Changes

===Pottery dating of the Thera event===

===Pottery dating of the Thera event===

The fleeing residents left behind not only the jars containing grain, but also various other ceramic artifacts that archaeologists routinely use in assigning a date to the various strata in their excavations. The general pottery style found at Thera was the type called Late Minoan IA (LMIA), with distinctive spirals and floral motifs. This type of pottery was traded widely across the Mediterranean and in the Near Eastern countries. There were no examples of a successor style called Late Minoan IB (LMIB), which had motifs of octopi, dolphins, and other sea creatures. Therefore archaeologists were confident in dating the Theran pottery to some time around 1500 BC, the transition point between LMIA and LMIB. Further, one style of pottery found at Thera is found in Egypt but not in any context earlier than the 16th century BC, i.e. over 100 years later than the 1660-1600 bracket for the Thera eruption calculated by radiocarbon analysis.<ref>Ibid.,  p. 509.</ref> Archaeologists therefore date the Thera eruption at roughly 1500 BC or slightly later. The eminent Egyptologist Manfred Bietak maintains that the radiocarbon dates differ from what can be accepted archaeologically by 120 to 150 years.<ref>Ibid., p. 509.</ref> Other archaeologists agree. ""There are no current grounds for thinking that the Egyptian historical chronology could be out by more than a few years," says archaeologist Peter Warren of the University of Bristol, U.K. "This chronology has been constructed by hundreds of expert Egyptologists over many decades.""<ref>Ibid., p. 509.</ref>

The fleeing residents left behind not only the jars containing grain, but also various other ceramic artifacts that archaeologists routinely use in assigning a date to the various strata in their excavations. The general pottery style found at Thera was the type called Late Minoan IA (LMIA), with distinctive spirals and floral motifs. This type of pottery was traded widely across the Mediterranean and in the Near Eastern countries. There were no examples of a successor style called Late Minoan IB (LMIB), which had motifs of octopi, dolphins, and other sea creatures. Therefore, archaeologists were confident in dating the Theran pottery to some time around 1500 BC, the transition point between LMIA and LMIB. Further, one style of pottery found at Thera is found in Egypt but not in any context earlier than the 16th century BC, i.e. over 100 years later than the 1660-1600 bracket for the Thera eruption calculated by radiocarbon analysis.<ref>Ibid.,  p. 509.</ref> Archaeologists therefore date the Thera eruption at roughly 1500 BC or slightly later. The eminent Egyptologist Manfred Bietak maintains that the radiocarbon dates differ from what can be accepted archaeologically by 120 to 150 years.<ref>Ibid., p. 509.</ref> Other archaeologists agree. ""There are no current grounds for thinking that the Egyptian historical chronology could be out by more than a few years," says archaeologist Peter Warren of the University of Bristol, U.K. "This chronology has been constructed by hundreds of expert Egyptologists over many decades.""<ref>Ibid., p. 509.</ref>

===Residue from the eruption at other locales===

===Residue from the eruption at other locales===