Atlantis Discovered in Spain?

[Lord of Shadows]

Yahoo story:

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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_tsunami_atlantis

National Geographic Channel program listing:

NEXT PRIMETIME AIRING SUN MAR 13, 2011 8PM

Could the fabled lost city of Atlantis have been located? Using satellite photography, ground-penetrating radar and underwater technology, experts are now surveying marshlands in Spain to look for proof of the ancient city.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/finding-atlantis-4982/Overview

[Trazoi]

Call me sceptical, but I'm still sticking with the "Atlantians are the made-up bad guys to fight the Athenians in Plato's ancient sci-fi fiction" theory of Atlantis. :smallamused:

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I'm with Trazoi here. He made up an evil empire to make a point.

[Flame of Anor]

No, no, Atlantis is definitely Santorini.

[Serpentine]

I still prefer my Plato-heard-about-Minos-from-Egypt-but-got-the-numbers-wrong theory.
I dunno, that article doesn't give enough information to work out what they found. "Memorial cities"? The Hell are those?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I still prefer my Plato-heard-about-Minos-from-Egypt-but-got-the-numbers-wrong theory.
I dunno, that article doesn't give enough information to work out what they found. "Memorial cities"? The Hell are those?

I think they mean cities with the same layout, the same architecture and stuff. Which is, of course, silly. All that means is the culture had more than one city. I mean, we don't go around calling the various cities in the Indus Valley "memorial cities" just cause they all have the same layout!

[Pika...]

Hey, Atlantis is currently in another galaxy surrounded by aliens called Wraiths. Like, duh.

[Flame of Anor]

I still prefer my Plato-heard-about-Minos-from-Egypt-but-got-the-numbers-wrong theory.
I dunno, that article doesn't give enough information to work out what they found. "Memorial cities"? The Hell are those?

The got-the-numbers-wrong theory actually points to Santorini. :smallwink:

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I would say he was INSPIRED by the fall of the Minoans, but the idea of actually believing in Atlantis, per se, and all that implies, is still wrong, it was the equivalent of saying "in a galaxy far far away", to make a story to prove a point.

[grimbold]

Call me sceptical, but I'm still sticking with the "Atlantians are the made-up bad guys to fight the Athenians in Plato's ancient sci-fi fiction" theory of Atlantis. :smallamused:

this seems correct
however finding a lost city is always cool

[Mewtarthio]

I sort of get the impression that archaeologists just call anything "Atlantis" that may have had some sort of water-related catastrophe in the past so they can get extra publicity. I'll believe it once Prince Namor rams a trident through my chest.

[Eldan]

The got-the-numbers-wrong theory actually points to Santorini. :smallwink:

Which is where the Minoans were, as far as I know.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Which is where the Minoans were, as far as I know.

Well, close by. Santorini had a Minoan colony on it, and was close enough to the mainland that it would have certainly affected them. The Minoan civilization was based off of Crete, though.

However, the Minoan civilization collapsed 90 years after the eruption. It might have hurt them, and there was a huge tsunami, but I doubt it completely wiped them out.

[Serpentine]

As the theory I read put it, from the point of view of the Egyptians there would have been a big explosion with smoke etc., and then this big, advanced civilisation pretty much just disappeared. They might have kept on chugging along (but 90 years? That's pretty miniscule in the scheme of things. It may as well have wiped them out), but, from my understanding, it hurt them enough that they disappeared from the Egyptian perspective.

[Lady Moreta]

I think they mean cities with the same layout, the same architecture and stuff. Which is, of course, silly. All that means is the culture had more than one city. I mean, we don't go around calling the various cities in the Indus Valley "memorial cities" just cause they all have the same layout!

Actually, I believe it's referring to cities that were specifically built to mimic Atlantis. They weren't just built that way because they shared a culture. Sort of the way we build memorials to certain events - instead of simply building a memorial to the city they came from, they turned their entire new-built city into the memorial. It would have gone far beyond simply having the same layout due to the same culture.

Without more information it's hard to tell, and I would doubt that it's really Atlantis either, but it's fun to speculate :smallbiggrin:

[Amiel]

Atlantis could be the first recorded example of a time-travelling city; the consensus seems to be that the city possessed "technologically advanced" buildings, which were well within the scope of science-fiction.

Adverse events and unforeseen circumstances could have caused catastrophe for Atlantis.

[Serpentine]

Could be.
Wasn't.

[Amiel]

A sense of humour was left undiscovered.

[Eldritch Knight]

No no no. They're looking in the wrong place.

It's over in the Pegasus Galaxy....

[grimbold]

No no no. They're looking in the wrong place.

It's over in the Pegasus Galaxy....

why the pegasus galaxy of all places?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

why the pegasus galaxy of all places?

Ponies?
Sorry, my first thought...


Actually, I believe it's referring to cities that were specifically built to mimic Atlantis. They weren't just built that way because they shared a culture. Sort of the way we build memorials to certain events - instead of simply building a memorial to the city they came from, they turned their entire new-built city into the memorial. It would have gone far beyond simply having the same layout due to the same culture.

