Minoan (Atlantis?!) Civilisation

 Could this be the answer everyone is looking for? Could this be the lost civilisation of Atlantis?!

Figure 1: Theorised idea of what the city of Atlantis looked like if it did exist.
Source: https://nz.pinterest.com/poonchunyau/concept-art/

I really doubt it but the idea is nice. Here is some of the evidence so you can make up your own mind:

- Words of Plato;

" Our records show how your city checked a great power which arrogantly advanced from its base in the Atlantic Ocean to attack the cities of Europe and Asia. For in those days, the Atlantic was navigable." - Pluton

This evidence, according to (Archaeology et al) fits with the findings and evidence of the Minoan culture being the long-lost Atlantis. This also makes somewhat sense as there were artifacts of weaponry found around the excavation sites but no fortitude was found therefore the Minoans did not have any defence. This could mean they travelled away to conquer such as Plato suggests? 

- The extravagant palaces of the Minoan culture give evidence that they had wealth and power like the proposed Atlantians. 

(Archaeology et al)

But who really knows the truth eh? Let's get back to the geology! 

History Lesson!

Figure 2: Google Earth Image of Minoan Civilisation in relation to everywhere else.
Made by Abbey Douglas

What's left of the Minoan culture can be found on the biggest island in Greece, Crete. It is roughly 250 km from East to West and can be seen in figure 2. This civilisation started to settle around the 2000BC and rapidly grew in size. This included around 4 different villages that have been found, each with their own grand palace. The order of the villages as they descend in size is Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Zakros (Cartwright, 2009). The archaeologist who excavated the first village, Knossos, names the civilisation Minoan after the legendary King Minos (Ancient-Greece, 2002). The Minoan culture lasted till around the 1400 BC, with its demise still largely debated. Their demise is so widely speculated as it happened when they were at peak power. This collapse is often thought to have been brought on by the eruption of the Santorini Volcano, Thera. They were also the first civilisation in Europe to use a written language and it has only been recently deciphered in the last few years (Archaeology et al, 14/10/16). 

Their main source of trading was through timber exports. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a mass deforestation on the island to the point where the island looks to be completely deforested (Ancient-Greece, 2002). This is shown below in figure 3. It is also thought that the deforestation could have been caused by invasions (Dilos Holiday World, 1995). This had lead to increased soil erosion which can be observed in the valley beds (Soils,viewed:15/10/2016). 

Figure 3: Deforestation on the island of Crete caused by early Minoans.
http://www.dilos.com/region/crete/countryside_of_crete.html

 Geology of the Area

The Minoans created their civilisation on an island in the center of the Mediterranean (Ancient-Greece, 2002). The formation of the Crete island was first majorly influenced by the impact of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. This not only formed the Himalayans as I've discussed in a previous post, but it also started a chain reaction which ultimately caused the formation of Dinarotauric Arrow (My Crete Guide, 2009). This mountainous arrow is a range that runs along the Haemus and crosses through Greek territory. At this time, about 50 Mya, Crete was submerged at the center of this arc (My Crete Guide, 2009).   Around 20 Mya, all the plates around this area decided to change things up a bit. The African Plate started colliding with the Asian Plate and 15 Mya later the Arab and Asia continent merged together,  trapping the Tethys Sea between the three continents and forming the Mediterranean (My Crete Guide, 2009). While this was all happening, Crete along with the rest of the islands popped up into the sun to form the modern coastline of Greece. During this journey, Crete split away from minor Asia to form the mountainous island we know today. The islands around Greece are mostly volcanic with an average composition of andesitic rocks, which make up the Aegean Volcanic Arc. This was formed due to the subduction of the African Plate under the Aegean area (Milos Travel, 1999). 

Hydrology of Minoan Culture

The modern climate on the island of Crete shows around 500mm of rainfall per year. Scientists are struggling with the paleoclimate of the Minoans time but they believe there was a cycle of long cold humid periods followed by warm and dry ones (Angelakis et al, 2006). In the same paper Angelakis et all (2006) states; "The Minoan hydrologists and engineers were aware of some of the basic principles of what we call today principles and practices of water sciences with emphasis on the construction and operation of aqueducts. The description of several of the Minoan aqueducts could justify that Minoans could be considered as pioneers in those technologies." Which is interesting because only the Romans are well known for their aqueducts. The Minoans aqueducts were used for water supply in the palaces and for the wider populous in the cities. The water was transported in these aqueducts through closed or open terracotta pipes (Angelakis et al, 2006). They also had to be well engineered due to the mountainous environment. The Minoans also used wells throughout their cities, which were mainly used for baths. The water collected via various methods, aqueducts cisterns and wells that connected to springs (shown in figure 4), were used for water supply, sewerage systems, irrigation, and drainage systems. These had to be well built and designed for the growing population (Angelakis and Koutsoyiannis, 2003).

