Fossil Insects Tweak Date of Deadly "Atlantis" Eruption

National Geographic ^ | August 22, 2013 | Ker Than

[SunkenCiv]

A new study of insect pests found in an ancient storage jar on the Greek island of Santorini suggests the major volcanic eruption that took place there around 1600 B.C. -- and which may have inspired the legend of Atlantis -- happened in early summer.

The "Atlantis" eruption was one of the most significant volcanic eruptions in human history. The blast is credited for not only ending the Minoan civilization, but also for affecting ancient Egypt and other communities around the eastern Mediterranean, explained Eva Panagiotakopulu, a palaeoecologist and fossil-insect expert at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Based on previous evidence, scientists had concluded that the eruption happened sometime between 1627 to 1600 B.C. But there has been one important and unresolved question about the event: What season did it take place in?

In a new study, published in a recent issue of the journal Naturwissenschaften, Panagiotakopulu and her team now say that based on insect remains found in a jar containing seeds of sweet peas discovered at the Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri, they think the eruption occurred sometime between June to early July.

It was only during these months, the scientists say, that the insect, a species of bean weevil, would have had an opportunity to infest the crops and end up in the storage area.

"There is a short window from early to mid summer just after threshing which could justify the assemblage [of insects] recovered," Panagiotakopulu explained in an email.

[blam]

Sundaland

[grania]

God uses his own tools to "work his mysterious ways

I've always thought that natural occurances that led to mystical events were evidence of a greater being at work.

[Bigg Red]

For these tests, I hope they chose the lesser of two weevils.

&&&
The question bugs me.

[colorado tanker]

"Even when, during the respective Thera Conferences, individual scientists had pointed out that the magnitude and significance of the Thera eruption must be estimated as less than previously thought, the conferences acted to strengthen the original hypothesis. The individual experts believed that the arguments advanced by their colleagues were sound, and that the facts of a natural catastrophe were not in doubt... All three factors reflect a fantasy world rather than cool detachment, which is why it so difficult to refute the theory with rational arguments." -- pp 49-50.

Sounds like global warming conferences.

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

[SunkenCiv]

It was in the Atlantic, just where Plato said it was, and whatever you do, *don’t listen to blam*. ;’) ;’)

[mj81]

It might take a while to get through it all, but Atlantis in ‘the right place’ is explained here:
http://www.threeimpacts-twoevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/COMET-IMPACT-ANALYSIS-AND-EFFECTS-20Aug2013.pdf

Enjoy!

[SunkenCiv]

Read about it in Gavin Menzies' book on Minoan 'Atlantis', but this snip comes from a skepticultist blogger:

In 1982, J. R. Steffan reported that he had found a single specimen of Lasioderma serricorne (commonly called the tobacco beetle) in the mummy of Ramses II. More turned up in Egypt (one was found in Tut's tomb), and in 2000 Eva Panagiotakopulu reported a specimen found on Santorini.