Santorini eruption radiocarbon dated to 1627-1600 B.C.

Friedrich, Walter L.; Kromer, Bernd; Friedrich, Michael; Heinemeier, Jan; Pfeiffer, Tom; Talamo, Sahra

doi:10.1126/science.1125087

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Santorini eruption radiocarbon dated to 1627-1600 B.C.

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Friedrich, W. L., Kromer, B., Friedrich, M., Heinemeier, J., Pfeiffer, T., & Talamo, S. (2006). Santorini eruption radiocarbon dated to 1627-1600 B.C. Science, 312(5773), 548-548. doi:10.1126/science.1125087.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-002C-811A-2

Abstract

Precise and direct dating of the Minoan eruption of Santorini (Thera) in Greece, a global Bronze Age time marker, has been made possible by the unique find of an olive tree, buried alive in life position by the tephra (pumice and ashes) on Santorini. We applied so-called radiocarbon wiggle-matching to a carbon-14 sequence of tree-ring segments to constrain the eruption date to the range 1627‐1600 B.C. with 95.4% probability. Our result is in the range of previous, less precise, and less direct results of several scientific dating methods, but it is a century earlier than the date derived from traditional Egyptian chronologies. A buried olive tree provides a firm early date for the massive Santorini eruption, facilitating correlations among Bronze Age events throughout the Mediterranean. A buried olive tree provides a firm early date for the massive Santorini eruption, facilitating correlations among Bronze Age events throughout the Mediterranean.