Atlantis found?

[glockjs]

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) -- An American researcher claimed Sunday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east Mediterranean Sea. But Cyprus' chief government archaeologist was skeptical.

Robert Sarmast said sonar scanning of the seabed between east Cyprus and Syria revealed man-made walls, one as long as 3 kilometers (2 miles), and trenches at a depth of 1,500 meters (1,640 yards).

"It is a miracle we found these walls as their location, and lengths match exactly the description of the acropolis of Atlantis provided by Plato in his writings," Sarmast said, referring to the ancient Greek philosopher.

"We have definitely found the Acropolis of Atlantis," he affirmed, adding the site was 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Cyprus.

The chief government archaeologist of Cyprus, Pavlos Flourentzos, reacted with skepticism, telling The Associated Press: "More proof is necessary."

Sarmast, 38, is an architect by training from Los Angeles. He has devoted the past two-and-a-half years to trying to locate the lost city described by Plato in his dialogues, the Timaeous and the Critias. He spoke to reporters on the "Flying Enterprise," his expeditionary ship, after six days of taking highly sophisticated "side scan" sonars of the seabed.

He said he had chosen the area from data provided by two earlier sonar scans of the east Mediterranean by Russian and French expeditions. His own expedition used more sophisticated equipment, he said.

"We found more than 60-70 points that are a perfect match with Plato's detailed description of the general layout of the acropolis hill of Atlantis. The match of the dimensions and the coordinates provided by our sonar with Plato's description are so accurate that, if this is not indeed the acropolis of Atlantis, then this is the world's greatest coincidence," he said.

Tests of that part of the seabed showed it had once been above sea level, he said.

"We cannot yet provide tangible proof in the form of bricks and mortar as the artifacts are still buried under several meters of sediment at a depth of 1,500 meters (1,640 yards), but the evidence is now irrefutable," he added.

Asked if the ruins could not be that of another city that sank beneath the waves, Sarmast said the remains match Plato's description of Atlantis so closely that they could not be anything else.

"If you compare it with Plato, you will be astonished," he said. "We hope that future expeditions will be able to uncover the sediment and bring back physical proof."

Plato wrote of Atlantis as an island in the western sea, which has been widely interpreted to mean the Atlantic Ocean. An earthquake undermined the island and it was submerged. But societies dedicated to finding Atlantis remain.

For its time, Atlantis was a highly civilized nation and in legend it has become associated with utopia. The English philosopher Francis Bacon called his 1627 book on the ideal state The New Atlantis.

Flourentzos said it was possible that Atlantis was near Cyprus.

"The myth of Atlantis has been around for ages and it is generally believed that, if it ever existed, it was somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean -- hence its name. But ancient cities and civilizations in the Mediterranean region, such as the Minoan civilization of Crete, have disappeared as a result of major volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. For all we know, Atlantis may well have existed in our region."

Sarmast said his expedition had cost about $250,000. The funds came from public donations to his US-based company "First Source Enterprise," which is devoted to the project, sales of his book "The Discovery of Atlantis," and the Cypriot Tourist Organization, which donated $60,000.

He said the book, published in September 2003, said Atlantis was in the east Mediterranean and his latest sonars confirmed it.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/11/14/cyprus.atlantis.ap/index.html

[Capmaster]

With the deep-sea excavation equipment and sophisticated submersibles and robots, they'll be able to get some evidence pretty quickly.

If they can find something from the city made of wood or any other organic material, they can carbon-14 date it. That should help pin down the age and the likelihood that it is Atlantis.

[Goober57]

It seems like they've found Atlantis everywhere from Greece to Wisconsin!!!

___________________________

[thayne]

Someone already found Atlantis and turned it into a resort

http://www.atlantis.com

[Faustus]

Yeah I'll wait until someone other then the finder claims it. Thanks but if we accept the word of the person who stands to gain the fame then I proclaim that I discovered bigfoot and he lives in the woods outside my home. His name is Jeff, and he likes strawberry yoohoos.

[Guest]

That guy is pretty ******* confident.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Well don't be too quick to discount it. After all they've found a ton of legitamate historical sites over the last 50 years.....

Kevin

[Guest]

I dont doubt it will result in a find/site. But this guy wont even consider it isnt Atlantis.

[yoda313]

I dont doubt it will result in a find/site. But this guy wont even consider it isnt Atlantis.

Hello,

Well that's a FATAL flaw then... Being 100% certain about something is the kiss of death in science... especially of archeological sites that can be open to interpretation.

Kevin

[housepig]

the questions I have are with regard to how the stuff "exactly matches" the description in Plato - is he translating from the original language himself, or relying on translation? are there precise measurements and locations, or are they they "10 cubits wide, and 30 paces from the big rock" variety?

and is he familiar with some of the false-positives garnered from side-scanning sonar in similar "we found it!" expeditions in the past?

[zzyzzx]

I need pictures to be positive. I also think if Atlantis really exists it's in the Mediterranean.