Jim Allen's
Historic Atlantis in Bolivia
page 1 of 4
Introduction:
The choices.
(1) Some people believe that everything in Plato's story of
Atlantis was entirely made up for philosophical purposes as part of a
moral tale.
(2) Other people believe that 100% of Plato's story is a true story, which Plato himself asserted three times in his text.
(3) Because of the attention to detail in Plato's story, others believe that perhaps he was describing a real place and added some embellisments of his own, or aspects drawn from other legends.
The Test: The test must be this, is there a geographic location or sequence of events that matches the actual description given by Plato?
Plato (Greek
philosopher 380BC) writing in his works Timaeus
and
Critias
described a
large continent called Atlantis with a wonderful civilisation which he
said existed at one time at "a distant point in the Atlantic Ocean"
opposite the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar). He also
described a small volcanic island also called Atlantis with a fabulous
city and lots of fabulous features
and which was the capital of this great continent.
Plato then said the island continent sank into the sea in the space of
a single day and night. Thus arose the legend of the lost continent and
lost city of Atlantis.
The Problem: Modern geology says a continent cannot sink beneath the sea in the space of a single day and no such continent has sunk into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Real Problem: The question has always been, was Plato's Atlantis based on a real place and real events, or was it simply a story he made up?
Where atlantis isn't:
(1) Atlantis is not Thera/Santorini/island of Crete although it has become popular in modern times to think
that Atlantis might have been based upon a description of Crete and Thera, in fact the Crete/Thera idea is
virtually the OPPOSITE of what Plato said, not being in the Atlantic Ocean and having
none of the characteristics Plato described. Those in favour of this theory say if you take Plato's
dimensions for the rectangular plain of Atlantis and divide by 10 it would fit on Crete, but the fact
is that if you divide the dimensions by 10 it would still be too large to fit on Crete.
(2) Atlantis is not the Azores because there is no sunken continent around the Azores.
(3) Atlantis is not Antarctica because Antarctica has been under ice for at least 100,000 years and contrary to what some people think, has never been displaced from the Atlantic Ocean to its present position at the South Pole!
Although a huge variety of places have been proposed as the site of Atlantis, none of them match in any way the geographic description which Plato gave except one location.......
The Solution: The lost continent of Atlantis is still there opposite the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar) only now it has been re-named South America.
Atlantis was "as large as Libya and Asia together"
The Atlantic Island which is as large as Libya and Asia together and which is opposite the
Pillars of Hercules can only mean one place - America!
Atlantis "opposite or in front of the Pillars of Hercules."
Modern geology tells us there is no sunken continent in the Atlantic Ocean and in any case a continent
the size of "Libya and Asia together" would be too large to fit in the Atlantic Ocean - unless of course "Atlantis" is another name for what we now call "America".
The key to the mystery of Atlantis is that Plato is describing both a large continent and a small volcanic island of the same name. Plato tells us that the continent had a large, level rectangular plain at its centre and that in the centre of the plain was the small volcanic island which later became the city of Atlantis. Therefore if the continent itself did not sink, it was only the small island city which sank into the sea, something which Plato would not have known about if he were merely repeating the story.
the island city of Atlantis, contemporary drawing.
Background: Plato's description exactly fits South America because if there is no sunken continent in the Atlantic Ocean, then the continent opposite the Pillars of Hercules must be America, and we can specifically say South America was intended because Plato tells us that in the centre of the "island" continent and midway along its longest side was a perfectly level, rectangular shaped plain which was high above the level of the sea and enclosed by mountains. The city in turn lay on the level rectangular plain, fifty stades (about five miles if using Greek stades) from the sea which is an inland sea and according to Plato the whole region rose sheer out of the ocean to a great height on that side of the continent. Thus we have both a lost city of Atlantis as well as a lost continent of Atlantis.
Therefore:
It was not the continent of Atlantis which sank into the sea,
but the island capital of the same name, built around a volcanic island
which sank into the inland
sea of Lake Poopo which exists on the edge of the rectangular plain
presently called the Bolivian Altiplano.
Modern satellite mapping shows the plain, now called the Altiplano
to be of rectangular configuration, perfectly
level, enclosed on all sides by mountains and these mountains contained the
metals which Plato told us about, namely gold, silver, copper, tin and the mysterious
Orichalcum" (an alloy of
gold and copper which occurs only in the Andes) and which Plato said were used to
plate the walls of the circular city. The words "Atl" and "Antis" are themselves
of native America origins meaning "water" and "copper" respectively and the
plain is subject to earthquakes and floods such as Plato said sank the city in a
single day and night of rainfall.
Sinking into the Sea
People sometimes say; "How can Atlantis be in the Andes when
it is supposed to have sunk into the sea?" We must remember that Atlantis
according to Plato was on a level plain which was "high above the level of the sea
and
surrounded by mountains". Yet the city was on a level plain and only 5 miles from the sea and connected to
the sea by a canal.
The only way the city can be on a level plain and 5 miles from the sea and yet at the same time "high above
the level of the sea"
is if there are in fact two seas, that is here, the Ocean Sea enclosing the island
continent and the inland sea
adjacent to the city. So the canal which Plato said took ships from the
sea to the city was not a canal from the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific
Ocean, but a canal from the nearby lake which is so huge
that it is in fact an inland sea called Lake Poopo, which in turn is
connected to another vast inland sea called Lake Titicaca to the north.
In fact the entire plain has been periodically submerged beneath the sea ie it became
a giant inland sea at various
dates
going back thousands of years succeeded by dry periods. And the
Earthquakes and Floods which Plato described are absolutely typical of
the region.
Atlantis was "at a distant point in the Atlantic Ocean, larger than Libya and Asia together and it was possible for the travellers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent encompassing the veritable ocean." - meaning from Atlantis/America via the Pacific islands to the continent of Eurasia i.e. in the above map you can see the continent encompassing the veritable ocean extends from Africa/Europe in the west, to Asia in the east, and the Veritable Ocean is the mass of water which we today call the Pacific Ocean on the one side of the continent of Atlantis/America and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side.
So "America" is the continent in the Atlantic Ocean, and if it is not in the Atlantic Ocean, then where is it - and from Atlanticus we get Atlantis or Atlantic, the ocean named after the island of Atlas - Atlantis.
continue to page 2 for the evidence
