Origins and Application of Geometry in the Thera Prehistoric Civilization Ca. 1650 BC

Abstract

The present paper offers strong evidence that there was a particularly advanced, for the era, sense and application of geometry in the prehistoric civilization of the island of Thera (Santorini), Greece, ca. 1650 BC. First, by applying an original method, it is demonstrated that specific shapes, depicted on so far unpublished wall paintings initially decorating the third floor of Xeste 3, correspond to advanced geometric configurations with remarkable accuracy. Thus, it is shown that there are configurations corresponding to linear spiral prototypes, others matching elliptical prototypes and sets of points lying on isogonal lines that are radii of regular polygons with 48, 32, and 24 angles. Subsequently, it is shown that the use of geometric archetypes for drawing played a prominent role in the Late Bronze Age Thera civilization. In fact, it is demonstrated that celebrated wall paintings have border lines that impressively match a limited number of linear (Archimedes') spirals, hyperbolas, and ellipses in a piecewise manner. This practically excludes the probability that these wall paintings were drawn by freehand, while, on the contrary, it strongly suggests that they were mainly drawn by means of geometric stencils.