AUTHOR: Jim Allen
TITLE: Looking for Atlantis
SOURCE: The Geographical Magazine v69 p44-5 Mr '97
The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with
permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation of the copyright is prohibited.
In July 1995, I travelled to the Bolivian altiplano, the windswept plateau that sits between
two ranges of the Andes. Here I drove out into the desert to look for possible remains of an
ancient canal, which might confirm the location as being the site of Plato's Atlantis.
There I found the remains of a channel of enormous dimensions. The flat base was around
36 metres wide and the gently sloping sides each about 74 metres in width. I was reminded
of Plato's description of an irrigation canal that he said existed at the site of Atlantis: "It
seems incredible that it should be so large as the account states, but we must report what
we heard, the width was one stade." This is equivalent to 184 metres, the exact width of the
altiplano channel.
The canal I was looking for should originally have run around the perimeter of the entire
altiplano -- a distance of about 1,000 kilometres. However, only a section extending for
about 25 kilometres could be detected on the satellite images I had obtained prior to my
trip. In my view, if any section of canal of the width quoted by Plato could be found in this
remote and little explored desert, then surely it must be proof of his story.
Several years ago, I had undertaken a study of the origins of ancient systems of
measurement. It was this that brought Plato's descriptions of Atlantis, with its level,
rectangular-shaped plain enclosed by mountains, to my attention. Plato described Atlantis
as a continent as large as Libya and Asia combined, which he said sank into the sea in just
one day; a geological impossibility.
I wondered if Atlantis might have been America and whether the rectangular plain Plato
described lay somewhere in that continent; the altiplano seemed to fit the description if one
takes South America to be an island, which it almost is. Indeed, early Spanish explorers on
reaching South America thought they had discovered an island, which they named Santa
Cruz. I constructed a topographical model of the region, building up the levels layer by
layer. The 4,000 metre contour encloses the entire rectangular-shaped altiplano, the largest
level plain in the world.
The altiplano matches Plato's description of a plain "bordering on the sea and extending
through the centre of the whole island". It is enclosed by mountains so that, as Plato put it,
"the whole region rose sheer out of the sea to a great height, but the part about the city was
all a smooth plain, enclosing it round about, and being itself encircled by mountains that
stretched as far as the sea."
What if it was not the island continent of Atlantis that sank into the sea as Plato believed,
but only the island city of Atlantis, built around the lava rings of an extinct or dormant
volcano, which sank beneath an inland sea, or what is now Lake Poopó? The city could
only have sunk into such a body of water, as it lay upon a plain "high above the level of
the sea". The island city was surrounded by concentric rings of water and land, the rings of
water being connected to the sea by means of an artificial channel.
The walls of this ancient city were plated in gold, silver, bronze, tin and a mysterious metal
called "orichalcum", which could be polished to "sparkle like red fire".
All these metals are found around Lake Poopó. Numerous gold and copper mines still exist
there; the silver-rich mountain of Potosí was a great source of wealth for the Spanish
empire and is still a major source of tin. Even the unknown orichalcum is found here; it is
a natural alloy of gold and copper found only in the Andes.
The continent that Plato called Atlantis could well be that which we now call South
America. At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Inca called it 'Tahuantinsuyo', meaning
'land of the four quarters'. Their capital was at Cuzco, some 350 kilometres north of Lake
Titicaca, in what is now Peru. The quarter of their empire running along the Andes, east of
Cuzco, was called 'Antisuyo' and was home to the ferocious Antis Indians. In their native
language, 'atl' means water and 'antis' means copper; could this be the origin of the name
Atlantis?
During the wet season, from December to March, the altiplano floods. The south of the the
plain suffers drought conditions for the rest of the year. The contours of the altiplano are
such that it would have been feasible to construct a perimeter canal, like the one Plato
described, which would drain water away during the wet season and provide water for
irrigation during times of drought.
The altiplano is an enclosed basin and a period of torrential rain could produce within it an
inland sea such as that which existed from 38,000BC to 23,000BC (known as Lake
Minchin) and again in 9000BC, when the plain was submerged beneath 60 metres of water
for about 1,000 years. If we reexamine Plato's statement about the end of Atlantis, such an
event is described as occurring as a result of earthquakes and floods, in a single day and
night of rain. And the altiplano is an area prone to earthquakes.
Plato gives a date for the end of Atlantis as being around 9600BC. At this time, the
altiplano was indeed flooded. However, he also said that the end took place at a time when
the confederation of Atlantis was engaged in a war against Egypt. Should the years be in
fact lunar months, then this could correspond to the attacks on Egypt made by the Sea
Peoples, or "the Peoples from the Isles in the midst of the sea". These people were defeated,
it is written, by Ramesses III in about 1200BC. Many of the invaders were taken prisoners
and some entered the service of the king. It seems possible that the story of Atlantis came
from one of these people, and was handed on by temple priests to the visiting Greek
statesman Solon, which is, after all what Plato claimed.
Added material
Jim Allen is a former cartographic draughtsman and air photo interpreter. He has prepared
a 176-page illustrated book on his theory
GARY HALEY
The lost city of Atlantis as portrayed by Thomas Cole (1801-48)
THE BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY
An aerial photo provides evidence of a section of canal in the Bolivian altiplano of the
width quoted by Plato
A LEGEND OF A CITY
In Plato's story, written about 380BC, he describes Atlantis as an island continent
which had existed in the Atlantic Ocean, but which sank into the sea in the space of a
single day and night. In his detailed geographic description, he tells of a rectangular level
plain lying in the centre of a continent, next to the sea and midway along its longest side.
The plain was high above the level of the sea and enclosed by mountains. Near the centre
of the plain was a volcanic mound with concentric rings of sea and land enclosing a central
island. On this island lay the Royal City of Atlantis. A canal was excavated to the nearby
sea to allow the rings of water to be used as harbours by this great commercial society. The
walls of the city were plated in gold, silver, bronze, tin and an exotic alloy called
orichalcum. The end of the city was brought about at a time of violent earthquakes and
floods, when it was "swallowed up by the sea and vanished".
Source: Plato IX, Timaeus, Critias, translated by RG Bury (LOEB Classical Library).
Alternative translation: Desmond Lee (Penguin Classics).
GOING THERE
When to go: December to March is the wet season. Most of the year the southern
altiplano is windswept, sunny in the day and freezing at night. July and August is the best
season.
Getting there: There are no direct flights to Bolivia. American Airlines (Tel: 0345 789789)
offers the simplest route from London Heathrow to La Paz via Miami. British Airways
(Tel: 0345 222111) flies from Heathrow to La Paz.
Visa requirements: British citizens do not require a visa for a stay of up to 90 days.
Further information: Journey Latin America runs a three day tour of the altiplano (Tel:
0181 747 8315). Useful books include Bolivia travel survival kit (Lonely Planet, £12.99)
and South American Handbook (Footprint Handbooks, £21.99).
WBN: 9706003134012
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