Santorini - Revision history

Irlandos: /* Modern Santorini */

2009-08-20T15:38:49Z

Modern Santorini

Irlandos at 08:42, July 20, 2006

2006-07-20T08:42:05Z

Irlandos: /* References */

2006-04-19T20:33:40Z

References

Irlandos: /* Egyptian records */

2005-11-14T12:12:00Z

Egyptian records

Irlandos: /* Dating the volcanic eruption */

2005-11-14T12:11:07Z

Dating the volcanic eruption

Irlandos: /* "Minoan" Akrotiri */

2005-11-14T12:10:29Z

"Minoan" Akrotiri

Irlandos at 12:09, November 14, 2005

2005-11-14T12:09:20Z

New page

'''Santorini''' ([[Greek language|Greek]] Σαντορίνη) is a small, circular group of volcanic islands located in the [[Aegean Sea]], about 200 km south-east from the mainland of [[Greece]] (latitude: 36.40°N - longitude: 25.40°E). It is also known by the name of the largest island in the archipelago, '''Thira''' or '''Thera''' (Θήρα). It is the southernmost member of the [[Cyclades]] group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 sq. km. (28 sq. miles), and in [[2001]] had an estimated population of 13,600. The inhabitants are citizens of [[Greece]] and speak [[Modern Greek|Greek]].

It is the most active volcanic centre in the [[Aegean Arc]], though what remains today is largely a caldera. The name Santorini was given to it by the Venetians in the 13th century and is a reference to Saint Irene. Before then it was called Kallisti, Strongili or [[Thera]].

The island was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the last several thousand years when it erupted cataclysmically about 3,500 years ago. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by ash deposits hundreds of feet deep, and its effects may have indirectly led to the collapse of the [[Minoan civilization]] on the island of [[Crete]], 70 km. to the south.

=="Minoan" Akrotiri==

[[Image:Linear_A_vase.jpg|thumb|left|Linear A etched on a vase found in Akrotiri]]
Excavations starting in 1967 at the site called Akrotiri under the late Prof. [[Spyridon Marinatos]] have made Thera the best-known "[[Minoan Civilization|Minoan]]" site outside of [[Crete]], the homeland of the culture. The island was not called Thera at the time. Only the southern tip of a large town has been uncovered, yet it has revealed complexes of multi-level buildings, streets and squares, with remains of walls standing as high as 8 meters, all entombed in the solidified ash of the famous eruption of Thera. The site was not a palace-complex such as are found in [[Crete]], but its excellent masonry and fine wall-paintings show that this was no conglomeration of merchants' warehousing either. A loom-workshop suggests organized textile weaving for export.

The oldest signs of human settlement are Late Neolithic ([[4th millennium BC]] or earlier), but ''ca'' [[19th century BC|2000]]–[[1650s BC|1650 BC]] Akrotiri developed into one of the Aegean's major [[Bronze Age]] ports, with recovered objects that had come not just from [[Crete]] but also from Anatolia, [[Cyprus]], Syria and Egypt, from the Dodecanese and the Greek mainland.

Pipes with running water and [[water closet]]s found on Thera are the oldest such utilities discovered. The pipes run in twin systems, indicating that the Therans used both hot and cold water supplies. The hot water's origin was probably geothermic, given the volcano's proximity.

Fragmentary wall-paintings at Akrotiri lack the insistent mythological content familiar in both Greek and Christian decor. Instead, the Minoan frescoes
depict "Saffron-Gatherers", who offer their crocus-stamens to a seated lady, perhaps a goddess; in another house two antelopes, painted with a kind of confident, flowing decorative, calligraphic line; the famous fresco of a fisherman with his double strings of fish strung by their gills; the flotilla of pleasure boats, accompanied by leaping dolphins, where ladies take their ease in the shade of light canopies.

== Ancient volcanic eruption ==
The devastating volcanic eruption of Thira has become the most famous single event in the Aegean before the fall of Troy. The eruption would have caused a significant climate upset for the eastern [[Mediterranean]] region. It was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions on Earth in the last few thousand years.

