period of time,” he said, adding that they are hopeful to soon be able to place the Thera eruption to a specific year.
