The city of Troy shows two famous destruction layers , Level 2 ( dated approximately 2200 BCE ) and Level 7 ( dated approximately 1200 BCE , and linked with the Trojan War ) . The destruction layers associated with Knossos in Crete was for a long time associated with the invasion of Archaeans led by Thesius , until it was proven by Michael Ventris that the Linear B syllabary was a form of early Greek language . The destruction of the cities of the Mycenaean Greece were for a long time associated with arrival of the Dorians , before closer excavation showed that these destructions were not contemporaneous , and in fact pre-dated the so-called " Dorian invasions " by a century or more . The volcanic explosion of Thera shows a destruction layer at the town of Akrotiri thought by some to have been the origins of the story of Atlantis . The cities of the Indus Valley Civilization , Mohenjo Daro and Harrappa show destruction layers associated with their subsequent abandonment , and for a long time this was attributed to Indo-Aryan invaders . The Hittite city of Hattusa and many sites of the Levant show a destruction layer at the end of the Bronze Age , as a part of the Bronze Age collapse , after which the sites were abandoned . Destruction layers form an important part of the study of Biblical archaeology
Thera
Minoan eruption
Destruction layer