=== Physical effects of the eruption ===

The violent eruption was centred on a small island just north of the existing island of [[Nea Kameni]] in the centre of the caldera. The caldera itself was formed several hundred thousand years ago by collapse of the centre of a circular island caused by the emptying of the magma chamber during an eruption. It has been filled several times by [[ignimbrite]] since then and the process repeated, most recently 21,000 years ago. The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the volcano and then collapsed again during the Minoan eruption. Before the Minoan eruption, the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring with the only entrance between the tiny island of [[Aspronisi]] and [[Thera]]. The eruption destroyed the sections of the ring between Aspronisi and [[Therasia]], and between Therasia and Thera, creating two new channels.

On Santorini, there is a deposit of white tephra thrown from the eruption; it is up to 60 metres thick overlying the soil marking the ground level before the eruption. The layer is divided into three fairly distinct bands indicating different phases of the eruption.

A series of warning earthquakes must have been alarming enough and early enough before the eruption for all the residents to pack up and move out, as not a single body has been found at the Akrotiri site, and only one body has been found on [[Therasia]]. Differences in pottery styles between the beginning of the evacuation and the catastrophic eruption, and preserved gullies eroded in the ash layers indicate that the volcano may have given warning years in advance. It remains to be seen if further excavations will show bodies of people huddled along the coast, too late to get off in a boat to escape the volcano's fury, akin to the finds at Herculaneum, which was buried by the much smaller eruption of Mount Vesuvius in [[79 AD]].

In a classic Plinian eruption marked by columns of smoke and ash extending high into the stratosphere, the Minoan eruption created a plume 30-35 km in height, and magma coming into contact with the shallow marine embayment would have caused a violent phreatic eruption. The eruption also generated a 35 to 150 m high tsunami (estimates vary) that devastated the north coast of Crete, 70 km (45 mi) away. The impact of the tsunami pummelled coastal towns such as [[Amnisos]], where building walls have been knocked out of alignment. The tsunami would also certainly have eliminated every timber of the Minoan fleet along [[Crete]]'s northern shore. On the island of [[Anaphi]], 27 km to the east, ash layers 10 feet deep have been found, as well as pumice layers on slopes 250 meters above sea level. Elsewhere in the [[Mediterranean]] there are pumice deposits that could be caused by the Thera eruption [http://baheyeldin.com/science/pumice-on-mediterranean-coast.html]. Ash layers in cores drilled from the seabed and from lakes in [[Turkey]], though, show that the heaviest ashfall was towards the east and northeast of Santorini. (Ash found in [[Crete]] is now known to have been from a precursory phase of the eruption, some weeks or months before the main eruptive phases, and would have had little impact {{ref|Keenan}}.)

The volume of ejecta is estimated to have been much more than four times what was blown into the stratosphere by Krakatau in [[1883]], a better-recorded event. Every vestige of life is likely to have been eliminated or smothered in the ashfall, leaving an island that had essentially been sterilized, as was Krakatau.

===Dating the volcanic eruption===

The exact date of the Minoan eruption provides a fixed point for aligning the entire chronology of the 2nd millennium in the Aegean, because evidence of the eruption occurs throughout the region. Current opinion based on [[radiocarbon dating]] indicates that the eruption occurred between about [[1650 BC|1650]] and [[1600 BC]]. These dates, however, conflict with the usual date from archaeology, which is between about [[1500 BC]] and [[1450 BC]].

Some scholars believe the radiocarbon dates to be completely wrong. Some suggest re-scaling archaeological chronologies with the radiocarbon dates. Others look for a compromise between the archaeological and radiocarbon dates for best fits of both sets of data. Re-scaling archaeological chronologies is controversial, because revising the Aegean Bronze Age chronology could require, by association, revising the well-established [[conventional Egyptian chronology]]. The debate about the date continues.

It has long been hoped that information from Greenland ice cores would determine the date exactly. A large eruption, identified in ice cores and dated to
1644±20 BC years was suspected to be Santorini. Volcanic ash was retrieved from an ice core, and this was shown not to be from Santorini [http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2003/2003GC000608.shtml]; so the 1644 BC date is incorrect.

