[blam]

"What does + or - mean? That they don't know if it was March or October?"

More like years. The cooling that would have affected the trees worldwide took some time after the initial event. (Frankly, I forgot the details and I have that book, Exodus To Arthur, that contains the details, loaned out)

[yarddog]

It has been many years since I was a classics major and I don't even recall us discussing the eruption but I think there was at one time a belief that mainland Greece, particularly Mycenae and Tiryns, simply became the dominant power in the Mediteraranean world.

This was what caused Minoan civilization to decline. I do know there was some similarities between Mycenaean writing and Cretan. I have long forgotten the nuances of Linear A, B etc.