Minoan civilization Minoan civilization The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands which flourished from c. 2700 to c. 1450 BCE, before a late period of decline, finally ending around 1100 BC. It preceded and was absorbed by the Mycenaean civilization of ancient Greece. The civilization was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. The name "Minoan" derives from the mythical King Minos and was coined by Evans, who identified the site at Knossos with the labyrinth and the Minotaur. The Minoan
Minoan eruption volcano, which erupted and then collapsed in an ongoing cyclical process. Immediately before the Minoan eruption, the walls of the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring of islands with the only entrance between Thera and the tiny island of Aspronisi. This cataclysmic eruption was centered on a small island just north of the existing island of Nea Kameni in the centre of the then-existing caldera. The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the volcanic ash and lava, then collapsed again. Research by a team of international scientists in 2006 revealed that the Santorini event was much larger than