Tree ring data shows that a large event interfering with normal tree growth occurred in 1629-1628 BC, which may be the same event as the 1644 BC signal in the Greenland ice cores. However, no firm evidence links these two events and, while unlikely but plausible, the two signals could be separate events. At the present time no hard evidence linking or refuting the 1628 BC tree-ring date with Thera has been found.

While a [[VEI]]-4 or greater eruption can leave signals in tree rings and ice cores, the absence of such a signal does not mean the absence of an eruption. It is still hoped that Santorini ash might be found in another layer of the ice core, which would fix the date of the eruption.

=== Chinese records ===
Until 2003, the Minoan eruption of Thera was classified with Krakatau, given a VEI-6. Recent studies of ashfall have upgraded the intensity of the eruption to a VEI-7, rivaling that of [[1815]]'s [[Tambora]] eruption. The 1815 eruption was of such a large volume and kicked so much sulfur dioxide into the air that it caused 1816's [[Year Without a Summer]]. The impact of this colossal eruption on human civilizations at the time are not yet fully understood and still open to speculation. Some scientists correlate a volcanic winter from the Minoan eruption with Chinese records documenting the collapse of the Xia dynasty in China. Per the Bamboo Annals, the collapse of the dynasty and the rise of the Shang dynasty (independently approximated to [[1618 BC]]) was accompanied by "'yellow fog, a dim sun, then three suns, frost in July, famine, and the withering of all five cereals".

=== Egyptian records ===

Oddly, there seem to be no surviving Egyptian records of the eruption. Santorini ash deposits were at one time claimed to have been found in the Nile delta, but this is now known to be a misidentification {{ref|Guichard}}. Suggestions have also been made that the eruption of Thera and volcanic fallout inspired myths of the [[Titanomachy]] in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' and calamities of the [[Admonitions of Ipuwer]] of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

=== Association with Atlantis ===

Starting with [[Spyridon Marinatos]]' 1939 landmark paper, this cataclysm at Santorini and its possibility to have caused the fall of the [[Minoan Civilization]] is sometimes regarded as a likely source for [[Plato]]'s story of [[Atlantis]]. The cataclysm of Santorini was certainly the kind of event that could change human ideas of what the gods are capable of, if provoked.

==Greek, Byzantine and Ottoman Santorini==

Over the following centuries, first [[Phoenicians]], then [[Dorians]], came to control the island. Thera, the main Hellenic city of the island, on Mesa Vouno, 396 m above sea level was founded in the [[9th century BC]] by Dorian colonists whose leader was Theras, according to tradition, and continued to be inhabited until the early Byzantine period. According to [[Herodotus]] (4.149-165), following a drought of seven years, Thera sent out colonists who founded a number of cities in northern Africa, including [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]]. As with other Greek territories, Santorini then was ruled by the Romans, the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], and the Franks. The island came under Ottoman rule in [[1579]].
<br clear=all />

==Modern Santorini==

Santorini was annexed to [[Greece]] in [[1912]]. Major settlements in Santorini include [[Fira|Fira (Phira)]], Oia, Emporio, Kamari, Imerovigli, Pyrgos and [[Therasia]]. [[Akrotiri_(Santorini)|Akrotiri]] is a major archaeological site with ruins from the Minoan era. The island has no rivers and water is scarce. Until the early nineties locals used to fill water tanks from the rain that fell on their roofs and courts, from small springs as well as by importing it from other areas of Greece. Nowadays, there is a [[desalination]] plant that provides running, yet nonpotable, water to most houses. The primary industry of Santorini is tourism. The pumice quarries have been closed since 1986 in order to preserve the caldera of Santorini.

Santorini is home to a small but flourishing wine industry, based on the indigenous grape variety, [[Assyrtiko]]. Assyrtiko vines are extremely old, as they are resistant to phylloxera and have consequently not needed to be replaced during the great phylloxera epidemic of the early [[20th century]]. They are adopted to their native habitat by being planted far apart and their principal source of moisture is dew. They are trained in the shape of baskets, with the grapes hanging inside to protect them from the winds.

In [[1704]] an undersea volcano breached the sea surface forming the current centre of activity at Nea Kameni, and eruptions centred on it continue—three times in the twentieth century, the last being in [[1950]]. Santorini was also struck by a devastating earthquake in [[1956]]. At some time in the future, it will undoubtedly erupt violently again.

