The Minoan eruption of Santorini radiocarbon dated by an olive tree buried by the eruption

In 2006 we published a radiocarbon dating, 1613 bc, for the Minoan eruption on Santorini with an unparalleled precision of ±13 calendar years. 1 It was based on the unique find in the caldera wall of Santorini of a branch of an olive tree that had been buried and preserved in an upright, life, position by the pumice of the eruption.72 tree rings were identified by X-ray tomography, and the high precision was achieved by wiggle matching the 14 C results of the time series of four contiguous sections of tree rings to the radiocarbon calibration curve.Since the trees were growing at an altitude of 150 m above sea level and at a distance of more than 2.5 km from the active volcanic zone on Santorini, it is unlikely that the radiocarbon values published in 2006 could have been affected by old CO 2. Because of the clear association of the tree and its outermost growth ring with the geological/archaeological event of the eruption, the date represents the best combination of directness and precision in any attempt so far of a science based chronology of the Minoan eruption.While in broad agreement with other science dating attempts, there are some who claim that it is completely irreconcilable with the traditional archaeological dates of the late 16 th century bc, or later, based on cultural linkage (pottery typology) and Egyptian Chronology.To resolve the conflict, we need to take a careful look at the implicit and explicit underlying assumptions in the two methods.As we do not possess the expertise to evaluate the results of the archaeological approach, this paper will deal with the details of the find of the olive branch and its radiocarbon dating by wiggle matching as well as a balanced assessment of the possible sources of error.