The ancient Minoans, regarded as one of the world's earliest advanced civilisations, may have been taken over rather than wiped out.

Archaeologists say evidence is building to prove wrong a long-held belief that the people were wiped out by a natural disaster around 3,500 years ago.

Instead, ancient tablets discovered on Crete, where the Minoans lived, suggest people from the Greek mainland may have taken over.

These writings have been studied for decades and prove there was still life in Minoan settlements for years after they were thought to have died out.

Scientists now believe that another population took over the Minoan people after they had been brought to their knees by the tsunami or earthquake thought to have killed them all.

However, the translation in 1952 of unusual script — dubbed Linear B — on Minoan-era tablets helped overturned the end-by-tsunami theory. Pictured, one of the Linear B tablets which was discovered by Arthur Evans, the archaeologist who first unearthed Knossos

The ancient Minoans of Crete may not have been wiped out by a natural disaster, but instead were subsumed by foreign cultural influences, an archaeologist has said. Pictured, the ruins of the palace of Knossos, on Crete, as seen in the present-day

Experts once thought that the eruption of a volcano named Thera, on what is now the holiday island of Santorini, in around 1642–1540 BC had destroyed the Minoans.

This eruption has been rivalled in modern times only by the colossal explosion of Krakatoa in 1883.

It was thought to have triggered a tsunami that travelled south to Crete, destroying the Minoan port at the Bronze Age city of Knossos.

Evidence of destruction dating to around the time of the eruption has been found in various settlements on Crete — and was originally connected to the Thera disaster.

However, the translation of unusual script on a set of tablets — the language was dubbed Linear B — on Minoan-era tablets helped overturn the end-by-tsunami theory.

It took decades, but Linear B was identified as a form of ancient Greek.

This gave evidence that the Mycenaean civilisation from the mainland had heavily changed, but continued, the Minoan culture.

'Thera’s eruption did not directly affect Knossos,' archaeologist Colin Macdonald of the British School in Athens — who has been excavating Minoan-era remains on Crete, pictured, for 30 years — told Haaretz

The debris previously thought to have come from a natural disaster may actualy have been from battle between the Minoans and the Mycenaeans.

The Minoan civilisation — given this name retrospectively in a nod to their legendary King Minos, of Minotaur fame — was notable for its elaborate architecture.

Among these buildings was the stunning multi-level palace at Knossos, the heart of the Minoan's sea-based empire.

However, it appears that Knossos persisted as an ancient settlement for some time after the eruption of Thera.

'Thera’s eruption did not directly affect Knossos,' archaeologist Colin Macdonald of the British School in Athens — who has been excavating Minoan-era remains on Crete for 30 years — told Haaretz.

'No volcanic-induced earthquake or tsunami struck the palace which, in any case, is 100 meters above sea level.'

Instead, researchers believe that the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations gradually merged, with the latter culture becoming dominant — leading to the shift in the language and writing system used in the ancient city.

According to Macdonald, it is possible that the eruption weakened the Minoan hold on the region — likely thanks to the loss of the port on Thera which had aligned itself with the authorities at Knossos.

This may have allowed the Mycenaeans to establish their own trading hubs to fill the void — like the large settlement at Phylakopi, on the island of Milos — and set their flavour of the Greek language as the common tongue of the Aegean economy.

The debris previously identified as coming from a natural disaster was likely instead the result of Minoan resistance to the influence of the Mycenaeans. Pictured, the ruins at Knossos

The Minoan civilisation — given this name retrospectively in a nod to their legendary King Minos, of Minotaur fame — was notable for its elaborate architecture. Pictured, the reception courtyard at the royal palace of Knossos

In addition, Macdonald notes, the regional practice of stonemasons leaving their marks on their work disappeared from the buildings at Knossos at this time — and burial practices also appear to have changed.

The Mycenaeans may even have captured the island of Crete for themselves.

Either way, as the Minoan administration changed under the foreign influence, Macdonald speculated, perhaps even the local religion collapsed in response.

'This could well have manifested itself in local uprisings and the burning of administrative and elite buildings,' he added.