==References==

*Forsyth, Phyllis Y.: ''Thera in the Bronze Age'', Peter Lang Pub Inc, New York 1997. ISBN 0820448893
*Walter L. Friedrich, Alexander R. McBirney (Translator): ''Fire in the Sea: Natural History and the Legend of Atlantis'', Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom 1999. A historical account of the eruption and its effects from a geological point of view with many drawings, figures and pictures.
*Broad, William J. (2003), ''Scientists Revisit an Aegean Eruption Far Worse Than Krakatoa'', October 21, 2003, The New York Times
*{{note|Guichard}} Guichard F. et al. (1993), ''Tephra from the Minoan eruption of Santorini in sediments of the Black Sea'', Nature, v. 363, p. 610
*{{note|Keenan}} Keenan D.J. (2004), ''Volcanic ash retrieved from the GRIP ice core is not from Thera'', Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 4

==External links==

*[http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21121a/e211ua08.html Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Akrotiri of Thera]: fully illustrated capsule of the finds
*[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mino/hd_mino.htm Metropolitan Museum: Minoan Crete]
*[http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2003/2003GC000608.shtml "Volcanic ash retrieved from the GRIP ice core is not from Thera"], research paper showing that the volcanic ash from the second half of the 17th century BC retrieved from Greenlandic ice, previously thought to be from Santorini, must in fact be from some other volcano.
*Santorini Live Webcams: [http://www.santorini.net/index.php?id=130 Imerovigli], [http://www.santorin.deu.net/webcam/ Thira] and [http://www.chelidonia.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=69 Oia (North)]
*[http://www.vrsantorini.com Virtual Tour of Santorini with maps, images and 360 degree views produced in October 2005] Includes numerous up to date views of the Volcano and Caldera.
*[http://www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/ Greeka.com: Santorini]

[[Category:Islands of Greece]]
[[Category:Dorian colonies]]
[[Category:The Cyclades]]

@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 ==Modern Santorini==
-Santorini was annexed to [[Greece]] in [[1912]].  Major settlements in Santorini include [[Fira|Fira (Phira)]], Oia, Emporio, Kamari, Imerovigli, Pyrgos and [[Therasia]]. [[Akrotiri_(Santorini)|Akrotiri]] is a major archaeological site with ruins from the Minoan era. The island has no rivers and water is scarce. Until the early nineties locals used to fill water tanks from the rain that fell on their roofs and courts, from small springs as well as by importing it from other areas of Greece. Nowadays, there is a desalination plant that provides running, yet nonpotable,  water to most houses. The primary industry of Santorini is tourism. The pumice quarries have been closed since 1986 in order to preserve the caldera of Santorini.
+Santorini was annexed to [[Greece]] in [[1912]].  Major settlements in Santorini include [[Fira|Fira (Phira)]], [[Oia]], Emporio, Kamari, Imerovigli, Pyrgos and [[Therasia]]. [[Akrotiri_(Santorini)|Akrotiri]] is a major archaeological site with ruins from the Minoan era. The island has no rivers and water is scarce. Until the early nineties locals used to fill water tanks from the rain that fell on their roofs and courts, from small springs as well as by importing it from other areas of Greece. Nowadays, there is a desalination plant that provides running, yet nonpotable,  water to most houses. The primary industry of Santorini is tourism. The pumice quarries have been closed since 1986 in order to preserve the caldera of Santorini.
 Santorini is home to a small but flourishing wine industry, based on the indigenous grape variety, [[Assyrtiko]].  Assyrtiko vines are extremely old, as they are resistant to phylloxera and have consequently not needed to be replaced during the great phylloxera epidemic of the early [[20th century]].  They are adopted to their native habitat by being planted far apart and their principal source of moisture is dew.  They are trained in the shape of baskets, with the grapes hanging inside to protect them from the winds.
 In [[1704]] an undersea volcano breached the sea surface forming the current centre of activity at Nea Kameni, and eruptions centred on it continue&mdash;three times in the twentieth century, the last being in [[1950]]. Santorini was also struck by a devastating earthquake in [[1956]]. At some time in the future, it will undoubtedly erupt violently again.
 ==References==

