The Aegean shore has uncovered the remains of a man and his dog trying to flee an ancient tsunami

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About 3,600 years ago, a massive eruption in the Pacific Ocean called the Thera triggered massive tsunamis.

Approximately 3,600 years ago, the Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea erupted, causing tremendous tsunamis that swept throughout the region. In western Turkey, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a young man and a dog killed by a tsunami that struck the area.

The northernmost evidence of the tsunamis that followed the ancient eruption and the first time fatalities have been uncovered in their archaeological environment.

In the hamlet of eşme, about 40 miles west of the city of Izmer, construction workers building an apartment complex discovered Bronze Age ruins more than a decade ago.

According to Vasf aholu, an archaeologist at the University of Ankara who directed the excavations from 2009 to 2019 and is the primary author of a new report on the discovery, researchers have only lately realized that tsunamis caused the destruction they saw from the Thera eruption.

It took a few years for aholu to admit to Live Science that "everything started to have some importance." "This will be a huge benefit to us. Everything will now be easier for us to understand."

About 1600 B.C., the Thera volcano erupted, creating the archipelago of Aegean islands known as Santorini.

According to NASA, scientists estimate the volcano's eruption had 2 million times the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history.

Crete's Minoan culture may have been decimated due to Akrotiri's destruction, which occurred 75 miles (120 kilometers) away. In Egypt, the volcano's plume may have been seen, triggering a global volcanic winter that extended to China.

eruptions of the past

Despite the massive destruction and the tens of thousands of deaths that must have occurred due to the eruption, only the remains of one person buried beneath the wreckage on Santorini and unearthed in the 19th century have ever been found according to aholu.

After the Thera eruption, there were at least four tsunamis that stretched throughout the Mediterranean, killing a significant number of people. He adds that archaeologists may have discovered other skeleton remains from the disaster, but they may have concluded the victims died from different reasons, such as earthquakes.

Often, evidence of a historic tsunami's devastation may only be proven by the presence of microscopic fossils of marine animals, archaeologist Beverly Goodman-Tchernov, a co-author of the study, tells LiveScience.com.

Only six Aegean locations have shown signs of the Thera tsunamis, with the farthest north being eşme, roughly 140 miles (220 kilometers) away.

According to her, finding the bones of the man and dog in 2017 means that the location at eşme might be used to document life throughout the eruptions.

The 17-year-old man was murdered by a tsunami wave and washed up against a wall in the Bronze Age village.

But there is no proof that the dog and its owner had been nearby when they were slain, according to Goodman-Tchernov.

Efforts to assist the injured

A pit was dug over the man's body, which may have been an attempt to save him or collect his body for a proper burial. She had seen similar pits dug elsewhere at the site, possibly after one of the first tsunami waves.

Goodman-Tchernov and his colleagues believe the' negative places' are those from which the injured survivors were rescued, or the dead were taken. It was completely wiped out by a second tsunami wave, which came crashing in.

DNA testing will be done on the remains, according to aholu, to discover more about the young guy and the dog.

As a result of the eşme discovery, scientists should revisit evidence from surrounding ancient sites, he added. He said that archaeologists would also look for other tsunami damage indicators.

With its beautiful shoreline, eşme is now a major tourist destination on the Aegean coast of Turkey. In the center of one of Turkey's most popular tourist spots, aholu stated, "it was incredibly tough to work."

Archaeologists have finished their work at eşme but are still waiting for permission to erect a museum on top of the site to preserve their findings.

Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Jan. 4 outlined the findings.

Reference : https://www.livescience.com/skeleton-man-dog-ancient-thera-eruption-tsunami

Image source : https://pixabay.com/id/photos/air-berselancar-alam-semprot-laut-3288126/

Human and canine remains discovered on the Aegean shore while attempting to flee an ancient tsunami

On the Aegean shore, remains of a man and a dog who were trying to escape an ancient tsunami have been discovered.

The remains of a man and his dog who attempted to flee an ancient tsunami were discovered on the Aegean shore.