Timewatch – The Wave That Destroyed Atlantis Ep 3/6 Friday 20 April 9.00-9.50pm BBC TWO www.bbc.co.uk/timewatch This archaeological detective story reveals, for the first time, how the Minoans – Europe's first great civilisation – were destroyed by a massive natural disaster. Could this be the origin of Plato's story about Atlantis, the fabled city that disappeared beneath the sea? The Wave That Destroyed Atlantis uncovers the true origins of the people who lived on Crete 3,500 years ago – the people who created the fabulous Minotaur and Labyrinth myth. The Minoans produced spectacular sculptures and frescoes; the first written language in Europe; and built great temples and palaces. A team of archaeologists, led by Dr Sandy McGillivray, search among the ruins of their civilisation for evidence of what destroyed them. The team finds jumbled layers of material containing Minoan pottery, building material, gravel and marine organisms. They call in renowned tsunami expert, Costas Synolakis, to help them explain the marine deposits, some of which are more than a kilometre inland and 20m above sea level. Could these layers have been caused by a giant tsunami? And, if there was a tsunami, what caused this giant wave? The disaster seems to date from the same time as an eruption on the island of Santorini, 70 miles away across the Aegean Sea. The archaeologists discover a cattle bone in the middle of the chaotic layers. Can the team finally confirm the cause of the disaster that ultimately led to the fall of the Minoans? Crete Property Information, Elounda.