What do you get when you cross the ruins of Pompeii and the archaeological dig in Xi’an? … No, it’s not the set up for a joke, it’s the way I felt deep in my gut when I toured the “dig” in Akrotiri. 
Oddly enough, I actually have been to both Pompeii and Xi’an. And in Akrotiri, another piece of an ancient puzzle seemed to fit neatly into place. The similarities are striking.
The Akrotiki excavation site is basically a huge pole building (as is Xi’an). There are several levels to the excavation, and not a lot of “security” to keep tourists out. Not that there should be. It just surprised me that we could get so “up close and personal” inside this area.
Our guide spoke fabulous English, and was gorgeous enough to be a fashion model. No kidding. She certainly knew her stuff and was able to give us many insights into what and how this place originally thrived.
I’m always fascinated when I ponder the lives that must have lived in a place long ago… And I do mean LONG ago! This community was destroyed sometime close to 1600 BC! So I wonder what these people talked about, what their thoughts were, what hopes and goals they had, even what they had for breakfast!
I’m curious like that.
The theory that Plato got his inspiration for his story for Atlantis based on this place gave me goosebumps!
The current excavations on this Minoan Bronze age settlement began in 1967, and many of the actual artifacts are housed in a museum quite distant from where they were found. I give that concept a huge frownie face, although it probably does generate more “outside” interest that way.
Unlike in Pompeii, there haven’t been any “human” or “skeletal” remains found, so the theory is that there was an orderly evacuation before the area was covered in ash. I like to think so. I like to think the inhabitants had plenty of warning and packed up and moved to a safer place and lived happily ever after.