Imagine if the chronology of early American history were off by 100 years, and it was really 1392 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Scholars have long argued over the possibility of a time discrepancy of similar magnitude for a crucial period in the Late Bronze Age of Greece and the Aegean world.
Scientists now report new radiocarbon evidence to support the contention that the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean began in the 17th century B.C., at least a century before the date previously assumed by many scholars. The radiocarbon samples showed that the age extended from about 1700 B.C. to 1400 B.C.
If correct, the earlier date would require a critical re-examination of cultural and trade relationships at the time between Minoan Crete, Mycenaean Greece and Cyprus, on the one hand, and the civilizations of Egypt and the rest of the Middle East.
This didn't get much attention in an earlier post, so it's being relinked. Initially, it didn't seem all that stupendous since, let's face it, for most of archaeology, 100 years is not a bad standard deviation for a C14 date. But pinpointing the Thera eruption is a big deal for numerous reasons outlined in the article. The fact that two separate analyses came up with the same narrow range really supports its case as well. Plus, since the ash from the eruption is now apparently well-dated, anytime you find the ash in a stratigraphic section you've got a good absolute date for that stratum.