Ancient pests: the season of the Santorini Minoan volcanic eruption and a date from insect chitin

Eva Panagiotakopulu, Thomas Higham, Anaya Sarpaki, Paul C. Buckland, Christos Doumas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Attributing a season and a date to the volcanic eruption of Santorini in the Aegean has become possible by using preserved remains of the bean weevil, Bruchus rufipes, pests of pulses, from the storage jars of the West House, in the Bronze Age settlement at Akrotiri. We have applied an improved pre-treatment methodology for dating the charred insects, and this provides a date of 1744-1538 BC. This date is within the range of others obtained from pulses from the same context and confirms the utility of chitin as a dating material. Based on the nature of the insect material and the life cycle of the species involved, we argue for a summer eruption, which took place after harvest, shortly after this material was transported into the West House storeroom.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)683-689
Number of pages7
JournalThe Science of Nature
Volume100
Issue number7
Early online date22 Jun 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2013

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Minoan eruption
  • Radiocarbon dating
  • Insect pests
  • Coleoptera

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