This display contains important finds from the settlement of Akrotiri in Thera, which was destroyed by the sixteenth-century BC volcanic eruption there. Akrotiri was one of the largest centres of the prehistoric Aegean, under the Minoan influence, as indicated mainly through the decorative motives of pottery, the art of frescoes and the adoption of Linear A script.

This display highlights Akrotiri's relations with Minoan Crete, which was at the peak of its floruit during this period, and mainland Greece, at the time of Mycenae's royal graves (sixteenth century). Room 48, on the museum's first floor, contains several impressive wall-paintings from Akrotiri's houses, as well as vessels, tools and weapons of the period.