Minoan eruption of the radiocarbon-indicated date of the eruption, there is evidence for a significant climatic event in the Northern Hemisphere like failure of crops in China (see below) and evidence from tree rings, cited above: bristlecone pines of California; bog oaks of Ireland, England, and Germany; and other trees in Sweden. The tree rings date the event to 1628 (±65 years) BCE. The eruption devastated the nearby Minoan settlement at Akrotiri on Santorini, which was entombed in a layer of pumice. It is believed that the eruption also severely affected the Minoan population on Crete, but the extent of the impact
Minoan civilization of as solid fortifications to assess the archaeological evidence properly. As in so many other instances, we may not have been looking for evidence in the right places, and therefore we may not end with a correct assessment of the Minoans and their ability to avoid war." Chester Starr said in "Minoan Flower Lovers" (Hagg-Marinatos, eds. "Minoan Thalassocracy") that since Shang China and the Maya had unfortified centers and engaged in frontier struggles, a lack of fortifications alone does not prove that the Minoans were a peaceful civilization unparalleled in history. In 1998, when Minoan archaeologists met in a Belgian