Atlantis may have been found

[southsider2k5]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/...E72B2JR20110312

 

By Zach Howard

 

NORTHAMPTON, Mass | Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:36am EST

 

NORTHAMPTON, Mass (Reuters) - A U.S.-led research team may have finally located the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary metropolis believed swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago in mud flats in southern Spain.

 

"This is the power of tsunamis," head researcher Richard Freund told Reuters.

 

"It is just so hard to understand that it can wipe out 60 miles inland, and that's pretty much what we're talking about," said Freund, a University of Hartford, Connecticut, professor who lead an international team searching for the true site of Atlantis.

 

To solve the age-old mystery, the team used a satellite photo of a suspected submerged city to find the site just north of Cadiz, Spain. There, buried in the vast marshlands of the Dona Ana Park, they believe that they pinpointed the ancient, multi-ringed dominion known as Atlantis.

 

The team of archeologists and geologists in 2009 and 2010 used a combination of deep-ground radar, digital mapping, and underwater technology to survey the site.

 

Freund's discovery in central Spain of a strange series of "memorial cities," built in Atlantis' image by its refugees after the city's likely destruction by a tsunami, gave researchers added proof and confidence, he said.

 

Atlantis residents who did not perish in the tsunami fled inland and built new cities there, he added.

 

The team's findings will be unveiled on Sunday in "Finding Atlantis," a new National Geographic Channel special.

 

While it is hard to know with certainty that the site in Spain in Atlantis, Freund said the "twist" of finding the memorial cities makes him confident Atlantis was buried in the mud flats on Spain's southern coast.

 

"We found something that no one else has ever seen before, which gives it a layer of credibility, especially for archeology, that makes a lot more sense," Freund said.

 

Greek philosopher Plato wrote about Atlantis some 2,600 years ago, describing it as "an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Hercules," as the Straits of Gibraltar were known in antiquity. Using Plato's detailed account of Atlantis as a map, searches have focused on the Mediterranean and Atlantic as the best possible sites for the city.

 

Tsunamis in the region have been documented for centuries, Freund says. One of the largest was a reported 10-story tidal wave that slammed Lisbon in November, 1755.

 

Debate about whether Atlantis truly existed has lasted for thousands of years. Plato's "dialogues" from around 360 B.C. are the only known historical sources of information about the iconic city. Plato said the island he called Atlantis "in a single day and night... disappeared into the depths of the sea."

 

Experts plan further excavations are planned at the site where they believe Atlantis is located and at the mysterious "cities" in central Spain 150 miles away to more closely study geological formations and to date artifacts.

 

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)

[Y2HH]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/...E72B2JR20110312

 

IIRC, Plato made up Atlantis in his writings to examine/explain a hypothetical situation...

[iamshack]

IIRC, Plato made up Atlantis in his writings to examine/explain a hypothetical situation...

My guess is not everyone is a proponent of this theory...

[shipps]

To me it was one of the easier strip clubs to locate.

[iamshack]

To me it was one of the easier strip clubs to locate.

Shipps has been found!

[Goober]

IIRC, Plato made up Atlantis in his writings to examine/explain a hypothetical situation...

If you recall correctly? What, you were around back then and he told you so or something?

[Y2HH]

If you recall correctly? What, you were around back then and he told you so or something?

 

I don't even know what this is supposed to mean.

 

IIRC can apply to a lot of things, including reading information in a book, or even on the interwebs. Since when did this apply only to things that were told to you?

[southsider2k5]

Good lord is this Zombie day at Soxtalk? I see posters returning from the dead.

[Goober]

I don't even know what this is supposed to mean.

 

IIRC can apply to a lot of things, including reading information in a book, or even on the interwebs. Since when did this apply only to things that were told to you?

You stated it as if you were recalling a fact, which I found odd considering these scientists are saying something completely contradictory to that

[iamshack]

I don't even know what this is supposed to mean.

 

IIRC can apply to a lot of things, including reading information in a book, or even on the interwebs. Since when did this apply only to things that were told to you?

The way you phrased it made it seem as though if you did indeed recall it correctly, the issue had been definitively settled. That is clearly not the case here. What you apparently meant is that if you recall correctly, some scholars believe Plato used the story of Atlantis as an allegory of some type.

[shipps]

Shipps has been found!

 

I too, am one of the easier strippers to find.

[knightni]

Proof that Atlantis is easier to find than Shipps.

[Y2HH]

The way you phrased it made it seem as though if you did indeed recall it correctly, the issue had been definitively settled. That is clearly not the case here. What you apparently meant is that if you recall correctly, some scholars believe Plato used the story of Atlantis as an allegory of some type.