Without more information it's hard to tell, and I would doubt that it's really Atlantis either, but it's fun to speculate :smallbiggrin:

Aye, but how would you tell the difference? How can you tell the difference between a city built to mimic the one city, and a city built that way cause ALL the cities were built that way? You can't. It's all conjecture.

[Eric Tolle]

*Sigh* Here we go again. Atlantis has been discovered everywhere except Ohio. Pretty good for something that Plato pulled out of his ass.

I'm pretty sure that we can use the Atlantis example to predict that in 2500 or so years there will be perfectly serious headlines saying "Has Oz been found in New Mexico?" or "Hogwarts may have been discovered in Sweden!". And then the article will go on to explain that Oz or Hogwarts were major city states with command of great power, back in the more mystical time of the 20th century, when people had psychic powers now long forgotten.

Kind of like Beatles 3000 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z2vU8M6CYI).

[Eldritch Knight]

why the pegasus galaxy of all places?

Stargate: Atlantis?


Of course now that I've explained the joke....

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Stargate: Atlantis?


Of course now that I've explained the joke....

I liked my pony idea better...

Though that also makes sense.

[Ravens_cry]

Well, even if it isn't Atlantis, even if Atlantis was, as Trazoi put it, just "Plato's ancient sci-fi fiction," it is still a pretty cool archaeological discovery in its own right.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Well, even if it isn't Atlantis, even if Atlantis was, as Trazoi put it, just "Plato's ancient sci-fi fiction," it is still a pretty cool archaeological discovery in its own right.

Ravens Cry is right. All the "Atlantis" hype is overshadowing the fact that a (previously unknown?) ancient civilization, with large cities, was discovered! The potential for new study is mindblowing.

[Eric Tolle]

Ravens Cry is right. All the "Atlantis" hype is overshadowing the fact that a (previously unknown?) ancient civilization, with large cities, was discovered! The potential for new study is mindblowing.

I think that's one reason why I really hate people leaping onto the Atlantis bandwagon whenever there's an ancient discovery. There's enough massively cool things to discover without the preconceived notions that Atlantis brings to the picture.

[faceroll]

I think they mean cities with the same layout, the same architecture and stuff. Which is, of course, silly. All that means is the culture had more than one city. I mean, we don't go around calling the various cities in the Indus Valley "memorial cities" just cause they all have the same layout!

Are you familiar with the Terracotta Army in China? It's kind of a memorial army/city. Kinda freaky.

[Lord of Shadows]

Are you familiar with the Terracotta Army in China? It's kind of a memorial army/city. Kinda freaky.

Yes! From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army): The figures vary in height, according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.

They guard the tomb of Huang-ti, the Yellow emperor, which is supposedly also guarded by evil, or a curse, or something.

We'll have to see if the discovery in Spain comes anywhere near close to that one.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Are you familiar with the Terracotta Army in China? It's kind of a memorial army/city. Kinda freaky.

Aye, it's very intimidating, when you think of it. Then again, I rather think that's part of the point.

But again, that's not a LIVING place, those are tomb goods. Not the same as whatever 'memorial cities' I assume they're talking about in the article.

[Serpentine]

Are you familiar with the Terracotta Army in China? It's kind of a memorial army/city. Kinda freaky.Uh... nnno, I'm quite certain that's not at all what it was intended for :smallconfused: In fact, it's my understanding that it was there simply as an army and a guard for the dead emperor. It's "memorial" nothing - it was explicitly hidden, and anyone who knew about it executed, specifically so that it wouldn't be remembered.

Now that's something I'm very interested in seeing, though. You see, in the ancient accounts of the death of the emperor (Qin?), it was reported that his tomb was guarded by a huge army. It was assumed that this was just a myth or an exaggeration, but they dig about and, lo and behold, there's a huge friggin' army, in terracotta. Now, these accounts also said that the emperor was buried in a huge tomb protected by booby traps and containing, among other wonders, the entire universe (as known by the builders), with oceans of mercury. Behind the Terracotta Army is a great pyramid-mound... with elevated levels of mercury in the soil.
I can't wait 'til they open it up.

[AslanCross]

Now that's something I'm very interested in seeing, though. You see, in the ancient accounts of the death of the emperor (Qin?), it was reported that his tomb was guarded by a huge army. It was assumed that this was just a myth or an exaggeration, but they dig about and, lo and behold, there's a huge friggin' army, in terracotta. Now, these accounts also said that the emperor was buried in a huge tomb protected by booby traps and containing, among other wonders, the entire universe (as known by the builders), with oceans of mercury. Behind the Terracotta Army is a great pyramid-mound... with elevated levels of mercury in the soil.
I can't wait 'til they open it up.

Same here. Isn't it going to be very difficult to do so, though? I vaguely remember hearing that the ground is not stable enough for them to delve deeper without potentially damaging whatever is under the mound. That would be so awesome, though---wasn't it a bronze map of the known universe? (with the aforementioned mercury oceans).

[Serpentine]

Last I heard, the Chinese government was concerned that current technology might not be able to properly preserve any finds (not incompatible with yours). If true it's pretty responsible, but it kinda just sounds like an excuse.