The Thera eruption destroyed most of the island today known as Santorini.
Akrotiri, located on the eastern tip of the island, was destroyed as the archaeological excavations show at present..
Nevertheless, no human remains have been found wit the exception of a few skeletons.
The primary question is: What happened to the Akrotiri population of which no remains have been found?
I agree with George, they did not stay around to see what will be the end of the volcanic activity on their island. Also, no gold was ever found in the ruins suggesting they left with some possessions. Where did they go? Well, the first "Americans" landed in the Gulf of Mexico some short time later and became the first settlers, the Olmecs. Coincidence ? I think not! Only expert mariners like the Minoans could have crossed the Atlantic to get there.
Thank you all for the answers you provided.
I had a theory before I asked the question which I did not want to air before I got some respond waiting for some scholars who would be interested. Now that I got answers, I suggest the following:
1. Minoans fled the island in their boats--most of their various types of ships can be seen in mural frescoes found on Santorini.
2. They probably did not went too far from the island, but waited for what was going to happen next.
3. What they could not have foreseen was that their volcano exploded (pumice layers of 12 meters) as well as imploded creating an enormous tsunamis. Sea-born pumice was found at many sites including the Aegean islands, Egypt and Tel Qasile in Israel which was traced by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA),
4. As a result of an amount of ripples from this Tsunamis, the Minoan boats sunk with people and all goods they had with them.
5. I think that a survey of the sea-bottom all around Santorini--in our case especially East of Akrotiri-- might be able to give an answer to the fate of the Akrotirians and perhaps even to the fate that hit the Minoan civilization of the entire island.
Dear Ioannis, something went wrong with your message; please, fill in the rest. Thanks. Jan
The Bronze Age city of Akrotiri was located on the southern coast of the island of Thera/Santorini, not Crete. On Crete, there exists an unrelated peninsula called Akrotiri northeast of the town of Chania.
No human remains related to the Bronze Age Thera volcano eruption have been found at Akrotiri on Thera so far. The only human remains of a man that fell victim to this eruption have been found on the neighbouring island of Therasia (the western part of the Thera caldera rim) by French geologist Ferdinand André Fouqué in 1867, when he excavated Bronze Age architecture in the Alaphouzos quarry on the south coast of Therasia. The victim seems to have been killed when the roof of the building collapsed.
See: F. Fouqué. Santorin et ses éruptions. Masson, 1879.
or the English translation:
F. Fouqué. Santorini and its Eruptions. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1998. Translated and annotated by Alexander McBirney.
It is currently believed that no, or only few inhabitants of Thera survived this enormous catastrophe. It can be assumed that prior to the Minoan eruption the island of Thera had been rather densely populated. I do think that the mayor eruption happened quickly, and despite precursors in form of minor eruptions and earthquakes, not many people could escape (who would have anticipated such an event and whould have overgiven their home, goods and livelihood?). It is likely that there have not been sufficient boats for all inhabitants of the island to escape. It is believed that a larger number of victims could be found in the vicinity of the harbour of Akrotiri, which is assumed to be located south of the current archaeological excavation as well as between the nearby Mesavouno (immediately west of the excavation) and Kokkino vouno (Red Mountain).
If the so called “Arrival town” shown in the Flotilla Fresco from Akrotiri indeed is a depiction of the town of Akrotiri, then the harbour and boat houses should be located in these areas.
You can find more arguments in support of this hypothesis here:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314014691_Documenting_Bronze_Age_Akrotiri_on_Thera_using_laser_scanning_image-based_modelling_and_geophysical_prospection
In response to Michael’s answer, actually, a single gold object has been found just northwest of Xeste 3 building at Akrotiri, a golden Ibex that had been deposited in a wooden box, next to a stash of horns.
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