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 == Ancient volcanic eruption ==
-The devastating volcanic eruption of Thira has become the most famous single event in the Aegean before the fall of Troy. The eruption would have caused a significant climate upset for the eastern [[Mediterranean]] region. It was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions on Earth in the last few thousand years.
+The devastating volcanic eruption of Thira has become the most famous single event in the Aegean before the fall of Troy. The eruption would have caused a significant climate upset for the eastern Mediterranean region. It was one of the biggest volcanic eruptions on Earth in the last few thousand years.
 === Physical effects of the eruption ===
-The violent eruption was centred on a small island just north of the existing island of [[Nea Kameni]] in the centre of the caldera.  The caldera itself was formed several hundred thousand years ago by collapse of the centre of a circular island caused by the emptying of the magma chamber during an eruption.  It has been filled several times by [[ignimbrite]] since then and the process repeated, most recently 21,000 years ago.  The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the volcano and then collapsed again during the Minoan eruption.  Before the Minoan eruption, the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring with the only entrance between the tiny island of [[Aspronisi]] and [[Thera]].  The eruption destroyed the sections of the ring between Aspronisi and [[Therasia]], and between Therasia and Thera, creating two new channels.
+The violent eruption was centred on a small island just north of the existing island of [[Nea Kameni]] in the centre of the caldera.  The caldera itself was formed several hundred thousand years ago by collapse of the centre of a circular island caused by the emptying of the magma chamber during an eruption.  It has been filled several times by ignimbrite since then and the process repeated, most recently 21,000 years ago.  The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the volcano and then collapsed again during the Minoan eruption.  Before the Minoan eruption, the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring with the only entrance between the tiny island of [[Aspronisi]] and [[Thera]].  The eruption destroyed the sections of the ring between Aspronisi and [[Therasia]], and between Therasia and Thera, creating two new channels.
 On Santorini, there is a deposit of white tephra thrown from the eruption; it is up to 60 metres thick overlying the soil marking the ground level before the eruption. The layer is divided into three fairly distinct bands indicating different phases of the eruption.
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 A series of warning earthquakes must have been alarming enough and early enough before the eruption for all the residents to pack up and move out, as not a single body has been found at the Akrotiri site, and only one body has been found on [[Therasia]].  Differences in pottery styles between the beginning of the evacuation and the catastrophic eruption, and preserved gullies eroded in the ash layers indicate that the volcano may have given warning years in advance.  It remains to be seen if further excavations will show bodies of people huddled along the coast, too late to get off in a boat to escape the volcano's fury, akin to the finds at Herculaneum, which was buried by the much smaller eruption of Mount Vesuvius in [[79 AD]].
-In a classic Plinian eruption marked by columns of smoke and ash extending high into the stratosphere, the Minoan eruption created a plume 30-35 km in height, and magma coming into contact with the shallow marine embayment would have caused a violent phreatic eruption.  The eruption also generated a 35 to 150 m high tsunami (estimates vary) that devastated the north coast of Crete, 70 km (45 mi) away.  The impact of the tsunami pummelled coastal towns such as [[Amnisos]], where building walls have been knocked out of alignment.  The tsunami would also certainly have eliminated every timber of the Minoan fleet along [[Crete]]'s northern shore. On the island of [[Anaphi]], 27 km to the east, ash layers 10 feet deep have been found, as well as pumice layers on slopes 250 meters above sea level.  Elsewhere in the [[Mediterranean]] there are pumice deposits that could be caused by the Thera eruption [http://baheyeldin.com/science/pumice-on-mediterranean-coast.html].  Ash layers in cores drilled from the seabed and from lakes in [[Turkey]], though, show that the heaviest ashfall was towards the east and northeast of Santorini.  (Ash found in [[Crete]] is now known to have been from a precursory phase of the eruption, some weeks or months before the main eruptive phases, and would have had little impact {{ref|Keenan}}.)
+In a classic Plinian eruption marked by columns of smoke and ash extending high into the stratosphere, the Minoan eruption created a plume 30-35 km in height, and magma coming into contact with the shallow marine embayment would have caused a violent phreatic eruption.  The eruption also generated a 35 to 150 m high tsunami (estimates vary) that devastated the north coast of Crete, 70 km (45 mi) away.  The impact of the tsunami pummelled coastal towns such as [[Amnisos]], where building walls have been knocked out of alignment.  The tsunami would also certainly have eliminated every timber of the Minoan fleet along [[Crete]]'s northern shore. On the island of [[Anaphi]], 27 km to the east, ash layers 10 feet deep have been found, as well as pumice layers on slopes 250 meters above sea level.  Elsewhere in the Mediterranean there are pumice deposits that could be caused by the Thera eruption [http://baheyeldin.com/science/pumice-on-mediterranean-coast.html].  Ash layers in cores drilled from the seabed and from lakes in Turkey, though, show that the heaviest ashfall was towards the east and northeast of Santorini.  (Ash found in [[Crete]] is now known to have been from a precursory phase of the eruption, some weeks or months before the main eruptive phases, and would have had little impact.
