[blam]

"Santorini caldera formed quite gradually and that a tidal wave, if indeed there was one at all, would not have been on anything like the scale envisaged by Marinatos and other proponents of the link between the Theran volcano and the sudden decline of Neopalatial Crete." "

I just saw (two weeks ago) a new one hour long documentary on the Thera eruption and their data on the tsunamis that swept 'over' Crete and ended the Minoian(sp) civilization. They dated the tsunamis and the Thera eruption at 1645.

I think the 'jury' is still out.

[SunkenCiv]

Nah. ;')

I'm a staunch catastrophist, have been for as long as I've been aware of any difference, but have never bought the idea of the huge Thera eruption ending the Minoans. As an idea it has been around in some form since the 1930s I believe, and Carl Blegen (excavated Troy and Pylos I think) et al found evidence of widespread natural disaster that was basically simultaneous (regardless of the chronology used, if ya get my drift) in the eastern Mediterranean.

Even in the Iliad ongoing natural disaster can be seen here and there (rivers overflowing their banks, earthquakes, tsunamis), coinciding with the Trojan War. And Thucydides refers to many an earthquake, tsunami, whatnot during the Peloponesian War (sp?).

...more when I get home...

[bookmark for myself http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1181406/posts]