Museum of Prehistoric Thera (Greece)

[digit]

Currently on holiday out in Greece. Been seeing lots of antiquities, both in museums and (relatively) in situ in ruinsmagine . At the moment we are having breakfast under the windmill on the northern corner of the rim of the volcanic crater that makes up the Greek island of Santorini (Thera) in the town of Oia (pronounced ee-ya by the locals and those in the know and oy-ya by the masses of tourists who arrive by ferry, cruise ship or air).

 

Yesterday we drove down from Oia to Fira to visit both the Archaeological Museum of Thera as well as the Museum of Prehistoric Thera. Thera ("the circular one") is the original name for Santorini before being renamed by the Latin Empire for Saint Irene (Santa Irini). The museums are small (compared with the museums of Crete or Athens) but have many nice artifacts and lots of good information on the Cycladic and Minoan civilizations that preceded the more modern day Greek culture. Of local note is the fact that the volcanic cone that is Santorini erupted approximately 3600 years ago which destroyed the local settlements and reshaped the island significantly. It is hypothesized that the resulting tsunami may have reached the coast of Crete (to the south) and may have put an end to the Mnoan civilization there as well. This morning we are off to go visit the excavated remains of the village of Akrotiri on the opposite end of the largest crescent island that forms modern day Santorini to see where many of the artifacts we encountered in the museums were originally discovered.

 

Imagine my delight when among all of the pottery, stucco frescos, Bronze Age tools, and other items of use 37 centuries ago, I spotted some familiar looking items in a display case--fossils! These rare fossils were found in the caldera and are dated to 60,000 years BP. I've seen the ubiquitous olive trees with their distinctive gray-green foliage (currently sporting small undeveloped fruits) and I've certainly eaten my share of olives while on this trip (good thing I REALLY like Greek olives) but these are the first fossil olives I've encountered.

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

 

  

 

   

 

[*THEO*]

Interesting exhibits,thanks for sharing!

[Fossildude19]

Thanks for the report,  Ken.

First time I've seen olive tree leaves, as well.

[digit]

As I mentioned above the museum is not extensive and the fossil contribution is but a single display case so I don't expect anybody will be booking tickets to Santorini simply to see these unusual fossils. Come instead for the food, the wine, the sights--and, of course, the antiquities--which are almost modern in comparison to the objects we normally encounter on this forum. I have to kid my friend and, on this trip, travel guide, Paul, when he marvels at a Bronze Age cross-cut saw blade that is several thousand years old by noting that I have a mammoth tooth that is at least 13 millennia in age and megalosdon teeth at least 1.8 myo. Apples and oranges really when you are comparing human cultural artifacts versus animal fossils but it is fun to tweak him and watch him roll his eyes at my reply.

 

Enjoyed the tour of Akrotiri at the other end of the island today. Learned that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one that UNESCO apparently paid some hefty change to construct a ventilated earth roof over to protect the site for future generations. I have to do a bunch of fact checking on what I "learned" from my tour guide today as some of the amazing "facts" may be in the realm of "fake news". The archaeological site is impressive in scale and importance but, if my guide is to be taken as gospel, the site which was home to a population of approximately 10,000 was the world's first matriarchal society where women lived communally in large multi-story buildings and wore fine jewelry, clothing and furnishings while the male component of the society functioned as "worker bees" fishing, farming, constructing buildings and were naked as Spartans and slept out in the forest under the trees. This same guide, who was 6'5" tall and bore more than a passing resemblance to Mick Fleetwood (drummer for Fleetwood Mac) but with a well-waxed handlebar mustache, stated that the reason that the doorways were rather low in these ruins (and marked with red-and-white flagging tape at the few you could pass through) was that the ancient Minoans stood no more than 4 feet tall! I think I have to spend some time with Google to fact check today's information download.

 

A possible ulterior motive for this most brief of fossil displays in this section of the forum would be so that I could sneak in a few photos from Oia which don't neatly fit into the long-running Nature Photography topic in another sub-forum.

 

Oia is the oldest settlement on Santorini and sits at the northernmost tip of the main island that composes the remnants of the crater. We are staying in a picturesque "cave hotel" under one of the no longer functional (that is for their original intended purpose) windmills. At present I'm typing this sitting on my porch right where the red arrow indicates (and enjoying it greatly).

 

 

Here is what it looks like at night just post sunset with the lights providing a multi-hued glow. Also, the most famous three blue church domes that adorn many post cards and most posters for Greek tourism look pretty nice after hours as well.

 

   

   

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Uncle Siphuncle]

What a wonderful trip.  My wife and I need to go there.

[Fruitbat]

I had the opportunity to visit Thera (Santorini) way back in the late 1960's.  Even as a kid, I remember it being one of the most beautiful placed I had ever been!  Of course, we did manage to experience a few minor tremors at the time but I was used to those, having lived through a few much more impressive earthquakes when I lived in Turkey.

 

Thanks for the report and beautiful pictures!

 

-Joe

[ynot]

Nice place, thanks for sharing the adventure. The fossils are neat too.

[digit]

Funny how I can spend weeks viewing human antiquities but I'm always intrigued by seeing fossils. This time it is fossiliferous limestone in Olympia (Greece). We spent the day viewing the ruins in Olympia (where the ancient Olympic games were first held as a means of showing off both athletic prowess and military and political might--something that seems linked to the modern day rendition of the games). The site is also home to the ruins of a Temple of Zeus that was sacked in antiquity and then further leveled in a pair of earthquakes which scattered the remains like a bunch of building blocks after the temper tantrum of a toddler.

 

A great sculptor named Pheidias was said to have created an enormous statue of the Greek god Zeus that resided in the temple (before being carted off to places unknown and lost to history). The workshop where this artist worked with his associated craftsmen still stands (mostly) after some rehabilitation. It featured some intricately carved pillars and some interesting architecture but what caught my eye was the fossil-laden limestone of some of the blocks on the sides of this walk-through. Thought I'd add to the scant fossil sightings here in Greece with these images.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken