Imagine a grand and prosperous civilization suddenly consumed by a ravenous ocean, burying an entire culture in a watery grave. No sign of it remains, only the silent waves drowning out the screams of its victims. We’ve all heard the story of Atlantis and its unexplained past—a ghost of history.
The myth of ancient Atlantis is so intriguing that various explorers have attempted to uncover its secrets for centuries. Finally, in 2011, it appears that Atlantis could indeed be found. Connecticut professor and archaeologist Richard Freund, who teaches at the University of Hartford, announced that he located Atlantis in southern Spain. Freund and his team investigated the mud flats surrounding the Doña Ana Park (one of the largest swamps in Europe) using satellites, underwater technology, and digital mapping in an attempt to find geological formations similar to those described in Plato’s dialogues. Legend says that Atlantis was overwhelmed by a tsunami thousands of years ago and disappeared into the ocean, leaving only ruins. “This is the power of tsunamis,” Freund told Reuters. “It is just so hard to understand that it can wipe out 60 miles inland, and that’s pretty much what we’re talking about.”
Previous researchers believed that Atlantis was located farther east near the Greek island of Santorini or the Italian islands of Sardinia and Cyprus, reports MSNBC. However, in 2009 and 2010, Freund and his expert team worked with Spanish archeologists and geologists to examine the remains of an ancient city discovered in southern Spain which dates back over 4,000 years. This, Freund strongly believes, is the true location of Atlantis.
However, the oceanic remains of Atlantis are not the only proof of its existence. The biggest clue towards the mystery of Atlantis is surprisingly not found underwater, but in central Spain. Freund and his team traveled to central Spain and studied “mysterious memorial cities built in the image of Atlantis,” which were most likely constructed by the tsunami survivors. Matching these ancient images to the geological formations found in Doña Ana Park would bring light to the world’s greatest mystery.
The fabled lost city of Atlantis has been a popular myth for thousands of years. Plato wrote about the city approximately 2,600 years ago and described it as ” an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Hercules,” reports the University of Hartford. The “Pillars of Hercules” are modernly known as the Straits of Gibraltar of southern Spain. Is it a coincidence? Maybe or maybe not. Will this long and historical search for Atlantis finally come to an end?
On Sunday March 13, the National Geographic Channel premiered the new documentary Finding Atlantis, which follows Freund along with American, Canadian, and Spanish scientists in their search for Atlantis. Joining Freund is geophysicist Paul Bauman of Worley Parsons in Calgary Canada and geographer Phillip Reeder from the University of South Florida. Although there is no definitive proof that the Spanish ruins are Atlantis, reports FOX News, Freund is confident that the excavations and artifacts found in these marshlands are indeed the legendary city of Atlantis.