 

Yes, this is what I meant.

[HuskyCaucasian]

IIRC, Plato made up Atlantis in his writings to examine/explain a hypothetical situation...

I tend to agree with that. The fact that he just happens to be the ONLY person to tell that story is a little suspect.

[G&T]

I tend to agree with that. The fact that he just happens to be the ONLY person to tell that story is a little suspect.

 

You are making an assumption that he is the only one. His stories are just the ones that survived.

 

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

You are making an assumption that he is the only one. His stories are just the ones that survived.

that's a fair counter point.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I tend to agree with that. The fact that he just happens to be the ONLY person to tell that story is a little suspect.

 

But how many other historians from the time were around who we have works from? Obviously it would have been nice if Herodotus or Thucydides had mentioned something but all of the other classical historians who much is known from (Plutarch, Arrian, Strabo, Pliny the Elder) lived 500 or so years after Plato. Most information was passed on orally so it's not that surprising to not be mentioned elsewhere. Also, as someone else said, there's no way of knowing what kinds of writings have been lost over the years. Who knows, there could have been something lost when the library at Alexandria tragically was destroyed.

[HuskyCaucasian]

But how many other historians from the time were around who we have works from? Obviously it would have been nice if Herodotus or Thucydides had mentioned something but all of the other classical historians who much is known from (Plutarch, Arrian, Strabo, Pliny the Elder) lived 500 or so years after Plato. Most information was passed on orally so it's not that surprising to not be mentioned elsewhere. Also, as someone else said, there's no way of knowing what kinds of writings have been lost over the years. Who knows, there could have been something lost when the library at Alexandria tragically was destroyed.

If I could go back in the time, the first place I would go is Alexandria to stop the fire. then maybe go see the birth of Jesus.

[Y2HH]

If I could go back in the time, the first place I would go is Alexandria to stop the fire. then maybe go see the birth of Jesus.

 

You probably just destroyed the future in doing so. Good job.

[Y2HH]

But how many other historians from the time were around who we have works from? Obviously it would have been nice if Herodotus or Thucydides had mentioned something but all of the other classical historians who much is known from (Plutarch, Arrian, Strabo, Pliny the Elder) lived 500 or so years after Plato. Most information was passed on orally so it's not that surprising to not be mentioned elsewhere. Also, as someone else said, there's no way of knowing what kinds of writings have been lost over the years. Who knows, there could have been something lost when the library at Alexandria tragically was destroyed.

 

Speculation of what may have been doesn't matter, that's the problem.

 

My contention isn't that a "lost continent" cannot exist, or one (or more) didn't sink somewhere in the billions of years of Earths vast history...my point is, that it was not and is not the Atlantis Plato was talking about. The story of Atlantis, as told by Plato, is usually referred to as a parable and as such, is not really intended to be taken literally. I believe Plato was discussing what he would consider an "ideal state", and used the fictional Atlantis as the description of that ideal state. Atlantis has merely become the default name we were going to attach to the first "sunken continent" we found, despite the fact that there may be more of them and we just haven't found them yet.

[southsider2k5]

You are making an assumption that he is the only one. His stories are just the ones that survived.

 

It is ironic that you say that, because I just finished a book that reflects on stories just like that. It is called Lost to Time, and it is all about stories that history has forgotten to some extent.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Time-Unforgetta...1714&sr=1-1

[Milkman delivers]

It is ironic that you say that, because I just finished a book that reflects on stories just like that. It is called Lost to Time, and it is all about stories that history has forgotten to some extent.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Time-Unforgetta...1714&sr=1-1

 

I don't read many books, but that seems like something that'd be right up my alley. What did you think?

[Soxbadger]

Its possible that Atlantis both existed and was used as an allegory by Plato.

 

Some of Plato's account seems based in fact:

 

for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles,' there lay an island

 

While some is clearly hyperbole:

 

which was larger than Libya and Asia together

 

I think that given the new evidence it is likely what we consider "Atlantis" was a piece of land that was either connected to Spain or a small island in close proximity to Spain.

 

What we do know is that the Pillars of Hercules refers to the Strait of Gibraltar which would be in close proximity to the new finding. We are talking antiquity here so the historical record is going to be weak at best.

[southsider2k5]

I don't read many books, but that seems like something that'd be right up my alley. What did you think?

 

I really enjoyed it. I hadn't heard of any of the stories in there, which is pretty unusual for me.

[Quin]

You probably just destroyed the future in doing so. Good job.

 

Or made it more awesome.