THERA - 2011

Santorini. E. Panagiotakopoulou (Edinburgh) reports on the use of insect remains to infer the date and season of the volcanic eruption, noting the unique preservation created by the tephra covering. Pithoi from Room 5 in the West House contained fava beans infested by the pea and bean weevil Bruchus rufipes. In collaboration with T. Higham (Oxford), an AMS date obtained from the chitin of the West House bruchids suggests a midpoint of 1607 BC (the range is 1744 to 1538BC). The ecology of these beetles enables reconstruction of the season of eruption. Bruchus lay their eggs into the bean pods in the field, whilst the pods are still green. This may take place in March, with adults starting to emerge towards the end of spring and beginning of summer. In contrast with other genera of bruchids, Bruchus do not reproduce during storage, but emergence may take place after harvest and storage. The finds from Akrotiri include adults which have emerged, and several ready to emerge from the seeds. The volcanic eruption must therefore have taken place later in the year and probably during the summer after the crop entered storage.