No one can say for sure how the Minoan civilization ended – but a number of theories have emerged from evidence found at sites on Crete , from Thera and other places. in the world. I believe that a mixture of natural disasters, social and political upheaval, and ultimately invasions caused the collapse of the Minoan civilization. First, I believe that the Santorini eruption was more powerful than initially estimated, due to the presence of a shallow sea. inside the Theran crater, with the volcano located in the center of this sea. (This is the theory of Professor Steve Sparks of the University of Bristol) I also believe that the explosion occurred around 1600 BC , due to ORAU's research which radiocarbon dated 127 samples from excavations in the eastern Mediterranean to reestimate the previously accepted chronology of 1500 BC. . They found, with 95% accuracy, the date of the Theran explosion to be between 1613 and 1600 BC. These dates are further supported by the discovery of an olive branch found in the ashes of Santorini, which allowed a second team to construct another dating timeline, similarly suggesting somewhere between 1627 BC and 1600 BC. There is also evidence of reconstruction after the disaster of 1600 BC. This implies that the Thera Explosion occurred approximately 150 years before the so-called "end" of Minoan civilization. However, this chronological realignment does not mean that the Santorini eruption had nothing to do with the Minoan collapse. Obviously, the island of Thera, which the Minoans probably used as a trading center or stopover, was totally destroyed. This would have caused enormous problems for the Minoan trading empire. From modern examples and documents, we know that volcanic activity can trigger a chai...... middle of paper ...... society has left them very vulnerable to attack or takeover, which we know the Mycenaeans did. I believe the Mycenaeans took advantage of the Minoans' confusion to invade, burning most of the palaces and keeping Knossos as their main installation. We know that the Mycenaeans are a warlike people, so the concept of invasion is not off the table. Their invasion is proven by new pottery and the introduction of linear tablets B. culture.baltics/2006-05/msg00004.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/28/science/minoan-culture-survived -ancient-volcano-evidence-shows.html?pagewanted=1 (pretty old evidence) http://www.usenet.com/newsgroups/soc.history.ancient/msg02400.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk /history/ancient/greeks/minoan_02.shtml (the movie)