Thera, or Santorini (its medieval name), is a cluster of islets in the southern Aegean that once formed part of a single irregularly shaped volcanic island. When the volcano erupted in the midsecond millennium BC, the center collapsed into the sea, leaving only the broken rim above water — the islands we see today (Figure 7.9). Volcanic activity since the Bronze Age has produced a new island in the center of the caldera, and from this fumes continue to spew forth.
In 1967, spectacular results from the new excavations at Akrotiri on the southern end of the main island of Thera focused attention on the Bronze Age explosion and its effect throughout the Aegean region. Spyridon Marinatos, the Greek excavator of Akrotiri, had long believed that the explosion of Thera caused or triggered the widespread destructions at the end of the New Palace period on Minoan Crete, ca. 1450 BC. This theory seemed to receive confirmation at Akrotiri: an entire town buried in volcanic pumice and ash. But the pottery found at Akrotiri is contemporary with an earlier phase on Crete, LM lA, and so the date of the explosion has now often been placed ca. 1520 BC. This date is, however, highly controversial. Arguments based on scientific evidence, such as ice-cores from Greenland and growth patterns in tree rings from Ireland, and on new interpretations of correlations of archaeological materials between the Aegean and the Levant and Egypt, have led some to champion an even earlier date, ca. 1628 BC. At least
It is now clear that whatever its effects on Crete, the eruption had no direct influence on the end of the New Palace period.
Only a small portion of Akrotiri had been uncovered by 1974 when the accidental death of Marinatos brought the excavations to a halt. Nevertheless, one gets a good impression of the ancient town. Houses are preserved up to the third story. Sometimes they stand alone, but often they are grouped in clusters. Doorways, windows, stairs, sewage drains, and the walls of mud brick and irregular stones with wooden branches and beams added for reinforcement can be seen. Streets are not straight and even, but turn, widen, and narrow with irregularity. Sometimes small squares are formed (Figure 7.10). The architecture resembles that of Minoan Crete, but differs in detail, both in form and in construction techniques. The Therans liked pier-and-door partitions, for example, but rarely used light wells. The north facade of one building, Xeste 4, shows an interesting technique of stone masonry, one not seen on Crete: its ashlar courses get progressively smaller from top to bottom.
Although Akrotiri has been called a Bronze Age Pompeii, after the Roman town buried in the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius (see Chapter 21), it differs from Pompeii in one important respect. The inhabitants of Akrotiri were aware of impending disaster, perhaps through earth tremors or fumes, and so escaped, taking their precious belongings with them. Objects left in the houses included pottery and cooking equipment, as well as furniture such as beds, and stone tools and vases, but virtually no metal or other truly valuable luxury items. The many wall paintings, however, they could not remove. These frescoes were in general well preserved, indeed far better than any other from the Bronze Age Aegean, although they often survived only as plaster fragments heaped at the bases of the walls. Restoring and reassembling the pieces has been a painstaking task.
The most important of the paintings is a long strip 40cm high that shows a group of elegant boats making their way between two towns (Figure 7.11). This miniature wall painting comes from Room 5 on the upper floor of the West House, where it was part of a larger program of wall decorations showing people in five towns and a variety of landscapes. The precise subject is much debated: which towns, and which occasion? Lyvia Morgan, in a comprehensive analysis of the painting, favors a nautical procession, a festival celebrating the resumption of the navigation season in late spring, from a minor Theran town to the important center of Akrotiri itself.
Figure 7.11 Ship Fresco (detail); South wall, West House; Akrotiri, Thera
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