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First of all Plato said that Atlantis was of a size comparable to Libya and Asia combined.
The "Atlantic Island" i.e. America is easily comparible in size to Libya and Asia combined.
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Crete is a small island, about 180 miles in length, hardly comparable to Libya and Asia combined.
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Atlantis was located in the Atlantic ocean, opposite the Pillars of Hercules.
The "Atlantic Island" i.e. America is in the Atlantic Ocean, opposite
the Pillars of Hercules, now called the Strait of Gibralter.
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Crete is located in the eastern Mediterranean, nowehere near the Atlantic Ocean nor the Pillars of Hercules
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From the island of Atlantis, a route existed via various islands to the continent
beyond which "encompassed the true ocean"..
From Atlantis/South America, the route via various Pacific islands
leads to the continent of Asia which surrounds the true ocean
beginning in Asia in the East, and ending in Europe in the west..
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From Crete there is no route via islands to a continent encompassing "the true ocean".
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In the centre of the island, midway along the longest side and next to the sea there was
a plain enclosed by mountains.
The Altiplano or "high plain" in Bolivia is in the centre of the island,
midway along the longest side, next to the sea and enclosed by
mountains.
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Location of the plain put forward as the Atlantis site in Crete.
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The plain was rectangular in shape, "rectilinear for the most part and elongated" -"it was originally a long narrow rectangle"
The Altiplano next to Lake Poopo is rectangular in shape.
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if you read the contours you can see the plain on Crete is not a
naturally rectangular shape, neither is it well defined as "enclosed by
mountains".
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The plain measured 3,000 by 2,000 stades.
The Altiplano next to Lake Poopo is rectangular in shape and measures 3,000 by 2,000 "stades" of 330ft
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The plain on Crete is said to be the right size when divided by 10, but in actual fact
even when divided by 10, the plain would still be too large to fit on Crete.
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The plain
The smooth and level plain next to Lake Poopo is clearly defined as rectangular in shape by the enclosing mountains.
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Dividing Plato's dimensions by 20 might make a better fit for Crete, but even then the relief map shows
the plain on Crete is not smooth and level and hard to identify and define as enclosed by mountains.
The plain on Crete does not match the description of Plato.
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The plain had a smooth and level surface.
The level Altiplano has a smooth surface.
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The plain on Crete has an undulating surface.
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In the centre of the plain, next to the sea there was a mountain "low on all sides".
This mountain is located at the village of Pampa Aullagas which is in
the centre of the plain and next to the inland sea of Lake Poopo.
view of the mountain at Pampa Aullagas from the sea (Lake Poopo), the part
"low on all sides" is the low plateau surrounding the volcanic cone and which contains the concentric rings.
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The mountain "low on all sides" is the site of the Atlantis city which
was located on a level plain next to the sea.
Since Thera is an island in the sea and does not have a plain, the plain
is supposedly the plain on the separate island of Crete, sixty miles
away.
No such mountain has therefore been identified on the plain on Crete as
the mountain is supposedly the island of Thera
(Santorini) and although Crete had a palace culture,
it is not for example, Knossos which is supposedly Atlantis but a now
vanished island
which existed in the centre of the volcanic caldera of Thera.
So Thera does not fit at all the description given by Plato.
view of the caldera at Santorini.
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There were concentric rings of land and sea on the mountain, two of land and three of sea, "like cartwheels".
The mountain at Pampa Aullagas has concentric rings of land and sandy based channels which contained water
when the lake level was higher.
concentric rings at Pampa aullagas
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No such formation exists on Thera which is a deep caldera with an island in the centre..
caldera at Thera.
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"The mountain was located 50 stades from the sea."
The mountain at Pampa Aullagas is 50 stades from the sea, (Lake Poopo).
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Thera is not 50 stades from the sea, but in the sea.
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"The sea in those parts was blocked up by the shoal mud"
Lake Poopo is blocked up and of shallow draft.
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The centre of Santorini/Thera is deep water and cruise liners can sail in.
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"The part about the city was all a smooth plain, enclosing it round about."
The mountain on the Altiplano is surrounded by the smooth, level, rectangular shaped plain.
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The plain on Crete is not a "smooth and level plain" and certainly does not surround the mountain
which is supposdely Thera 60 miles north in the sea.
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At a distance of 50 stades from the central island, a wall ran round in a circle.
At Pampa Aullagas there are remains of an embankment 50 stades from the central island.
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In Thera, it would not be possible because the wall would be in the sea.
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The stones on the island were red, black and white in colour.
At Pampa Aullagas the stones are red, black and white in colour.
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Santorini has red, black and white stones.
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The perimeter was covered in a wall of stone.
At Pampa Aullagas the perimeter is covered in a wall of stone.
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Thera is bounded by steep cliffs.
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The outer ring island was covered in a wall of bronze.
Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, both plentiful on the Altiplano
which is a mining centre and easily transported to the city site.
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Although there may be copper on Crete, there would be no tin and it would be absurd to say, as has been suggested, that
a valuable metal such as bronze would be imported to plate a wall surrounding a city.
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The middle ring island was covered in a wall of tin.
