In ancient times the island of Thera was known as Thera. Archeological remains found on Thera beneath the pumice deposit from the Bronze-Age Minoan eruption show that there was a wide-spread and highly developed culture on the island: the Minoans. The Minoans were a powerful culture that ruled the island of Crete and neighboring islands for about two thousand years, or until about 1500 BC. The name derives from the mythic king Minos, the ruler of the Minoan palace of Knossos in Crete. The Minoans were dominantly mercantile people and skilled sailors, whose ships ranged far and wide across the Mediterranean. They were deeply involved in the important trade and shipping of tin that characterized the Bronze Age. This metal was alloyed with copper that was mined mainly on Cyprus and the product is the alloy bronze. The Minoans used a script for writing known as Linear A, and it has not yet been deciphered.
		The most famous archeological site on Thera is the ancient Minoan town of Akrotiri, which covered about 20 hectares. Akrotiri was buried by volcanic ash and pumice during the Bronze Age eruption and thus in many respects it resembles the city of Pompeii, which was buried by pumice and ash from Vesuvius in Italy in 79 AD. Akrotiri was first discovered in 1866 but major excavations began in 1967. The houses in Akrotiri are major structures and some of them are three stories high. Streets and squares and walls standing as high as 8 meters indicate that this was a major town. In many houses the stone staircases are still intact, and they contain huge ceramic storage jars (pithoi), mills, and pottery. The most famous archaeological remains found in Akrotiri are wall paintings or frescoes, which have kept their original color very well, as they were preserved under many meters of volcanic ash. The town had a highly developed drainage system and its citizens were clearly very sophisticated and relatively wealthy people, judging from the fine art work. The city had been abandoned just before the devastating eruption, and no skeletons or other human remains have been found. It is clear that the inhabitants were aware of the danger from the volcano, and had evacuated. It is likely that intense earthquakes made the island unihabitable and forced evacuation before the eruption.