Figure 4: Well fed by a spring located near one of the palaces in Zakros (Angelakis and Koutsoyiannis, 2003).

 Demise of the Minoan Culture 

There are two possible events that went down that lead to the downfall of the Minoans. The first one is the Thera eruption on Santorini Island. The eruption of the Santorini volcano and the demise of the Minoan culture almost coincide around 3,500 years ago (Archaeology et al, 14/10/16). In 1939, this theory was suggested as Thera caused havoc throughout a large portion of the world so why not the Minoans which were geographically right next to it? This theory suggests that earthquakes destroyed the palaces, tsunamis took out the fleet plus the Minoans, and volcanic ash covered the entire island ruining crops and suffocating animals (Ancient-Greece, 2002). This agrees with further research done by Hendrik Bruins who found some soil samples. These showed sea microorganisms such as; foraminifera, tiny marine organisms and coralline algae which are usually found only in marine environments. This was then found in the same area as stone, pottery and volcanic ash (Archaeology et al, 14/10/16).
One of the few problems with this theory is that studies of the Greenland ice sheet have found Thera ash deposits that have dated back to 1645 BC, which was 150 years before the demise of the Minoans (Ancient-Greece, 2002). This evidence which was collated in 1987, really has blown the roof off this theory, all puns intended.
In saying this, the eruption 150 years before the demise of the Minoan could have affected them greatly. Coupled with the effects of climate change, this could have finished them off. 
The other theory widely suggested and accepted is that after the eruption, the Minoans were invaded by the Mycenaeans which were essentially their cousins. That's a bit of a bitter betrayal if you ask me. The Mycenaeans originated on mainland Greece and were greatly influenced by the culture across the water (recall the beautiful google maps figure). The issue with this is that if the Minoans were greatly affected by the volcanic eruption how did the Mycenaeans escape the effects to then have the ability and resources to invade? (Ancient-Greece, 2002).
Therefore, there is still much speculation as to why  and how the Minoans came to their end but let's be fair, they had a pretty good reign for 1600 years. 
  

References

Ancient-Greece.org, 2002, History of Minoan Crete, viewed: 15/10/2106, http://ancient-greece.org/history/minoan.html

Angelakis, A.N, Koutsoyiannis, D., 2003, 'Urban Water Engineering and Management in Ancient
Greece', Encyclopedia of water science, DOI: 10.1081/E-EWS 120010076, pg 999-1007. 

Angelakis, A.N, Savvakis, Y.M, Charalampakis, G., 2006, 'Minoan Aqueducts: A Pioneering Technology', International Symposium on Water and Wastewater Technologies in Ancient Civilizations, pg 423-430.

Archaeology, Mythology and History of Crete, Destruction of the Minoan Civilization, viewed: 14/10/2016, http://www.explorecrete.com/archaeology/minoan-civilization-destruction.html

Cartwright, M., (Ancient History Encyclopedia), Minoan Civilization, 2009, viewed: 15/10/2016, http://www.ancient.eu/Minoan_Civilization/

Dilos Holiday World, 1995, Countryside of Crete, viewed: 15/10/2016 http://www.dilos.com/region/crete/countryside_of_crete.html 

Milos Travel.com, 1999, Milos island geology, viewed: 15/10/2016, http://www.milostravel.com/geology.asp

My Crete Guide, 2009, Cretes Geology: How was It Formed?, viewed: 15/10/2016, http://www.cretanbeaches.com/en/facts/geology-of-crete

Pintrest, Concept Art, 15/10/2016, https://nz.pinterest.com/poonchunyau/concept-art/

Soils, viewed:15/10/2016, http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/02/crete/en/naturalenvironment/soils.html

Bibliography and Recommended Readings

http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/02/crete/en/naturalenvironment/soils.html
-This website goes on to talk about the soil types in Crete and other areas around Greece.
http://www.a-angelakis.gr/files/books/2002Encycl2WatResTechAncGreEntry1.pdf
http://www.a-angelakis.gr/files/4%20FR9.pdf