The lower they dig, the older the evidence they find, right?

Seriously, they looked "worked" to me, and what do you expect them to look like after 50,000 years? It makes sense that the deeper layers would have the older evidence. As for bodies, the pre-Clovis evidence I posted on the page before this should take care of some of that.

I've got the red man in america as far back as 85.000 years ago

"About eighty-five thousand years ago the comparatively pure remnants of the red race went en masse across to North America, and shortly thereafter the Bering land isthmus sank, thus isolating them. No Êred manÊ ever returned to Asia. But throughout Siberia, China, central Asia, India, and Europe they left behind much of their stock blended with the other colored races."

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The mystery of the eighth continent
By P. Lal

PLATO spoke of it some 2500 years ago. Oceanographers have discovered what look like its vestiges, on the floor of the Atlantic. Writers have written about it. Libraries have catalogued it under the category of legends. The scientific community, by and large, has denied that it ever existed.

Yet, there are reasons to believe that Atlantis, the eighth continent, once existed, in the middle of the Atlantic, roughly between Spain, Africa and the Americas, and sank some 11,500 years ago, into the ocean, where it now rests at the bottom.

According to Plato, Atlantis had a powerful empire, with influence on and trade with, the countries on both sides of the Atlantic, the eastern American and the western African and European coasts. It was larger than Libya and Asia put together (here, Libya means North Africa and Asia means Asia minor and parts of the Middle East), from where one could pass through the whole of the "opposite continent". Plato’s reference to the "Opposite Continent" came to be true 2000 years after him, when America was discovered by Columbus. There is no reason why his account of the Atlantis should also not be true.

Recent discoveries of unidentified ruins under the Atlantic Ocean where great stone roads or platforms were found fitted into place have given credence to the belief that Atlantis once existed. Members of a deep-sea expedition of the then USSR on board the "Academician Petrovsky", a research ship, photographed seafloors in the Atlantic in 1974, near Horseshoe Archipelago, 300 miles west of Gibraltar. The pictures taken on the summit of Ampere Seamount, rising from 10,000 feet within 200 feet of the suface of the sea, showed remarkable features like stone walls, the masonry block of the walls being upto 1.5 metres high, and the width of the walls being 75 cm the stone staircase cut into the cliff of which the five steps were clearly visible, and levelled off stone platform connected to another staircase. Subsequent expeditions have not only confirmed the finds but discovered more of the type over a wider area.

In 1981, an expedition along the underwater shelf off the Canary Islands disclosed large stone slabs set on the sea bottom at a depth of about 50 feet over an area of 900 sq feet. The stones appeared to be carefully set, and wide stone steps led down from the central pavement. An undersea wall, off the Moroccan coast, extending several miles in length, has also been discovered and photographed.

Besides the theory of the drowning of the Atlantis’ due to the rise in the sea level at the end of the last Ice age, the other theories given out for its sudden disappearance include violent earthquakes, seaquakes and volcanic explosions resulting in its sinking into the sea. The mid-Atlantic ridge, dividing the Atlantic into two almost equal parts, is the highest mountain range, under water, and is situated in the most active seismic zone. In the past few hundred years, there have been several known instances of the appearance and disappearance of islands in the Atlantic, due to the seismic activity of its oceanic floor. Thus, in 1622, the city of Villa Franca, capital of the Azorian island of Sao Maguel fell into the sea due to a sudden seismic convulsion. In 1811, a large volcanic island appeared in the Azores, was given the name Sambrina, and then disappeared into the sea after a few years.

It is also speculated that the advanced civilisation of the Atlantis had tapped unknown sources of energy specially those inherent in the tectonic plate movements which are responsible for earthquakes. Unwise utilisation of this source of energy might have led to its being destroyed in a major earthquake.

Whatever the truth about the Atlantis, the same is bound to be known with the application of modern day tools of research and discovery. Till then, it will remain in the realm of speculation, buried at the bottom of the Atlantic.

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1969 begins

The Site of Atlantis, By E. Sykes

I have always held that the best chances of finding traces of Atlantis and of its capital The City of the Golden Gates was off the Azores and I am very glad to see that Dr. Malaise in his new book thoroughly agrees with me as does also M. Framdsen, a Danish Engineer who mapped out the Atlantean plain near the Azores. Here to my mind is the only possible chance of finding Atlantean remains, the site of the wonderful metropolis of Plato is now within easy reach thanks to standard commercial underwater equipment of today. The cost of an expedition using television should not exceed $50,000 and would probably be far less. When one realizes that there must be literally hundreds tons of gold and silver lying about, provided that one knows where to look, the idea certainly has some attraction. Obviously remains will be found all over the place as the range of Atlantean influence was wide. But there were but a couple of cities: The City of the Golden Gates and the City of Transparent Walls, if history has not managed to forget the names of any other. But the only one we can site with accuracy is the City of the Golden Gates. E.S. 1969

What Paul le Cour said about the Corvo Equestrian Statue in 1935. E. Sykes 1969

Translated from Atlantis, Paris No. 60 for July August 1935.

"I was recently asked by one of our readers, Dr. Gibault, about a passage in Book 6 of "Memories d' Outre Tombe" by Chateaubriand which runs as follows:

"It is probable that the Azores were known to the Carthaginians; it is certain that a Phoenician Coins were found on Corvo. The first modern seamen to reach the island found there, it is said, an equestrian statue, with the right arm outstretched and pointing to the West, provided, however that this statue is not the type of fabrication, which adorns the earliest portulans….I supposed, that in the manuscript of Natchez, that Chartas, returning from Europe (Book 7 of Natchez), made landfall on Corvo and came across the mysterious statue." Dr. Bibault continued: "Do you not think that perhaps on reality? In that case what kind of monument is in question? Of what period is it? What did it represent? Does it still exist? Why did Chateaubriand query the picture which might well have been reproduction of the statue??" Le Cour stated that at that time he had nothing which would confirm the story or not. However in the 33 years which have elapsed since the article was written we have managed to turn up quite a lot of fresh data. But what one would like to see would be the portulan in which was included the drawing of the statue. Le Cour continued by referring to the stela depicting an Atlantean Temple which was discovered on San Miguel, and of which a photograph was seen shortly before the writing of the article, by M. Matila Ghyka. During his stay on the island he endeavored, without success, to see the photograph in the museum at Los Angeles, but instead learnt from M. Vasco Benisaude that in the multi volume set of the Archives of the Azores which was in his library, there was a mention of the discovery of the grotto containing the stele, on San Miguel. The article concludes that le Cour was still awaiting the receipt of a copy of the photograph from M. Ghyka. He had also heard that the stele was in a museum in Bombay but had no idea how it got there. Inquiries made in 1966-67 to Bombay produced no result, while the son or grandson of M. Benisaude was unable to help us about the records. It seems evident that if it is desired to make a cross check on this story as against that told in the manuscript of Thevet, the only way will be to visit the island of San Miguel. I have no idea who M. Ghyka was or whether he left any papers behind. That the information is still to be found there seems reasonably certain. E. Sykes 1969

A New Deal in Geology, By E. Sykes (a summary)

Dr. Malaise published two Swedish editions on the subject of Atlantis and his main point was:

"Geologically it is impossible for Atlantis not to have existed." And here is the Chapter points-

Our Knowledge of the interior of the Earth.
The Constriction Theory of Nils Odhner.
The Last Ice Age, its causes and the Geographical Effects.
The bed of the Ocean and the submerged land region.
The Mediterranean and the Atlantean Continent.
The Significance of Atlantis in Early Human Culture and its relationship of Early American Man.
Unsolved Problems of the Permo Carboniferous and Earlier Ice Ages.
"His work has no emotional background of any kind, every source can be verified and checked and, what is more he was able to make full use of the sources available at through the Swedish Museum of Natural History during a long and distinguished career there."

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Perhaps the Mid Atlantic Ridge was Atlantis. Between 1872-1876, scientists aboard the HMS Challenger discovered the Mid Atlantic Ridge (Encyclopedia Britannica, 25:168:1a). The Mid Atlantic Ridge is a submerged mountain range on the Atlantic Ocean's floor. The ridge extends 10,000 miles from north to south, in an S-shaped path. The ridge reaches a width of 1,000 miles. Some of the mountains of the ridge are above sea level, and are islands. Some of those islands are the Azores, Ascension, and St. Helena (Encyclopedia Britannica, 8:106:2b). Most of the Mid Atlantic Ridge is covered to a depth of 3,000 meters (Galanopoulos, p. 53).

Plato's writings also indicate that numerous artesian wells (natural fountains) were on the earth in ancient times. Perhaps this was the result of the Great Flood, after which the continents were saturated with water that took centuries to drain into the oceans.

From Critias
...[The land] let off into the hollows the streams which it absorbed from the heights, providing everywhere abundant fountains and rivers, of which there may still be observed sacred memorials in places where fountains once existed; and this proves the truth of what I am saying. (http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/Atlantis/critias_page3.html)
Guanche Legend

The Canary Islands are a group of Spanish-owned islands in the Atlantic Ocean, off the northwest coast of Africa. The aborigines of the Canary Islands, called the "Guanches" (whose culture is now extinct), believed in a Supreme, Almighty and Eternal God. They also believed in a devil (Gil, pp. 31-32). The Guanches were related to the Berbers of North Africa, and were conquered by the Spanish in the 15th century (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2:793:3b).

[The Guanches] ...had a brown complexion, blue or gray eyes, and blondish hair... Their food staples consisted mainly of milk, butter, goat flesh, pork, and some fruits; and their clothing comprised leather tunics or vests made of plaited rushes... they were known to have been monotheists (Encyclopedia Britannica, 5:532:1a).

From Charles Berlitz's book, The Lost Ship of Noah:
The inhabitants of the Canary Islands were white-skinned, of tall and muscular stature, and many were blond-haired and blue-eyed. They were officially discovered in 1395 by Jean de Bethencourt, a French nobleman in the service of Spain. When the Spanish landed they could not communicate with the natives, who spoke no language known to the Spaniards. When the islanders had learned enough Spanish to communicate they told the surprised Spanish visitors that they could not understand where the men and ships had come from as they believed that the Great Flood had drowned everyone in the world except themselves. Once, they said, their ancestors had lived in a large land with great cities, fertile plains, and rivers, but a flood had covered it, and only a few people who had been able to flee to the high mountains had survived. The islands where they now were living once were the mountaintops of their vanished homeland. The waters receded but (and they pointed to the surrounding Atlantic Ocean) were still there. This curious tradition with its suggestion of Atlantis, the Flood, a civilization destroyed by the waters, and survivors who fled to the mountains, was never sufficiently researched by the Spanish conquerors who, within a short time, annihilated the native population in a series of wars. Their language too was lost..." (Berlitz, pp. 132-3).

I pulled the following information off of a Spanish Internet web site in the Summer of 1996. The author is unknown, and I lost the web site URL. I am including this information, however, because it is interesting to note that the Spanish continue to hypothesize as to how the Guanche people originally arrived at the Canary Islands, even though the Guanches themselves told the Spaniards that the Guanches escaped to the mountains from a flood of rising water, and that those mountains became islands when the water remained, stranding the Guanche people. The Spanish, apparently, continue to disbelieve the Guanche legend, which, based on the information presented in this article, may have been the truth. The passage below was originally in Spanish; I translated it into English.

The Europeans 'discovered' the Canary Islands in the first half of the 14th century. They found a people who were later named "Guanches," who today continue to be surrounded with many mysteries. Where did they come from? How did they get to the islands? When did they arrive?
Certainly, they must have arrived via the ocean. They arrived accompanied by their domesticated animals: goats, sheep, pigs, and dogs. They carried wheat and barley with them. They originated from North Africa. They share the same roots as the Berbers of the Atlas region. This simple affirmation has cost rivers of ink and very long discussions, in which archaeology and ethnography mix with politics.
Just as the European conquerors said, the Guanches were "of the white race, tall, muscular, very beautiful, and there were many blondes among them." Their great height, it is understood, was relative to the medium height of the Europeans of that period of time. Regarding the presence of blondes: even today, after many centuries of invasions and mixing of genes, one can find the traits of blonde hair and blue eyes among the Berbers of the African Atlas region...
The ancestors of the Guanches arrived by sea, colonized the islands, and forgot how to use a boat! When the Europeans arrived at the Canaries, they found a people who lived in a neolithic culture, based on sheep herding, fruit harvesting, and very limited farming. This [culture] was common among all of the islands, but on each, [the people] had developed a microcosm to the extent that [the people of each island] had developed their own dialects [of the Guanche language]. The islands disconnected the peoples from each other; the natives did not know how to use boats, and fished only along the coastlines. This is one of the enigmas of the Guanches. How is it possible that a people arrived via the ocean to these small islands, lived surrounded by the ocean, had, on various islands, enormous forests and large trees of premium material for boat building, yet were ignorant of the sea and lived a backward lifestyle? There are a number of hypotheses: perhaps the inhabitants of the Canaries were simply passengers, shepherds transported by mariners, who were later forgotten and lost their luck.
It is unreasonable to think that the Guanche people forgot how to use boats, even to travel among the Canary Islands. It seems that if the Guanche people's ancestors had ever used boats, Guanche oral tradition would have said so. It is more reasonable to think that the Guanches never had boating technology. Again, the above passage shows that Spanish hypothesists continue to ignore the Guanche legend that sea level rose, turning mountains into the Canary Islands. Rather, the Spanish hypothesize that the Guanches somehow arrived by sea via boat, and then forgot how to use boats. Based on the information presented in this article, however, the Guanche legend that sea level rose, stranding the Guanche people on mountains that became islands, may have been the truth.

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Keftiu

There is an Egyptian myth similar to Atlantis called "Keftiu" that Koudriavtsev does not mention. Keftiu, was an ancient island nation, an advanced civilization that was the gateway to and ruler of all of the lands to the far west of Egypt (Greece, Libya, and beyond). Egyptian records say that Keftiu was destroyed by the seas in an apocalypse. It is possible that Solon carried the legends of Keftiu to Greece then passed them on to his son and grandson, hence the appearance in Plato's writings.

Ancient records of Keftiu contain a number of similarities to Plato's Atlantis, so he may have been retelling (and renaming) the story of Keftiu.

Indonesia

Some say the Egyptian story came from an earlier source, namely, from the Hindus in Punt (now Indonesia). Punt was the Ancestral Land (To-wer), the Island of Fire where the Egyptians originated. The Hindus called the sunken continent "Atala" (or "Atalas"), a name remarkably similar to "Atlas" and "Atlantis". In Dravida, "the pristine language of Indonesia", the suffixes "tis" or "tiv" are "mountain" or "island". (pronounced "tiw"). Therefore, Keftiu of the Egyptians is from Kap-tiv = "capital island". We can see that both the words "Keftiu" and "Atlantis" have roots in the ancient Indonesian language. Indonesia itself being a sunken continent makes a strong argument that Indonesia is itself Atlantis.

According to Prof. Arysio Nunes dos Santos. (arysio@atlan.org) of the Atlantis Homepage www.atlan.org during the last Glacial Period water in the continental glaciers made the sea level 330 to 490 feet lower. The shallow bottom of the South China Sea was completely exposed, forming a vast expanse of continental dimensions. Two of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history, Krakatoa and Tambora have been in Indonesia. As the theory goes, a previous eruption of Krakatoa about 10,000 years ago caused a huge Tsunami that did indeed wipe out Atlantis in one terrible day and night. The resulting black soot covered much of the earth including the glaciers. As black surfaces absorb more heat, this caused the glaciers to melt and the seas to rise, permanently covering Indonesia/Atlantis. Plato also mentions seas that are impossible to navigate. This is true of the South China Sea (Indonesia) today due to kelp forests and would have been true due to muck from the volcanic eruption then.

Another supporting claim is that the distribution of O Blood Types shows a migration from Indonesia to Europe via the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans as in the legends of Celts, the Romans and Greeks. The origin of an O-blooded population may be primeval Indonesia and the sunken lands of the region, possibly the site of Atlantis.

Canary Islands

If you follow the belief that Atlantis is the Hindu "Atala" or "Atalas" then the Purana locates Atala geographically on the seventh (heat, or climate) zone. According to Col. Wilford (the translator) this is 24 to 28 degrees North latitude: the same latitude as the Canary Islands just off the North African coast. One of the more famous Indian works called the Mahabharata, contains several accounts of a powerful islandic empire in the Atlantic. In these accounts, the island named Atala sank to the bottom during a horrendous war. Atala, "the White Island," is described as an "island of great splendor," and located in the "Western Ocean" (Santi Parva, Section CCCXXXVII).

Even more remarkably, there is a circular-shaped capital city (Tripura) as in Plato's account. The famed city, with all its inhabitants, is sent burning to the bottom of the ocean (Karna Parva, Section XXXIII).

As still further support, Atala is said to be inhabited by "white men who never have to sleep or eat". (Santi Parva, Section CCCXXXVII) Herodotus, the Greek historian from 450 B.C. describes a tribe of Atlanteans who "never dream and eat no living thing". (History, Book IV). Finally, the god Poseidon is very much involved in the Atlantis story, and likewise in the Sanskrit accounts Varuna (the Hindu Poseidon) is also very much involved with Atala.

So there you have it. Are any more? Sure!

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle, is not really much of a triangle at all. It is supposedly bounded by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, but take a look at the map of major ship and plane disappearances and you can see that it's more of a blob.

The Bermuda blob shape has also been called the Devil's Triangle and a few other things. ( NEW: See our article on the strange creature known as the Bermuda blob. ) Numerous planes and ships have vanished there without a trace, often in good weather or near a landing site or port. It was named in 1945, after the disappearance of six Navy planes and their crews on December 5, a sunny, calm day with ideal flying conditions. Prior to that scores of ships of all sizes reportedly had vanished in the area. As the theory goes, forces emanating from the unknown ruins of Atlantis are responsible for disrupting the instruments of the craft.

I know of no other reason to connect the Triangle to Atlantis at this time.

The Azores

The Azores are a group of islands belonging to Portugal located about 900 miles (1500 km) west of the Portuguese coast. Some believe the islands are the mountain tops of the sunken continent of Atlantis.

The climate in Northwest Europe changed radically caused by the arrival of the Gulf Stream at around 10,000 B.C. (the end of the last Ice Age). If a big island in the location of the Azores was stopping the gulf stream from hitting Northwest Europe, then it suddenly sank, this would explain the climate change and the tale of Atlantis.

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Discovery of the Azores

There are accounts that Henry sent his able seaman and knight
Goncalo Velho Cabral, in 1431, with the orders "to sail towards the
setting sun until he came to an island."17 Others say the islands had
been found accidentally by Portuguese sailors returning from a
voyage along the African coast or the Madeiras,18 but this is not
possible because the prevailing winds and ocean currents would not
have allowed it.19 Henry and his school of navigators knew there
were islands located a few hundred miles off the Portuguese coast
because they were shown on a Catalan map. In 1431, Cabral found a
series of volcanic rocks protruding out from under the water which
he named "formigas" or ants. He was just 25 miles from the nearest
Azorean island at the time which apparently was not visable to his
crew or him. He returned to Henry and was sent out immediately
the next year to reexplore the area.20

On August 15, 1432, Cabral found Santa Maria, the easternmost
island of the Azorean archipelago. It was the feast day of the
Assumption of Our Blessed Mother, or Santa Maria, and consequently
named for her.21 The island was lush with forests, streams, and
birdlife.22 Apparently, there were many birds in flight, thought to be
goshawks, and hence, the islands got the Portuguese name "acor" or
hawk. However, there have never been goshawks there according to
ornithologists. Many believe the birds seen were the Azorean
buzzards.23

It is thought too that maybe the name for the islands came from this
statement written by Martin Behaim, the maker of the Nuremburg
globe of 1492: "All birds found in the islands by the first settlers
were so tame that they came to the hand like hawks."24 Another
theory is that the word "raca" or "raka," meaning bird of prey in
Arabic, was translated to the Portugese acor. Raca appeared in an
Arab manuscript designating an island, or islands, in the same
location as the Azores.25

A letter written by Alfonso V, King of Portugal, dated July 2, 1439 is
the first known document with a reference to the Azores. Its content
reveals that there were seven islands and that Henry was given the
right to settle them.26 The next known document is a Majorcan map
of the same year which had seven islands and the date of discovery
was recorded as 1432.27 There have been differing versions
concerning the year-date of the discovery. It appears, after some
analysis by scholars, that 1432 is the correct date.28 Unfortunately,
there were no written accounts of the voyage by the participants.29
In fact, there is little information on the discoveries of the other
eight islands because of the same reason.

Sao Miguel was sighted followed next by Terceira, which means the
"third." Then the central group of islands were found which were
Graciosa, Sao Jorge, Pico, and Faial. And finally the western two
islands of Corvo and Flores were sighted in 1452 which concluded
the discovery of the archipelago.30 There is no evidence that
humankind had ever been on the islands.31 But there are mysteries.
There is the mystery of an equestrian statue on Corvo, and also the
mystery of the Phoenician or Carthagenian coins said to have found
there as well.32

Corvo along with Flores are the two westernmost islands of the
archipelago, and hence, the last inch of European soil. It was here in
the early 1500's, that Damiao de Goes, under the employment of King
Dom Manoel of Portugal, wrote of a statue of a man on horseback
pointing to the west which was clinging to a rocky ledge. The king
asked for a drawing of it, and after seeing the drawing, he sent
someone to bring it back. As the story goes, it was shattered in a
storm en route, but the king received the parts. There too was an
inscription in the rock below the statue, and an impression was taken
of it. But neither the shattered parts of the statue, nor the impression
of the inscription were ever found.33 Was it a hoax? Scholars are still
unsure.

Some have speculated that the statue was really just one of many
rock formations seen on the island and nothing more.34 Others feel it
did exist and could have been evidence of the lost continent of
Atlantis, or of another settlement of ancient peoples. Coins too were
found on Corvo, and their images were published in a journal of the
Society of Gothenberg. They were considered to be of Carthagenian or
Cyrenean origin by the society.35 A twentieth century Portuguese
scholar, made a serious effort to locate the coins. He went to the
convent to which they were first supposedly taken. He also visited
museums where he thought information could be found. But his
investigation turned up nothing.36

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1951

The City of Brass, by Egerton Sykes (a summary)

The late Mrs. Whishaw held a opinion in her book; "Atlantis in Andalucia", London, 1930, that in the days of far off Atlantis, the copper ore from the mines of Ro Tinto was shipped to the Motherland from the Port of Niebla on that river. She also considered that the use of the ores from that area initiated the pre-bronze age.

"Recent investigations suggest to me that orichalcum, that now unknown metal was used to cover the exterior surface of the great temple of Atlantis, as mentioned by Plato, may have been shinning sheets of brass."

The term orichalcum meant mountain brass, and may well have been applied to a whole series of metals of varying color, ranging from bright red to palest yellow.

"In essence the tale of the City of Brass is of an expedition to the Cyrenian desert in search of a fabled city of the dead, packed with treasure."

The stories about City of Brass include: The Arabian Nights, who traded and fought with the Cathay, Indies, the Middle east, and Lybia which is like the voyages of Hakluyt, London, 1589-1600. "After hearing the recital of a desert dweller whose grandfather actually saw the city, the party leave on their travels. About half-way, they find an equestrian statue in the sands, which when cleared of obstruction swings round on a pivot and points in the direction of the city. This statue recalls on the one hand the swing figures on the chariot of Wang Ti, the legendary Emperor of China which always pointed south, and also the equestrian statue found on the Island of Corvo in the Azores, by the Portuguese discoverers in the 15th Century, which was broken up for shipment to Lisbon and never seen again. The city when sighted, proved to have two towers covered with sheets of shinning Andalusian brass or copper, which was said to be equal to gold in value. After climbing the walls which were of black marble, the leader of the expedition found yet another brass equestrian statue, which actuated the mechanism opening the gates. Inside there was a staircase of different colored marbles, recalling that at Tiahuanaco." (Bellamy, H. S. 'Built before the Flood, London, 1946)

"The city was found to be tenanted solely by the shriveled bodies of the dead, and by the mummy bodies of the Queen and her court. This story links with the expeditions of Count de Prorok ('Mysteries Sahara'-1, and 'In quest of Lost Worlds'-2), who sought the palace of Queen Tin Hanan of Atlantis, and also with the Queen Antinea of the romance by Benoit."

"Burton ('The Thousand and One Nights, 1885-1888, vol V. pages 1 to 36) considered this story to be related to that of Many Columned Iram, but I do not share this opinion as Iram is linked with the Tower of Babel and with the foundations of Semitic Myth and its relationship to Atlantis is very distant." About 1,300 years ago a tribe migrated from the Sahara across Africa to the Ife Country of Nigeria. "Frobenius (Kniturgeschichte Afrikas, Zurich, 1933)

reports that with them they brought memories of a temple of brass in their ancestral city, and built to their divine ruler a huge temple of Brass with stables to hold ten thousand horses. This temple was in existence until recent times, while the tribe also worshipped a Posidonean god."

"Here we have a trail leading from Rio Tinto Copper mines, through Atlantis to North Africa, and from there to Nigeria a journey lasting some twelve thousand years but always carrying with it proof of the Atlantean civilization and culture."

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wrote of a statue of a man on horseback
pointing to the west which was clinging to a rocky ledge. The king
asked for a drawing of it, and after seeing the drawing, he sent
someone to bring it back. As the story goes, it was shattered in a
storm en route, but the king received the parts. There too was an
inscription in the rock below the statue, and an impression was taken
of it. But neither the shattered parts of the statue, nor the impression
of the inscription were ever found

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Drill maybe the Guanches arrived by land,as you can see on this map.Land extended down the coast of Spain to Morocco, small land bridges.

I'd like to believe in the existence of that equestrian statue, too, because ideally I'd also like to place Atlantis in the Atlantic. Unfortunately, it's whole existence may have been exaggerated, as this article so nicely states:

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Chinese Phantom on Corvo Island, Azores!
By Reverend Ferreira Moreno
Oakland California

Gavin Menzies, a retired Royal Navy officer, in his recently published book entitled "1421, The year China Discovered America", states that the Chinese also discovered the Azores several years before the Portuguese reached the islands.

Menzies, who apparently never went ashore on any of the Azores islands, rests his absurd claim on a piece of information he found while reading the 1638 Madrid edition of "Epitome de las Hist¢rias Portuguesas." Its author, whose correct name is Manuel de Faria e Sousa (1590-1649), wrote about a statue of a rider, carved on the summit of a mountain on Corvo island, but the inscriptions at the bottom "we could not understand."

That's all Menzies needed to brazenly declare that "the Corvo horseman was indeed a Chinese statue, perhaps even of the Emperor Horseback Shu Di." Surprisingly, as Menzies adds, "corroborative evidence that the Chinese may have inhabited the Azores comes from Christopher Columbus, who reported a local story of non-European bodies washed onto the beach at Flores, some twenty miles south of Corvo."

With all due respect to Gavin Menzies, I'm unequivocally convinced he went overboard in his far-fetched conclusions. Neither Columbus nor Sousa ever sailed the channel between Flores and Corvo. The reference to the legendary equestrian statue is an impudent plagiarism from a fictitious story written by Damiao de G¢is (1502-74), who never saw the Azores , even from a distance. Corvo is the smallest of the nine Azorean islands, with an area of less than seven square miles, and an estimated population of 400 people concentrated into one little village.

Caspar Frutuoso (1522-91) and Ant¢nio Cordeiro (1641-1722), both Azorean natives and the islands' earliest historians, classified the story of the statue as merely "antigualha mui not vel", (a very notable legend).

Diogo das Chagas (1575-1667), another native historian, whose brother did parish work in Corvo, made no reference whatsoever to the statue or to Chinese bodies washed ashore "onto the beach at Flores ."

A pair of distinguished English brothers, Joseph and Henry Bullar, wrote a meticulous book about their stay in the Azores (December 1838 to May 1839). In their description of Corvo, there is no mention of the existence of the legendary statue. Raul Brandao (1867-1930), the masterful writer of "As Ilhas Desconhecidas", devotes a whole chapter of his stay on Corvo, (June 17 to 30, 1924), without even a whisper about the statue.

The remotest possibility of a statue having been left on Corvo by ancient Phoenicians or Carthaginians (Centuries before the Chinese), was considered a fable by reputable Azorean historian Manuel Monteiro Velho Arruda.

Consequently, I encourage Gavin Menzies to read the "Collection of Documents Pertaining to the Discovery & Settlement of the Azores ", in which Velho Arruda wrote that as far back as 1317 (a century before the Chinese), "even though at the time there were no official plan to discoveries, the Portuguese may or may not have ventured to sail across the Atlantic ."

The truth remains: Until the Portuguese reached the Azores , the islands were entirely deserted, with no signs of previous human presence.
On this historic account, the late Dr. Jacinto Monteiro (1923-2003) also provided valuable documentation. As other sources of information, I recommend the 15 volumes of "Arquivo dos A‡ores" (Archives), particularly the second (1880) and the Third (1881) volumes, where the phantom statue is debated.

Additional information to dispel Menzies' claim can be found in the 1967 and 1987 editions of "A Ilha do Corvo" by Carlos Alberto Medeiros, as well as in the third volume of "Hist¢ria das Quarto Ilhas" by Silveira Macedo and also in "Not¡cia do Arquip‚lago dos A‡ores" by Garcia Ramos, wherein it is stated that the statue on Corvo "is nothing more than an optical illusion and a caprice of volcanic rocks."

In his "Relat¢rio" about Corvo, Fr. Jos‚ Ant¢nio Camoes (1777-1827), a native of Flores , emphatically denies both the existence of the equestrian statue and the ability of anyone ever climbing to such an inaccessible spot. The renowned scientist Jos‚ Agostinho (1888-1978), after his 1945 archaeological research on Corvo Island, clearly pointed out that the alleged statue is simply a piece of rock which, from a distance, accidentally resembles a rider.

Furthermore and contrary to what Menzies attempts to convey in the appendix of his book, there are neither records nor traditions of underground ruins from old Chinese structures. Fr. Louren‡o Jorge (1882-1918), a native of Corvo who left a manuscript recently published in book form, makes no mention of Chinese ruins. In closing, Fr. Francisco Xavier, who was the pastor of Corvo island from September 2002 to September 2003 and is presently stationed at Five Wounds Church in San Jos‚, CA., assured me that he never heard of, much less sighted, the phantom statue.

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The Azores were supposedly unpopulated when they were oiginally discovered, so it would be irrelevant if there were ever any local tales about the statue, right? As for Damiao de G¢is (1502-74), who wrote the account, never even seeing the Azores, well, that is debatable. Maybe we should EACH do a little more research on that and see what we come up with.

Docyabut,

Nice maps, but even from those maps you can see how far away the Canaries are from Morocco. I doubt that they could have swam there at any point in time, or that a landbridge ever existed there, even in Ice Age times (I like that website, too, by the way).

Stacy,

9000 years is a long time. The statue aside for the moment, of course, there could have been some earlier evidence present on the Azores that was taken back to Portugal upon it's discovery. Most things are made of materials that erode over time. Pottery, to my knowledge, would not be one of them. Stone as well.

More about the statue. Manoel de Faria Sousa was the original chronicler of the statue, not Damio de Goes. And it would seem that, in the same area on Corvo where the Carthaginian coins were discovered, several stone buildings (since destroyed by earthquakes) once stood. That would seem to suggest that the idea that the Azores bore no signs of civilization prior to their discovery is a lie. At the very least, they were settled by the Phoenicians or the Carthaginians. Best case would be that they were settled by an even older civilization.

quote:

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Subject: Carthaginian Station on Azores 320 BC (Re: Navigation --
to the New
From: SENECA@argo.rhein-neckar.de
Date: 1997/06/21
Message-ID: <6ZJhhm4Q3SB@argo.rhein-neckar.de>
Newsgroups: soc.history.ancient,sci.skeptic,
sci.archaeology.mesoamerican,sci.archaeology

Out of a book in German: Hennig, Richard: Terrae Incognitae, Leiden 1953,
Vol. III, Chapter 19 (p. 138 c.).

==========

DISCOVERY OF THE AZORES BY THE CARTHAGINIANS AND THE QUESTION OF AN EARLY
KNOWLEDGE OF AMERICA

(Time c. 320 BC, ancient sources not available)

[now Hennig cites a swedish source in german translation, what is like all
other here further translated to english, the german version appended
below]

From Goteborgske Wetenskap og Witterhets Samlingar 1778, I, 106:

"Some annotations to the voyages of the ancient, derived from several
Carthaginian and Cyrenian coins which were found in 1749 on one of the
Azores' islands.

By Johann Podolyn,

In November of 1749, after several days of storm from the west,
which caused part of the foundation of a destroyed stone building on the
beach of the island of Corvo to be exposed by the sea, a broken, black
clay container was discovered in which a lot of coins were found which
were brought to a monastery, where they were spread amongst the curious
natives. Part of the coins were sent off to Lisbon and from there later to
Father Florenz in Madrid.

The number of the coins found in the container is unknown, as is the
number of those sent to Lisbon. 9 coins arrived in Madrid, namely:

2 Carthaginian gold coins, No. 1 and 2
5 Carthaginian copper coins, No. 3 to 7
2 Cyrenian coins of the same metal, No. 8 and 9

Father Florenz gave those coins to me as a present during my visitation of
Madrid in 1761 and reported that the whole discovery had not consisted of
more different kinds than those 9 and that these coins were selected as
the best preserved ones.

It is certain that the coins come partly from Carthage, partly from the
Cyrenaica. They are not very rare, except

[Drawing of the coins, obverse and reverse: The Carthaginian and Cyrenian
coins found in 1749 on the Azores. The two golden ones. Annotation by
Hennig: "These are two so-called serrati, according to Dannenberg's
Numismatics, Leipzig 1891, p. 155, striking is the location where they
were found."]

It is well-known that the Portuguese, first in the time of Alfons V., have
discovered the Azores. There is no clue for the assumption that someone
could have buried the coins there after that time. They must therefore
have arrived there together with some Punic vehicles, whereas I do not
dare to claim that the vehicle sailed there by intention, it could as well
have ended up there by coincidence.

Carthage and several Mauretanian cities sent off some ships over the
Strait of Gibraltar. Hanno's expedition to the African West Coast is
known, and one of these different vehicles might have been driven to Corvo
by constant wind from the east. Faria [annot. Hennig: Manoel de Faria e
Sousa: Epitome de las historias portuguezas, Madrid 1628] says in his
Portuguese History that the Portuguese, which then arrived first in that
country, found a horseman's statue by some foothills whose right hand
pointed to the west. This statue stood, according to Faria, on a stone
pedestal into which unknown letters were carved everywhere. The monument
was destroyed, which was a big loss. Blind eagerness was the cause for
this, as the statue was regarded as a pagan idol.

The statue strengthens my opinion that the islands were not only
accidentally visited by the Phoenicians or the Carthaginians but that they
had already settled there; for you cannot assume that a ship determined
either for trade or for discovery had the whole statue already on board.
You must rather conclude that they arrived there on one vehicle or several
ones, during one voyage or several ones, that the crew liked the land,
that they setteld there, established a municipality, kept up the
connection to their home, and that they achieved a wealth which allowed
them to build the mentioned monument.

It is also possible that the Carthaginians, whose eagerness in trade and
navigation is famous, took an expedition to the west from this island and
that the statue pointing to the west referred to that expedition. Storms,
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which caused immense damage could also have been the cause for the emigration of the citizens who then erected the monument with the reference to the west in order to show which way
they left. Maybe they knew of any land there. Several speculations and
opinions can be expressed in favour and against, but it seems to be
sufficiently sure that the islands were visited by the ancients. Whether
coincidence or intention was the cause cannot be answered.

---------------

Now discussion of the source by Hennig, p. 145, excerpt:

(...)

A clarification by the Munich numismatologist Prof. Bernhart, to whom the issue unknown until then was presented for a final decision by means of my explanations through my eager colleague Prof. Stechow-Munich, puts an end to the whole discussion. He let, through Stechow's mediation, the
following be reported to me:

"The doubt expressed by some people whether Father Flore was not
cheated by a crook, that the coins in fact did actually not come from the
Azores, was completely unthinkable; the discovery was c e r t a i n l y a
u t h e n t i c, i. e. it came from the Carthaginians. Simply because, at
that time, even the cleverest swindler was not able to put together such
an excellent series of Carthaginian coins from such a narrow period of
time (330-320 BC) correctly. In specialist circles, the Carthaginian and
Cyrenian coins were by far not known well enough, and the numasmatic
science was by far not experienced enough so that it was not even possible
to put together (for instance from pieces found in North Africa or Spain)
a set like that one, which was from such a narrow period of time. If
someone had wanted to create such a fraud at that time, he would have, in
the best case, put together coins from several different centuries; at
that time, no one would probably have noticed the fraud."

This authoritative expert opinion was announced by me in 1937. It is
probably final now. I have therefore spoken of a "numismatic final word"
and drawn the conclusion:

"The discovery of Corvo is proven to be authentic and therefore
the discovery of the Azores by the Carthaginians in late 4th century BC is
finally secured."

In fact, since 1937, under the weight of Bernhart's proofs, no one,
according to my knowledge, ever doubted again that the coins of Corvo
could have been brought to the location of the finding by the
Carthaginians themselves and that it must be an authentic depot finding.

(...)
--------------------

Further on, Hennig accepts the visitation of the Azores by the
Carthaginians, but he believes: "It is very probable that their visit to
the Azores was quite involuntary." He means that a ship was driven there
by a storm. He completely ignores the statement of the source about the
location of the finding: "the foundation of a destroyed stone building on
the beach of the island of Corvo exposed by the sea", according to which
the clay jug with the coins was intentionally buried and not the leftover
of a wreck.

The stone building must have been from ancient times, otherwise the jug
would already have been discovered when the foundation was built. These
circumstances make a repeated visitation of the Azores probable, otherwise
neither money nor buildings would have been left behind.

Hennig regards the horseman's statue as a legend and refers to stories
about the "picture columns of Hercules" and cites Arabian sources about
horseman's statues on islands in the Atlantic. He belives that the report
in the Portuguese History was fed by such legends. He does not even take
into consideration that such legends could come from ancient reports.

A very intersting part in the report regarding the horseman's statue is
that it is supposed to have "stood on a stone pedestal into which unknown
letters were carved everywhere". This is actually a clue to a Phoenician
origin! All other alphabets of that time, even the Arabic, Gothic and
Hebrew ones, were known to the Portuguese, although they perhaps could not read them. But they could not know Phoenician letters, that was the only
script that had died out more than 1000 years ago.

And there is another clue to this, Hennig, p. 146, writes: "Allegedly,
together with the coins of Corvo, mysterious writings in an unknown
language were found, which governor Pedro d'Afonseca is to have reproduced
in wax [Source: Mees, J.: Historie de la decouverte des Iles Acores, Gent
1901, p.25]. But they are, just like the reproduction, unfortunately
missing, and it is not determinable anymore what that was all about."
Hennig confuses language and writing here. The wax reproductions were
necessary to secure the letters, otherwise the writings could also have
been copied through handwriting.

These circumstances exclusively advocate a Phoenician/Carthaginian
discovery of the Azores and at least a temporary installation of a small
settlement (stone buildings) there. As a stopover from and to America it
would have been a perfect place for the support and maintenance of ships.
The finding report of the coins also hints why no traces of it are found today. In 1749, the foundation of the stone building was exposed by the sea during a storm. It was therefore near the beach. It has certainly not been built there because of the danger to be destroyed by the sea.
Apparently, in the past 2000 years, the sea has washed away more and more
of the coast, the Carthaginian settlement was originally probably a few
hundred meters on the land, 1749 the remains were on the beach and today
it is completely under water.

This is not a proof for the discovery of America in the ancient world, but
it is an interesting puzzle piece.

MfG

SENECA

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The Shaking, Spewing Earth

The Azores is a lively place to be. There is a continuous chain of
earthquakes and volcanic activity that has had a great effect on its
inhabitants. Many of them have left the islands in horror after
witnessing one of these catacylysmic events. But disasters are bound
to happen when a volcanic environment is home for thousands of
human beings.89

A warning of such calamity was signaled early in man's history on
the islands. When Cabral discovered Sao Miguel in 1444, he saw two
volcanic mountains, one at each end of the island. The next year
when he returned with supplies and additional settlers, he noticed
something was wrong. The western mountain was completely gone!
When he landed, he questioned the men he left behind from the
previous voyage, and found that during his absence, earthquakes
followed by volcanic explosions, collasped the crater. The years that
followed were labeled "the years of the ashes" because ash could be
found several feet deep on parts of the islands, and ash impeded
ocean traffic hundreds of miles at sea. The collasped crater at Sao
Miguel over the centuries has filled with rainwater forming two
lakes, and next to the lakes, a village can be found which was given
the mythological name, Sete Ciadades, or Seven Cities.90

There have been 21 major volcanic eruptions in the past 550 years
collectively occurring on the islands of Sao Miguel, Terceira, Pico, Sao
Jorge, and Faial.91 In 1562, there was an eruption on Pico causing the
residents to flee in horror to the other islands. In 1580, on Sao Jorge,
12 people and 4,000 head of cattle were killed.92 In 1630, on Sao
Miguel, 200 people were killed and numerous cattle during an
eruption. In 1811 an volcanic islet, one mile in length, formed off the
coast of Sao Miguel. A British Union Jack was planted on it claiming it
for Great Britain. But the protruding islet sank back into the sea
taking the British flag with it.93 As late as 1957, another volcanic
islet arose off the coast of Faial, but this one connected to the island
destroying a lighthouse in the process.94 As one can see, the Azores is
a living volcanic nightmare that has violently made itself known
often through the island chain's history much to the detriment of its
residents.

The earthquakes have been just as destructive. There have been 18
major temblors on the islands in recorded history.99 One such quake
took place in 1522 when the entire village of Villa Franca, on Sao
Miguel island, having 5,000 residents, and being the center of
government, was engulfed within sixty seconds by land mass thrown
from a hill behind the village. It caused a tidal wave and other
destruction in the adjascent islands. It took a year to dig the village
out and to give Christian burials to its 5,000 victims.100

As recently as 1980, a massive earthquake underneath the ocean
near the islands of Sao Jorge, Terceira, and Graciosa took 60 lives;
destroyed 5,278 homes, 32 churches, 6,000 other structures; and
made 21,296 people homeless.101

This litany of volcanic and earthquake disaster, has indelibly burned
itself into the psyche of the Azorean people. Some remain on the
islands with courage and determination, depending upon their
religious faith to see them through, while others emigrate and with
good reason.

But They are Beautiful!

The Azores islands are like the mythical sirens sailors believe in,
always dangerously beautiful. Most immigrants leave the Azores
with the idea of returning to their verdant isles with their majestic
cliffs, charming villages, and whitewashed homes glistening in the
sun. Many do return, but usually just to visit. However, a few do
make the islands their retirement home after working in the United
States for decades. They have their well-earned social security
checks sent to them.

---

I agree that Azorean folklore concerning the statue would seem irrelevant for reasons already discussed. Actually, I already have been searching for the names of the explorers that originally discovered the Azores and have been unable to find them either. I suppose, more research is needed! I will let you know if I find anything.

quote:

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Historical Depictions of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake

Jan T. Kozak, Institue of Rock Mechanics, Czech Academy of Science
Charles D. James, National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering

Note: With permission, this paper is abridged and edited from drafts of a longer work in progress by V. S. Moreira, C. Nunes and J. Kozak on the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755.

Although not the strongest or most deadly earthquake in human history, the 1755 Lisbon earthquake's impact, not only on Portugal but on all of Europe, was profound and lasting. Depictions of the earthquake in art and literature can be found in several European countries, and these were produced and reproduced for centuries following the event, which came to be known as "The Great Lisbon Earthquake."

The earthquake began at 9:30 on November 1st, 1755, and was centered in the Atlantic Ocean, about 200 km WSW of Cape St. Vincent. The total duration of shaking lasted ten minutes and was comprised of three distinct jolts. Effects from the earthquake were far reaching. The worst damage occurred in the south-west of Portugal. Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, was the largest and the most important of the cities damaged. Severe shaking was felt in North Africa and there was heavy loss of life in Fez and Mequinez. Moderate damage was done in Algiers and in southwest Spain. Shaking was also felt in France, Switzerland, and Northern Italy. A devastating fire following the earthquake destroyed a large part of Lisbon, and a very strong tsunami caused heavy destruction along the coasts of Portugal, southwest Spain, and western Morocco.

The oscillation of suspended objects at great distances from the epicenter indicate an enormous area of perceptibility. The observation of seiches as far away as Finland, suggest a magnitude approaching 9.0. Precursory phenomena were reported, including turbid waters in Portugal and Spain, falling water level in wells in Spain, and a decrease in water flow in springs and fountains.

Detailed descriptions of the earthquake's effects in Morocco, were, in some cases, based on Portuguese manuscripts written by priests. The cities of Meknes, Fez, and Marrakesh in the interior, and the coastal towns of Asilah, Larache, Rabat, and Agadir (Santa Cruz during the Portuguese occupation) suffered much damage in the quake. Mosques, synagogues, churches, and many other buildings collapsed in Meknes, where numerous casualties were reported. The convent, church, and Hospital de S. Francisco collapsed completely.

The Fire
Soon after the earthquake, several fires broke out, mostly started by cooking fires and candles. Some of them were rapidly extinguished, especially in the densely populated areas. But many inhabitants fled from their homes and left fires burning. Narrow streets full of fallen debris prevented access to the fire sites. The public squares filled with people and their rescued belongings, but as the fire approached, these squares were abandoned, and the fire reached catastrophic proportions. Looters setting fire to some ransacked houses caused the belief that the fire had a criminal origin. The flames raged for five days.

All of the downtown area, from St. Paul's quarter to St. Roch, and from Carmo and Trindade to the Rossio square area to the Castle and Alfama quarters were burned, along with the Ribeira, Rua Nova, and Rossio quarters. Remolares, Barrio Alto, Limoeiro, and Alfama, were partially burned.

Several buildings which had suffered little damage due to the earthquake were destroyed by the fire. The Royal Palace and the Opera House were totally gutted by the flames. The Patriarchal suffered relatively little damage in the earthquake, and religious services continued there during the afternoon, but the church was evacuated as the fire approached. Later the building was completely burned out.

The Tsunami
Immediately after the earthquake, many inhabitants of Lisbon looked for safety on the sea by boarding ships moored on the river. But about 30 minutes after the quake, a large wave swamped the area near Bugie Tower on the mouth of the Tagus. The area between Junqueria and Alcantara in the western part of the city was the most heavily damaged by the wave, but further destruction occurred upstream. The Cais de Pedra at Rerreiro do Paco and part of the nearby custom house were flattened.

A total of three waves struck the shore, each dragging people and debris out to sea and leaving exposed large stretches of the river bottom. In front of the Terreiro do Paco, the maximum height of the waves was estimated at 6 meters. Boats overcrowded with refugees capsized and sank. In the town Cascais, some 30 km west of Lisbon, the waves wrecked several boats and when the water withdrew, large stretches of sea bottom were left uncovered. In coastal areas such as Peniche, situated about 80 km north of Lisbon, many people were killed by the tsunami. In Setubal, 30 km south of Lisbon, the water reached the first floor of buildings.

The destruction was greatest in Algarve, southern Portugal, where the tsunami dismantled some coastal fortresses and, in the lower levels, razed houses. In some places the waves crested at more than 30 m. Almost all the coastal towns and villages of Algarve were heavily damaged, except Faro, which was protected by sandy banks. In Lagos, the waves reached the top of the city walls. For the coastal regions, the destructive effects of the tsunami were more disastrous than those of the earthquake.

In southwestern Spain, the tsunami caused damage to Cadiz and Huelva, and the waves penetrated the Guadalquivir River, reaching Seville. In Gibraltar, the sea rose suddenly by about two meters. In Ceuta the tsunami was strong, but in the Mediterranean Sea, it decreased rapidly. On the other hand, it caused great damage and casualties to the western coast of Morocco, from Tangier, where the waves reached the walled fortifications of the town, to Agadir, where the waters passed over the walls, killing many.

The tsunami reached, with less intensity, the coast of France, Great Britain, Ireland, Belgium and Holland. In Madeira and in the Azores islands damage was extensive and many ships were in danger of being wrecked.

The tsunami crossed the Atlantic Ocean, reaching the Antilles in the afternoon. Reports from Antigua, Martinique, and Barbados note that the sea first rose more than a meter, followed by large waves.

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A volcanic undersea rock which was formed in land

In 1898, during the installation of a telegraphic line, broke one of the wires which had been installed in 2800 m depth at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the place which has been named since then "Telegraph square". While special machinery was trying to remove the edges of the wire from the bottom of the sea a strange rock was brought to the surface. Several years later, Paul Tremie, head of the oceonographical institude of France, organised a conference in Paris. That rock had obviously volcanic origin and the most importand was that it hadn' t been solidified in the bottom of the sea but in the air. That is, it must have come of a volcano whose crater was above sea level. It ,also, had sharp sides which were not been corrosive by water. By analyzing it, Tremie estimated that it must have been 15000 years old. Later undersea foundings confirmed that the same type of rocks existed in a huge area at the depth of the Atlantic Ocean.

(Republication from Anastasia Nanou's article "Searching for Atlantis", in the magazine "MYSTIC-mysteries of the
world", July-August 2000)

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The (not so) Fortunate Islands

Around 100 BC, a Roman author and geographer that listened to the name Marcellus, wrote that the legend of
Atlantis was still being preserved on a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean. In 450 AD Proculus Diadochus, in an
attempt to verify what Marcellus had written so many centuries ago, went on a journey to the Islands of the Blessed
or Fortunate Islands, located at only a day sailing off the coast of Mauretania. He could only acknowledge Marcellus’
findings. For centuries, the Canaries were referred to as the Fortunate Islands, as is shown on various ancient maps
and descriptions. But where would someone ca. 100 BC get such accurate information on the inhabitants of
unexplored islands in a far away corner of the world? Surely, he didn’t go there himself! Could it be the information
came from a much older source?

In his Topographia Christiana, a description of the universe, Cosmas Indicopleustes of Alexandria described the Canary Islands as ‘The land man came from before the great flood’. It has been estimated the work has been written between 535 and 548 AD, in a Sinai cloister. Today, looking at his maps makes scientists smile, because his view of the world was far from accurate, but why would he pick this rather small archipelago as the place where man came from before the flood, inevitably linking it with Plato’s Atlantis. Are we overlooking something? In Critias we read:

“For when there were any survivors, as I have already said, they were men who dwelt in the mountains; and they
were ignorant of the art of writing, and had heard only the names of the chiefs of the land, but very little about their
actions.”
[Critias]

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http://www.grahamhancock.com/forum/VandecruysG1.php?p=1

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The Canary archipelago consists of 7 islands, but when the Portuguese discovered the islands, stories were being told about an eighth island, that was sometimes seen to the West of La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera. When sailors tried to reach it, the island was covered in mist and disappeared. Stories about ghost islands like this one seem imaginative tales at first, but there may be some form of truth in it. In 1867 an island suddenly rose from the sea near Terceira in the Azores, but only a few days later it was swallowed again by the sea. Maybe the eighth island was not just a story either, because events like this are indeed possible in this region, as the Canaries lay in a highly active volcanic zone.

The seven islands and six islets of the Canaries are in fact the emerged tips of a volcanic mountain range, situated just West of the African Continental Margin and hidden by the Atlantic Ocean. This means that under the surface of the deep blue ocean they are connected. It is a fact that the waters surrounding the islands are very deep, but to say they all rise directly from the ocean floor is just not a correct statement. It would only be true for part of the archipelago, more specifically the western part with Tenerife, La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera. These islands are indeed volcanic peaks going all the way down to the deep Atlantic floor. Lanzarote, Fuertaventura and the six islets though are flatter islands, yet also volcanic, but emerging from a submarine plateau, known as the Canary Ridge. This
ridge rises approximately 4,600 feet from the bottom of the ocean. Because of the extreme volcanism in this region (the whole archipelago was formed after volcanic eruptions and it is said that the volcanism in the area is the result of a mantle hotspot under the islands), it is possible that once a landmass in this area was above the surface, and did
not just sink because of the rising of the sea level, but more because of seismic activity such as earthquakes and tsunamis combined with or caused by volcanic eruptions at the end of the last Ice Age.

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The waters surrounding the Canaries are a true paradise for divers, and certainly not only because of the underwater fauna and flora. It seems like the same volcanic surface we find on the islands continues under water: volcanic rock formations, caves, tunnels, lava reefs. This shows that at some point in history volcanic eruptions and lava floods
changed the appearance of the ocean bottom in this region, maybe even hiding traces of Atlantis under a tick layer of
lava. Lanzarote, for instance, experienced in the 18th century a 6 years long volcanic eruption, altering a significant
part of its surface. Furthermore little is known about the ‘original’ ocean floor: it’s not exceptional for large parts to slide under the mantle again and disappear in the burning depths of the earth. In this process, deep trenches are formed in the ocean. This could have happened in the Canary region as well.

But how dangerous is this area geologically? And are disasters likely to happen there again? Unfortunately the
answer seems to be yes. In an article that appeared in the Guardian Newspaper in August 2001 British and US scientists warn that an eruption of the Cumbre Vieja on La Palma could cause one of the worst disasters in the history of mankind. In that article we read:

“A lump of rock twice the volume of the Isle of Man would slide down theunstable western flank of the mountain at more than 200mph and travel up to 40 miles along the sea floor. This would set off the worst tsunami, or giant wave, ever recorded.” (The Guardian, August 29, 2001)

The damage would be enormous, probably worse than we could ever imagine, easily reaching the African coast and the South of Europe with Portugal and Spain. Buildings would be swept away like card houses. Of course the
Canaries themselves wouldn’t be spared either. Simon Day of the Benfield Greig geohazard research centre at University College London said:

“The first wave is going to come in, maybe take out the first few blocks, take the debris away, flatten the ground.
The next wave takes out blocks progressively further inland. Over a large part of the area that is inundated, you will
be seeing near-total destruction."

Tsunamis are active in the complete water mass from the ocean floor all the way to the surface, unlike regular waves
that only affect the water near the surface. Therefore these giant waves tend to start going faster in deeper parts of the ocean . If this is possible today, it’s certainly an option that at the end of the last Ice Age in this highly volcanic zone tsunamis of the same kind took place, triggered by volcanic eruptions and seismic activity. This could have meant the end of Atlantis, and following Dr. Simon Day’s statement about the effects of the waves, it is not such a big surprise that today we find none or only a few traces of this once great civilization. The remains of Atlantis could be widely spread on the ocean floor by the power of the water, perhaps covered with lava, sand and rocks.

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For discoveries in that region we had to wait until 1981, when an expedition lead by Pippo Cappellano found some mysterious ruins with strange carved symbols on the ocean floor near the coast of Lanzarote. At a depth of about 50
feet and over an area of 900 square feet, they found large flat stones that look like they were carefully put into place.
These blocks were followed by wide stone steps. But that’s not all. On the other side, near the Moroccan coast, a
several miles long undersea wall has been discovered and photographed. What is hidden on the bottom of the
Atlantic? Are these the remains of the sunken civilization Atlantis? Like with the Yonaguni structures, many orthodox scientists claim they are natural forms, without adequate research, seemingly to avoid having to admit any mistakes in our history books.

The underwater structures in the Canary region were found at a depth of only 50 feet. That means they were
probably still above water some 2000 years ago. Therefore researchers concluded that Romans, Greeks or
Phoenicians must have built them. But none of them ever colonized the Canaries, so what would drive them to build these structures? There is indeed evidence, like some Roman amphoras, that indicates Europeans stopped by in the region, but their presence was probably of no substantial importance. It seems more logical to follow another path. Not everything of Atlantis sunk, so these structures could still be the last remains of the empire, swallowed by the
sea around the time of Christ.

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quote:

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Anno Domini 1331: it was the year when the first Portuguese sailor set foot on Canary grounds, rediscovering an
inhabited archipelago that, until then, had existed in almost perfect isolation from the rest of the world. The peaceful
isolation for both the islands and their people would soon come to a brutal end, because many more ships would
follow. But who were these islanders and where did they come from? Fact is that their presence on these islands
was a strange anomaly given their position near the African continent. They were tall, had a light skin colour and often blonde hair: not exactly what you would expect in these regions! They were called ‘Guanches’, from Guan
Chenech or Man from Chenech, as they themselves called the island Tenerife. In time, that name became common for
the inhabitants of the whole archipelago. How and when they got there is unknown, because they even lacked the knowledge to build boats. Scientists said they couldn’t have been there thousands of years before Plato’s time, but new evidence from archaeological examinations indicates a human presence on the islands from at least 4,000 BC (so maybe earlier), redefining the accepted view for inhabitation of the islands.

It looks like the European explorers found the last tribes of pure Cro-Magnon origin, which explains their physical features. The Cro-Magnon’s were Homo Sapiens Sapiens, and lived between 45,000 and 10,000 years ago. They were the first modern people in both physical appearance and intellect. Gradually they replaced the Neanderthals in
Europe. It seems that somehow the Guanches survived the extinction of the Cro-Magnon man, probably because life
was quite easy on their isolated islands. However, their culture seems to be evolving in a downward spiral. Instead
of innovating and advancing technologically and culturally, they seem to degenerate back to a Stone Age culture.

The origin of the Guanches remains a mysterious haze. Researchers linked them with the Berbers from North Africa,
but in Charles Berlitz’s ‘The Lost Ship of Noah’ we read that they told the Spanish that they had always thought they
were alone on the earth and that everyone else drowned in the Great Flood. It is not such a big step to link them with Atlantis, because they believed they once lived in a large land with cities, fertile plains and rivers. At a certain moment in time this prosperous empire was flooded and only a few people managed to escape death by climbing on the volcanic top Teide. The Canary Islands would be the highest peaks of this sunken civilization. This archaic memory is intriguing to say the least.

On various places on the islands ancient inscriptions have been found, but in the 14th Century the Guanches had long
forgotten their meaning. There are important differences in these inscriptions: there seem to be signs resembling the Phoenician and Numidian alphabet, but probably this wasn’t their original script, because I also found pictures of petroglyphs depicting strange symbols that look like a script. It seems like the Guanches simply forgot how to read and write. Adding up the facts definitely rings a bell to anyone who read the Timaeus & Critias dialogues, because the Atlanteans too forgot their knowledge of the written word.

Plato’s writings of how the Kings of Atlantis would meet at a central point on the island to discuss laws and politics
definitely resemble the Guanche culture. Just like the Atlantean kings the Guanche kings would meet at a ‘Tagaror’ or meeting place to vote new laws and hold political debates. The reader will notice how this doesn’t fit for Stone
Age people. On Tenerife there were 9 little kingdoms and a neutral area in the middle. The 9 kings or Menceys as
they called themselves ruled there piece of land as if it was a country. Each kingdom knew three classes: the
monarchy, the nobility and the lower class.These social structures might seem a bit ridiculous because the island is really not that big, but they could be based on a memory from the past they tried to copy on their island. An extract
from Critias explains the link with Atlantis:

“Each of the ten kings in his own division and in his own city had the absolute control of the citizens, and, in most cases, of the laws, punishing and slaying whomsoever he would.

According the Plato the Atlanteans were amongst the best sailors in the world. Despite the fact that the Guanches
didn’t know how to build boats, there is evidence on the islands that once they did have this knowledge. This
evidence comes in the form of rock art like for example in Pico de Don David on Fuertaventura: here we find a very
clear drawing of a large ship. This is certainly not a little boat used on a lake or river, but undoubtedly a vessel that
was perfect for ocean expeditions.

And there is more: a central characteristic of the Atlantean empire was the use of a mixture of red, black and white stones. This extraordinary combination, most probably of volcanic origin, can be found all over the Canaries. On Lanzarote, the Guanches built long, conic pillar-like monuments in red, black and white stone. Due to seismic
activity on the islands all except one collapsed. This remaining monument can be visited at the coast near Arrecife.
These three colour designs are also found in rock paintings like the ones in the Cueva Pintada (painted cave) on Gran
Canaria.

That is the evidence we can confirm today, but there are also reports from temples in the same three colours.
Unfortunately the Christians destroyed all of them. The best-preserved ruin can be found on La Palma. Called Efeguen, their resemblance with Atlantean architecture does not limit itself to just the colour scheme, but also the construction designs. The Efeguen consisted of 2 concentric walls, one inside the other. Then in the centre of the inside wall there was a large altar, placed on a platform. This could be a reference to Poseidon’s altar, placed in a temple in the centre of the city. The resemblance is certainly there, and perhaps the Guanches built these temples, of which they remembered the basic shape from a distant past, as a way to remember and honour their ancestors.

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http://www.grahamhancock.com/forum/VandecruysG1.php?p=1

Since the evidents became to overwhelming Dr. Heyerdahl had to admit (sic!) that the connections to the Viking-ship-culture (of England, Denmark, Norway) actually had been present on the Canary Islands.

To a Norwegian historian that was very "strange", - i.e. contradictory to the the traditional comprehension of the Norse, - as a provincial tribe with basicly local connections.