 The volume of ejecta is estimated to have been much more than four times what was blown into the stratosphere by Krakatau in [[1883]], a better-recorded event. Every vestige of life is likely to have been eliminated or smothered in the ashfall, leaving an island that had essentially been sterilized, as was Krakatau.
@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 === Chinese records ===
-Until 2003, the Minoan eruption of Thera was classified with Krakatau, given a VEI-6.  Recent studies of ashfall have upgraded the intensity of the eruption to a VEI-7, rivaling that of [[1815]]'s [[Tambora]] eruption.  The 1815 eruption was of such a large volume and kicked so much sulfur dioxide into the air that it caused 1816's [[Year Without a Summer]].  The impact of this colossal eruption on human civilizations at the time are not yet fully understood and still open to speculation.  Some scientists correlate a volcanic winter from the Minoan eruption with Chinese records documenting the collapse of the Xia dynasty in China.  Per the Bamboo Annals, the collapse of the dynasty and the rise of the Shang dynasty (independently approximated to [[1618 BC]]) was accompanied by "'yellow fog, a dim sun, then three suns, frost in July, famine, and the withering of all five cereals".
+Until 2003, the Minoan eruption of Thera was classified with Krakatau, given a VEI-6.  Recent studies of ashfall have upgraded the intensity of the eruption to a VEI-7, rivaling that of [[1815]]'s [[Tambora]] eruption.  The 1815 eruption was of such a large volume and kicked so much sulfur dioxide into the air that it caused 1816's Year Without a Summer.  The impact of this colossal eruption on human civilizations at the time are not yet fully understood and still open to speculation.  Some scientists correlate a volcanic winter from the Minoan eruption with Chinese records documenting the collapse of the Xia dynasty in China.  Per the Bamboo Annals, the collapse of the dynasty and the rise of the Shang dynasty (independently approximated to [[1618 BC]]) was accompanied by "'yellow fog, a dim sun, then three suns, frost in July, famine, and the withering of all five cereals".
 === Egyptian records ===
@@ Line 64: / Line 64: @@
-Over the following centuries, first [[Phoenicians]], then [[Dorians]], came to control the island. Thera, the main Hellenic city of the island, on Mesa Vouno, 396 m above sea level was founded in the [[9th century BC]] by Dorian colonists whose leader was Theras, according to tradition, and continued to be inhabited until the early Byzantine period. According to [[Herodotus]] (4.149-165), following a drought of seven years, Thera sent out colonists who founded a number of cities in northern Africa, including [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]]. As with other Greek territories, Santorini then was ruled by the Romans, the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], and the Franks. The island came under Ottoman rule in [[1579]].
+Over the following centuries, first Phoenicians, then [[Dorians]], came to control the island. Thera, the main Hellenic city of the island, on Mesa Vouno, 396 m above sea level was founded in the [[9th century BC]] by Dorian colonists whose leader was Theras, according to tradition, and continued to be inhabited until the early Byzantine period. According to [[Herodotus]] (4.149-165), following a drought of seven years, Thera sent out colonists who founded a number of cities in northern Africa, including Cyrene. As with other Greek territories, Santorini then was ruled by the Romans, the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], and the Franks. The island came under Ottoman rule in [[1579]].
 <br clear=all />
 ==Modern Santorini==
-Santorini was annexed to [[Greece]] in [[1912]].  Major settlements in Santorini include [[Fira|Fira (Phira)]], Oia, Emporio, Kamari, Imerovigli, Pyrgos and [[Therasia]]. [[Akrotiri_(Santorini)|Akrotiri]] is a major archaeological site with ruins from the Minoan era. The island has no rivers and water is scarce. Until the early nineties locals used to fill water tanks from the rain that fell on their roofs and courts, from small springs as well as by importing it from other areas of Greece. Nowadays, there is a [[desalination]] plant that provides running, yet nonpotable,  water to most houses. The primary industry of Santorini is tourism. The pumice quarries have been closed since 1986 in order to preserve the caldera of Santorini.
+Santorini was annexed to [[Greece]] in [[1912]].  Major settlements in Santorini include [[Fira|Fira (Phira)]], Oia, Emporio, Kamari, Imerovigli, Pyrgos and [[Therasia]]. [[Akrotiri_(Santorini)|Akrotiri]] is a major archaeological site with ruins from the Minoan era. The island has no rivers and water is scarce. Until the early nineties locals used to fill water tanks from the rain that fell on their roofs and courts, from small springs as well as by importing it from other areas of Greece. Nowadays, there is a desalination plant that provides running, yet nonpotable,  water to most houses. The primary industry of Santorini is tourism. The pumice quarries have been closed since 1986 in order to preserve the caldera of Santorini.
 Santorini is home to a small but flourishing wine industry, based on the indigenous grape variety, [[Assyrtiko]].  Assyrtiko vines are extremely old, as they are resistant to phylloxera and have consequently not needed to be replaced during the great phylloxera epidemic of the early [[20th century]].  They are adopted to their native habitat by being planted far apart and their principal source of moisture is dew.  They are trained in the shape of baskets, with the grapes hanging inside to protect them from the winds.

