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Much like UFOs and Bigfoot, there's little solid proof of the existence of Atlantis. We thought the truth might be out there, however, and Yahoo!'s Lost Continent of Atlantis category seemed look a good place to start our search. First, here's some background on Atlantis: Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias are sources of Atlantis lore. Plato describes the island as "situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Hercules" (also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, the western boundary of the Mediterranean Sea). He goes
on to say that Atlantis is larger than "Libya and Asia put together." As legend has it, the god Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman, and their offspring became the rulers of Atlantis. Over time, the island's advanced culture turned from peaceful to warlike, and the island sunk into the sea, possibly as a punishment. According to Plato, all of this happened around 9,000 BC. Several theories place Atlantis inside the Mediterranean Sea, contradicting Plato's placement beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. But theorists suggest that Plato's story predated Greek exploration of the whole of the Mediterranean. Plus, the archeological remains of lost civilizations seem to support a site in the Mediterranean. According to this evidence, possible sites include: - The islands of Crete and/or Santorini (also called Thera) in the Aegean Sea. A volcanic explosion caused more than half of Santorini to sink into the sea around 1,500 BC. The Minoan civilization on Crete and Santorini was advanced for its time, much like that of Atlantis.
- The island of Sardinia in the western Mediterranean Sea. Archeological remains indicate an advanced culture on Sardinia around 1,500 BC.
One popular theory places Atlantis in the middle of an inland sea in Bolivia. The geography of this area seems to match up with Plato's description of Atlantis.
But, it's more difficult to find evidence that Atlantean people traveled from South America to Egypt, where ancient Greeks like Plato could learn of them. Another theory, based on the topography of the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and information about climate changes, advances the notion that Atlantis was part of the ocean's Celtic Shelf, south of the British Isles. Due to much lower sea levels, this may have been a coastal area of Europe in the late Pleistocene Era. We're not suggesting that any of this constitutes proof of the existence of Atlantis, only that these theories seem more plausible than an extraterrestrial
explanation for the mysterious civilization.
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