Communicating Science (15w112)

For centuries, people have been chasing around the globe looking for the mythical city of Atlantis based upon Plato’s account in Timaeus and Critias about a destroyed utopian city with unmatched richness and technologies of its time. From Greece to Spain and from land to underwater, archaeologists scavenged through every possible locations on earth for traces of the ancient civilization, hoping for a miracle just like the recovery of the famous city of Troy. However, what exactly is the chance that such a city existed?

According to the documentary filmed by the National Geographic, of dozens of different interpretations of Plato’s work, the most widely accepted theory for Atlantis is that it is a port city relying on trade of metals that vanished overnight some 9,000 years prior of Plato’s days. It was believed that the city was destroyed after successive tsunamis hit the city and dragged a portion of its architectures down under the ocean leaving possibly some remnants that was eventually buried up by sedimentation.

Source: Abdul Elah on Flickr Commons

From recent years of archaeological investigations, one of the best candidates for the famous port city is probably the Doñana National Park in southern Spain. There are good number of reasons to why many, including Professor R. A. Freund, were led to think so.

First, the geographical description of Plato’s account must match the local geographic features. In his texts, Plato had described Atlantis as an island city surrounded by circular belts of sea and land, and located beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Although no islands are present in the Doñana National Park, it did match the ancient description with concentric rising and falling circles at the surface of the mudflat. As for the Pillars of Hercules, which is believed to be located in the Straits of Gibraltar, is near Spain.

“…circular belts of sea and land enclosing one another alternately, some greater, some smaller, two being of land and three of sea…” –Plato, Critias

Second, a number of artifacts had been discovered by a couple of research teams, one searching on-land and the other excavating undersea. These artifacts include small figurines that might possibly be linked to an ancient civilization on spot judging from the age of the artifacts. Off the coast of southern Spain, stones that strongly resemble man-made architectures were also found by underwater sonar. Other evidences also suggest mining of valuable minerals have been ongoing for thousand of years.

In addition, on Plato’s account, the city of Atlantis ended in a sudden, catastrophic event of earthquakes and flooding. Whether such an event ever happened, there must be evidence of ancient cataclysmic event to support the disappearance of Atlantis. As it turned out, geological markings on the coast have proven that a series of great tsunamis did actually hit the very location. The fact that tsunamis took place matched and explained Plato’s final account on the city of Atlantis.

Although the research teams are still far from verifying their hypotheses, it is amazing how supernatural stories that were once deemed ridiculous may have been true. After all, some past historians, being unreliable of their mad imaginations and lack of knowledge, can be reliable after all for their modest record of the events that may have actually happened. It is up to people, especially archaeologists, today to take these accounts seriously and not literally, and clarify them with modern scientific expertise.

YouTube video courtesy of: Documentary TV

Hui Esther Lo