Tin is in plentiful supply on the Altiplano with mines at the other end of Lake Poopo, in Oruro, Huanuni, Llalagua, Catavi etc.
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There are no tin deposits on Crete or Thera.
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The inner island was covered in a wall of orichalcum. It was the second most valuable metal after gold,
could be polished and sparkled like red fire.
Orichalcum is an alloy of copper and gold which occurs naturally in the Andes
where it is called "tumbaga". It is often indistinguishable from gold and
sometimes called "red gold" depending on the copper percentage.
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There are no orichalcum deposits on Crete or Thera.
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The temple complex was surrounded by a wall of gold.
Gold was also plentiful on the Altiplano and a gold mine exists today near Oruro at the north end of Lake Poopo.
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There would not be sufficient gold on Crete or There to plate a wall surrounding a palace complex.
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The temples were plated in gold, silver and orichalcum.
The temples in the Andes were plated in sheets of gold, silver and orichalcum.
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Temples on Crete were highly decorated, but not hung in sheets of gold.
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The pinnacles of the temples were covered in silver.
Silver was plentiful at nearby Potosi, also Oruro.
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There are no silver deposits on Crete.
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They made life size statues in gold of their ancestors.
Also in ancient Peru, they made life size statues in gold of their ancestors.
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This custom never existed on Crete.
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"The wealth they possessed was so great the like will never easily be seen again."
The Andes possessed a fabulous wealth in gold and silver which was melted down
and shipped as bullion to Spain by the Conquistadors.
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Nothing comparable existed on Crete, although a highly advanced culture,
its artistic treasures could not compare to the wealth of gold and silver which existed in the Andes.
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The first inhabitants were born in pairs
The theme of twins is very popular in Andean ceramics and metalurgy
whilst it is recorded that the first inhabitants were born in pairs.
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Nothing comparable existed on Crete.
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There were five pairs of twin sons and 10 kingdoms.
In Andean legend, Viracocha had five pairs of twin sons, Aymara kingoms were also organised in pairs.
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Nothing comparable existed on Crete.
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The eldest son was called "Atlas".
Atlas traditionally supported the heavens. This region of the Altiplano
is known as
where Heaven meets Earth and the Andes mountains can be seen to support
the heavens.
"Atl" is also an Aztec word meaning "water" or "in the middle of".
Volcan Sajama on the edge of the rectangular plain is the highest
mountain in Bolivia and rises to 22,798 feet (6949metres) while volcan
Tunupa (shown above)
is in the middle of the rectangular plain and "Tunupa" was the Andean
equivalent of the god, Poseidon.
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There is no such association on Crete.
Mount Ida, is the highest mountain on Crete. It is sacred to the Greek Titaness Rhea,
and on its slopes, according to legend, lies the cave
in which Zeus was born. As an island high point at 8051 feet (2,454m) it is the mountain with the highest
topographic prominence in Greece.
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atlAntis.
Antis is a Quechua word meaning "copper". It is also the name of a tribe of indians living in
Peru and one quarter of the inca empire was called "Antisuyo" meaning "kingdom of the Antis" - right next to "Atlantis".
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There is no such association on Crete.
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Every fith and sixth year they sacrificed bulls and drank from golden goblets also pouring a libation onto the fire.
In the Andes, llama sacrifice, pouring alcohol onto the fire and
drinking from golden goblets was a traditional ceremony. There was no
word in Greek to translate "llama", an animal unknown to them.
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In Crete, there was a ceremony of bull vaulting.
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There were hot and cold springs and baths for the kings fed by hot springs.
When the conquistadors first met the Inca king, he was in a bath fed
by a natural hot spring. Hot and cold springs exist on the Altiplano next to each other.
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Hot springs exist on Santorini and the palaces on Crete had advanced pluming reportedly with hot and cold running water.
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Canals were dug in straight lines across the plain.
Straight canals are typical of the Altiplano.
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No such straight canals are associated with Crete.
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The plain supported a chequerboard pattern of irrigation channels.
A chequerboard pattern of canals exists on the Altiplano.
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No such chequerboard pattern of canals exists on Crete.
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Elephants roamed the island.
Remains of mastodons (elephants) have been found in Bolivia.
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There were no elephants on Crete which is famous for its bull culture.
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The Atlantis tale is of a city punished by the gods and sank into the sea.
A Bolivian legend tells of a city punished by the gods and sunk into the sea.
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No such legend exists on Crete.
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Atlantis was destroyed by earthquakes and floods.
Around 1500BC Lake Titicaca burst through its southern shore, submerging a large tract of land and
creating an extension to the Titicaca lake which is now known as "winay marca"
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Santorini exploded around 1625BC and tsunamis may have reached Crete, but the
Cretan or Minoan civilsation was destroyed not by tsunami, but by invaders from mainland Greece at a later period.
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It can be seen that if assessed on a logical basis, all the evidence points
to South America and the Altiplano as the basis of Plato's description of Atlantis
while Thera/Crete has no such correspodence and is virtually the opposite of Plato's actual description.
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Yet archaeologists continue to ignore this and continue
to present documentaries which examine very little of the actual description and attempt to represent
Santorini/Crete as the basis for Atlantis.
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