Wood as a structural element in the houses of Akrotiri on Thera, Greece. The anthracological evidence

The highly destructive eruption of the volcano of Santorini during the Late Cycladic I period as a fortunate consequence caused the buildings of the archaeological site of Akrotiri on Thera (Greece) to be remarkably well preserved. The present study deals with wood charcoal macroremains from the construction timbers of two buildings from this site, namely Xeste 3, a semi-public building and the House of the Ladies, a private building. The data suggest the extensive use of Olea europaea for the construction of the wooden floors of the upper storeys, the doors and the infrastructure of the walls. Other taxa systematically used for the beams of the floors of the upper storeys were Pinus tp. brutia/halepensis and Quercus tp. deciduous, while for the second vegetal layer covering the main beams in the multi-layered ceilings were also utilized Juniperus sp. and Quercus tp. evergreen. The jambs of the doors and the infrastructure of the walls were constructed with more or less the same taxa as the wooden floors. Overall, no differences were observed in the taxa used for the private and public buildings. The use of the economically valuable Olea, the scarcely present Pinus tp. brutia/halepensis, as well as of taxa with poor quality wood such as Tamarix sp. and Ficus carica might be the result of the emergency repair work done to the buildings after the earthquake that took place during the late Middle Cycladic/early Late Cycladic I period, 50 years before the eruption of the volcano.

Automated summary

The study analyzed wood charcoal macroremains from two buildings at the Akrotiri archaeological site in Thera, Greece, and found that a significant amount of Olea europaea was used in construction. Other tree species were also used for floors and walls in the buildings.