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 *Walter L. Friedrich, Alexander R. McBirney (Translator): ''Fire in the Sea: Natural History and the Legend of Atlantis'', Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom 1999. A historical account of the eruption and its effects from a geological point of view with many drawings, figures and pictures.
 *Broad, William J. (2003), ''Scientists Revisit an Aegean Eruption Far Worse Than Krakatoa'', October 21, 2003, The New York Times
-*{{note|Guichard}} Guichard F. et al. (1993), ''Tephra from the Minoan eruption of Santorini in sediments of the Black Sea'', Nature, v. 363, p. 610
+*Guichard F. et al. (1993), ''Tephra from the Minoan eruption of Santorini in sediments of the Black Sea'', Nature, v. 363, p. 610
-*{{note|Keenan}} Keenan D.J. (2004), ''Volcanic ash retrieved from the GRIP ice core is not from Thera'', Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 4
+*Keenan D.J. (2004), ''Volcanic ash retrieved from the GRIP ice core is not from Thera'', Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, v. 4
 ==External links==

@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 === Egyptian records ===
-Oddly, there seem to be no surviving Egyptian records of the eruption. Santorini ash deposits were at one time claimed to have been found in the Nile delta, but this is now known to be a misidentification {{ref|Guichard}}<!--other citations: Liritzis et al. [Geoarchaeology, 1996], Eastwood et al. [Global and Planetary Change, 1999]-->.  Suggestions have also been made that the eruption of Thera and volcanic fallout inspired myths of the [[Titanomachy]] in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' and calamities of the [[Admonitions of Ipuwer]] of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.
+Oddly, there seem to be no surviving Egyptian records of the eruption. Santorini ash deposits were at one time claimed to have been found in the Nile delta, but this is now known to be a misidentification.
 === Association with Atlantis ===

