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The Island Settlement Of Akrotiri Was Way Ahead Of Its Time (Until Said Island Exploded)
Around 2,000 BC, the city of Akrotiri -- built upon an island now known as Santorini, in the southern Aegean Sea -- was a bustling sea port. Akrotiri was essentially awash with iPhones in an era when the landline was king: They had multi-story dwellings, their interiors covered in elaborate frescoes, paved roads, advanced metalworking, indoor running water, and flush-toilets. We'd suspect that the natives of Akrotiri were time travelers, if not for the fact that they built their highly advanced settlement right beneath the most destructive volcano the world has seen in the last 10,000 years.
F. Eveleens/Wiki Commons
"Yeah, but multi-story beach front property, eh?"
In 17th-century BC, a magnitude 7 earthquake reduced the town to rubble, then smacked the ruins with a few 30-foot tidal waves for good measure. There's archaeological evidence that the survivors had begun cleaning up and rebuilding... when the island's volcano, Thera, erupted.
Rolfsteinar/Wiki Commons
"Okay, third strike, assholes." -- God
The eruption was four to five times more powerful than Krakatoa, releasing hundreds of atomic bombs' worth of energy in less than one second. When the dust finally settled, it perfectly preserved the ruins of the city for modern-day archaeologists to gawk at.
Vancouvermike/Wiki Commons
"--And here we have a citizen who was clearly caught mid-jack."
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