I am happy to hear that the last excavations are - once and for all - proving that the Guanches really were a higher, atlantic culture, - just as Mr. Heyerdahl proclaimed already in 1991, as he got the first excavation organized. At the professors laugther...

Since he was not only ythe first, but also the only (authoritative historian) to recognize the first pyramidal structures of Guimar, as something different than "shamble and occasional structures".

Moreover, - he took the local LEGENDS somewhat seriously. Which made his project of excavations even more suspect to the academical bi-siders.

Today it is finally proved that the entire Island of Tenerife was provided with constructions, - makingt the island into a giga-monument - where the core of the Island, the alpin mountain-top, Mt. "Teide", becomes the midpoint of a imaginative sun-wheel-construction. As unit ("universe") viewable from the sea, as you sail around the Island...

Thereby I think we can bury the debate Heyerdahl stirred by his excavation; wheter the Guanches were a highly cultivated people or not. Somehow, Spanish historians did not really want to undertake the real investigation of that question. Thus many tried to ridicule Senor Kon-Tiki to avoid his further investments. In vain, - off course.

Today it is finally proven that The Guanches - finally extincted at the end of the 15th century, - was the last southern survivors of an ancient high-culture that once sailed the Oceans.

Not only did they bring astronomical, navigational, technical and architectural knowledge, - but they excirsed very advanced skills of masonry. The restored pyramids and monuments actually tells of a culture that bore exstensive knowledge of the world, - as their as-tro-logical monuments show a completed, precise and counscious perspective of the Universe.

May the Rigthous Grace fall upon our memories of Thor the Kon-Ti-Ki.
Guanco Salutè!

I just posted this message to another AR thread. But it belongs here as well. Navigators seemed to have carried the spiral symbol of eternity with them everywhere, including the place that I believe to be the logical link between the Atlantic and the Pacific:

I have encountered spirals of the nature described on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua. (See p. 365 of Atlantis In America: Navigators of the Ancient World). The referenced petroglyph is carved in a large stone about half-way up the slope of the southern of the two large volcanos that form Ometepe Island. On this volcano there have been many "Atlantean" figures excavated (p.363) and the curator of the Ometepe Museum has told me that the statues were found under the ground at a stratigraphic level corresponding to 12,000 YBP.
Lake Nicaragua is an interesting link between the Caribbean and the Pacific. The navigable San Juan river connects it to the Atlantic side while only 12 miles of plain and a few low hills separate it from the Pacific. This site would have been the "Panama Canal" if the Nicaraguans would have consented. The did not at that time, nor would they later consent to a joint exploration with Ivar Zapp and myself.
If Plato's "Island-Continent" with a navigational center has any veracity this would be the leading contender. Ometepe Island is situated at the center of a vast continent (the Americas) yet resembles an island in that a navigator would pass from the Caribbean-Atlantic to a very different body of water, the Pacific, in a very short portage. The height and separation of the waves reaching shore from the Pacific is what sets it apart from all other bodies of water- a feature navigators would not miss. It is what Plato described as "true Ocean". Interestingly, Lake Nicaragua is the home of the only large (12-foot) freshwater sharks, freshwater Marlin, and over 100 other species of sea-life normally only found in the oceans. www.AtlantisInAmerica.com

www.AtlantisInAmerica.com

This has been posted on a diffrent thread but I believe it belongs here as well. Its in regard to the spiral symbol for eternity (or for the sun) which has been found around the globe... an obvious work of navigators.

I have encountered spirals of the nature described on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua. (See p. 365 of Atlantis In America: Navigators of the Ancient World). The referenced petroglyph is carved in a large stone about half-way up the slope of the southern of the two large volcanos that form Ometepe Island. On this volcano there have been many "Atlantean" figures excavated (p.363) and the curator of the Ometepe Museum has told me that the statues were found under the ground at a stratigraphic level corresponding to 12,000 YBP.
Lake Nicaragua is an interesting link between the Caribbean and the Pacific. The navigable San Juan river connects it to the Atlantic side while only 12 miles of plain and a few low hills separate it from the Pacific. This site would have been the "Panama Canal" if the Nicaraguans would have consented. The did not at that time, nor would they later consent to a joint exploration with Ivar Zapp and myself.
If Plato's "Island-Continent" with a navigational center has any veracity this would be the leading contender. Ometepe Island is situated at the center of a vast continent (the Americas) yet resembles an island in that a navigator would pass from the Caribbean-Atlantic to a very different body of water, the Pacific, in a very short portage. The height and separation of the waves reaching shore from the Pacific is what sets it apart from all other bodies of water- a feature navigators would not miss. It is what Plato described as "true Ocean". Interestingly, Lake Nicaragua is the home of the only large (12-foot) freshwater sharks, freshwater Marlin, and over 100 other species of sea-life normally only found in the oceans. www.AtlantisInAmerica.com

I didn't even know that Thor Heyerdahl had passed on until you posted that. 04/14/04, from cancer, at the age of 87. Ocean exploration has lost a great man. Also, if he hadn't attracted investment to the pyramids of the Canary Islands, they would probably be in rubble right now. I have to admit that I have been bummed out since I heard that. He was (and is) truly one of my heroes.

Location: 37.09S, 12.28W
Elevation: 2559 ft. (780 m)
Last Updated: September 27, 2004

Tristan de Cunha is a stratovolcano that forms an island located in the
south-central Atlantic Ocean. The volcano has a 300-m-wide summit crater
and is composed pyroclastic deposits upon a base of low-angle lava
flows. Numerous parasitic cinder cones are also found on the flanks of
the volcano. The only historical eruption of the volcano occurred in
1961. This eruption took place along the north shore and forced the
evacuation of the island's inhabitants.
Last known significant activity: 1962
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2004 Reports
------------------------------------------------------------------------

August 03, 2004

According to a news report, a swarm of earthquakes occurred beneath
Tristan da Cunha during the nights of 28 and 29 July. A scientist
monitoring seismic activity from the Preparatory Commission for the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Vienna International
Centre indicated that the main swarm lasted ~8 hours and occurred ~30 km
below the volcano. After the swarm, there were a few individual
earthquakes and then activity tapered off.

The Scotsman | December 28, 2004
By John-Paul Ford Rojas

The threat from a collapsing mountain in the Atlantic Ocean could
unleash deadly tidal waves on a similar scale to the Asian tsunami, a
scientist warned today.

Hundreds of millions of people could die in a disaster affecting Britain
and the eastern United States.

Professor Bill McGuire called for an early warning system to be
installed to counter the potential danger.

Researchers have discovered that a chunk of volcano in the Canary
Islands the size of the Isle of Man is on the brink of falling into the
sea.

Scientists believe it could break away when the Cumbre Vieja volcano in
La Palma next erupts.

If that happened a giant tsunami, or massive wave, reaching heights of
more than 500 feet would be sent racing across the Atlantic at the speed
of a passenger jet.

Around nine hours later it would hit the Caribbean islands and the east
coasts of Canada and the US.

After travelling 4,000 miles the wave would be lower and wider but still
around 20 metres ? 50 metres (66ft ? 164ft) high.

Stretching for many miles, it would home in on estuaries and harbours
and sweep up to 20 miles inland, destroying everything in its path.

Boston, New York, Washington DC and Miami would be virtually wiped off
the map and tens of millions of people killed.

Meanwhile the size of the waves reaching Britain would be half as high
as those hitting America but this would still be on the same scale as
those seen in the disaster in the Indian Ocean.

Prof McGuire, director of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre at
University College London, said monitoring might at best give two weeks
warning.

But although the danger had been known about since the 1990s, no-one was
keeping a proper watch on the mountain.

He said that a chunk of the mountain had been teetering on the brink of
collapse since the last volcanic eruption of Cumbre Vieja in 1949.

Prof McGuire said: “We expect during a future eruption that whole mass
to collapse into the North Atlantic.

“You are dealing with a similar situation to the Indian Ocean only on a
much more devastating scale.”

The areas affected would include the entire North Atlantic rim including
north west Africa and southern Europe.

Prof McGuire said it was “certain” this would happen at some stage
although whether the next eruption would be the one to cause the
collapse was not known.

The next eruption could be between 20 and 200 years away.

He said the problem had been known about since the Spanish government
funded a study in the 1990s but authorities had then chosen to ignore
it.

Radar satellite image technology was now needed to find out how much the
unstable mass has been moving.

He added: “It is an issue people are aware of but hopefully the Indian
Ocean business will focus people’s minds a bit more.”

There was no warning system for tsunamis in the Atlantic and although
the ocean was only affected by 2% of those in the world, their impact
could be devastating.

Earthquakes such as one that hit Lisbon in 1755 could also trigger the
giant waves, as they have done in the recent disaster.

The 18th century tremor produced massive waves that caused thousands of
deaths and affected people as far away as the Caribbean.

“My point of view is not that everybody should be worrying about this
but if you know that these things are going to happen you either sit
back and just wait for it to happen or you do something about it,” Prof
McGuire said.