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
-The exact date of the Minoan eruption provides a fixed point for aligning the entire chronology of the 2nd millennium in the Aegean, because evidence of the eruption occurs throughout the region. Current opinion based on [[radiocarbon dating]] indicates that the eruption occurred between about [[1650 BC|1650]] and [[1600 BC]]. These dates, however, conflict with the usual date from archaeology, which is between about [[1500 BC]] and [[1450 BC]].
+The exact date of the Minoan eruption provides a fixed point for aligning the entire chronology of the 2nd millennium in the Aegean, because evidence of the eruption occurs throughout the region. Current opinion based on radiocarbon dating indicates that the eruption occurred between about [[1650 BC|1650]] and [[1600 BC]]. These dates, however, conflict with the usual date from archaeology, which is between about [[1500 BC]] and [[1450 BC]].
-Some scholars believe the radiocarbon dates to be completely wrong.  Some suggest re-scaling archaeological chronologies with the radiocarbon dates.  Others look for a compromise between the archaeological and radiocarbon dates for best fits of both sets of data. Re-scaling archaeological chronologies is controversial, because revising the Aegean Bronze Age chronology could require, by association, revising the well-established [[conventional Egyptian chronology]].  The debate about the date continues.
+Some scholars believe the radiocarbon dates to be completely wrong.  Some suggest re-scaling archaeological chronologies with the radiocarbon dates.  Others look for a compromise between the archaeological and radiocarbon dates for best fits of both sets of data. Re-scaling archaeological chronologies is controversial, because revising the Aegean Bronze Age chronology could require, by association, revising the well-established conventional Egyptian chronology.  The debate about the date continues.
 It has long been hoped that information from Greenland ice cores would determine the date exactly. A large eruption, identified in ice cores and dated to
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 Tree ring data shows that a large event interfering with normal tree growth occurred in 1629-1628 BC, which may be the same event as the 1644 BC signal in the Greenland ice cores.  However, no firm evidence links these two events and, while unlikely but plausible, the two signals could be separate events.  At the present time no hard evidence linking or refuting the 1628 BC tree-ring date with Thera has been found.
-While a [[VEI]]-4 or greater eruption can leave signals in tree rings and ice cores, the absence of such a signal does not mean the absence of an eruption.  It is still hoped that Santorini ash might be found in another layer of the ice core, which would fix the date of the eruption.
+While a VEI-4 or greater eruption can leave signals in tree rings and ice cores, the absence of such a signal does not mean the absence of an eruption.  It is still hoped that Santorini ash might be found in another layer of the ice core, which would fix the date of the eruption.
 === Chinese records ===

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 =="Minoan" Akrotiri==
-[[Image:Linear_A_vase.jpg|thumb|left|Linear A etched on a vase found in Akrotiri]]
 Excavations starting in 1967 at the site called Akrotiri under the late Prof. [[Spyridon Marinatos]] have made Thera the best-known "[[Minoan Civilization|Minoan]]" site outside of [[Crete]], the homeland of the culture. The island was not called Thera at the time. Only the southern tip of a large town has been uncovered, yet it has revealed complexes of multi-level buildings, streets and squares, with remains of walls standing as high as 8 meters, all entombed in the solidified ash of the famous eruption of Thera. The site was not a palace-complex such as are found in [[Crete]], but its excellent masonry and fine wall-paintings show that this was no conglomeration of merchants' warehousing either. A loom-workshop suggests organized textile weaving for export.
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 The oldest signs of human settlement are Late Neolithic ([[4th millennium BC]] or earlier), but ''ca'' [[19th century BC|2000]]&ndash;[[1650s BC|1650 BC]] Akrotiri developed into one of the Aegean's major [[Bronze Age]] ports, with recovered objects that had come not just from [[Crete]] but also from Anatolia, [[Cyprus]], Syria and Egypt, from the Dodecanese and the Greek mainland.
-Pipes with running water and [[water closet]]s found on Thera are the oldest such utilities discovered.  The pipes run in twin systems, indicating that the Therans used both hot and cold water supplies.  The hot water's origin was probably geothermic, given the volcano's proximity.
+Pipes with running water and water closets found on Thera are the oldest such utilities discovered.  The pipes run in twin systems, indicating that the Therans used both hot and cold water supplies.  The hot water's origin was probably geothermic, given the volcano's proximity.
 Fragmentary wall-paintings at Akrotiri lack the insistent mythological content familiar in both Greek and Christian decor. Instead, the Minoan frescoes