Although there are no clear ancient records of the eruption, its plume may have been described in the Egyptian Tempest Stele, and the ensuing volcanic winter coincides with a cold wave mentioned in the Chinese Bamboo Annals. Since its tephra serves as a marker horizon in nearly all archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean, the precise date of the Minoan eruption is of high importance and has been fiercely debated among archaeologists and geologists for decades, without coming to a definite conclusion.