Archaeology: Economy-Size Atlantis

For 20 centuries and more, the legend of the lost Atlantis has had a powerful hold on the human imagination. In his dialogues, Plato described Atlantis as an island “confederation of marvelous power” located near the Straits of Gibraltar, somewhere in the Atlantic. In Timaeus, he declared that one day the whole population “sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea.” Plato dated the disaster as 9,000 years before the time of Solon, the Athenian statesman who lived in the 7th century B. C. But modern oceanographers can find no trace of Atlantis—was Plato wrong?

Perhaps not. Last week a U. S. oceanographer announced that what may be a completely intact Minoan city was unearthed recently on the Aegean island of Thera, now called Santorin. The discovery could well substantiate the most intriguing of all Atlantis theories—that Plato was right but simply mislocated Atlantis, which was actually an island kingdom comprising Thera, Crete and other Aegean islands.

Divide by 10. That theory was proposed in 1960 by University of Athens Seismologist Anghelos Galanopoulos, who believes that Plato misread by a factor of 10 the dimensions of Atlantis and the date of its destruction given in an Egyptian manuscript. Dividing by 10, Galanopoulos came up with an area roughly encompassing Thera and Crete; similarly reducing Platos date to 900 years before Solon, he moved the destruction of Atlantis forward to about 1490 B. C. At about that time, a well-documented volcanic eruption plunged large portions of Thera into the sea, rained lethal vapors and debris on Crete 75 miles to the south, and generated 160-ft. tidal waves that battered Crete and perhaps Egypt as well.

All this fascinated U. S. Marine Geologist James W. Mavor Jr. of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who sailed to Thera last year in the institute’s research vessel, Chain. When his seismic profiles of the island showed geophysical conformations that seemed to match Plato’s description of Atlantis, Mavor organized a full-fledged expedition headed by Greek Archaeologist Spyridon Marinates and including Professor Emily Vermeule, research fellow at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Shortly after the diggers arrived, they detected artifacts buried in a 2,500-ft. swath across the island. Digging nine trenches, the group unearthed indications of a city half a square mile in size that had once held an estimated population of 30,000. “The find was so astonishing,” said Mavor, “we were unequipped to handle it.”

Vintage 1500 B. C. Back in the U.S. last week to plan a major excavation, Mavor and Mrs. Vermeule gave the details at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Apparently buried under volcanic ash and pumice during the Thera eruption, the city is 3,500 years old and so nearly intact that the archaeologists found one, two-and three-story houses, some of them over sunken cellars. Resting within the structures were looms, vases similar to those found in Minoan ruins on Crete, jars containing a possible mixture of ash, wine and olive oil, stone instruments, oil lamps, mortars and pestles. “There can be no question that the settlement was Minoan,” said Mrs. Vermeule. “The most dramatic aspect was to be in those ancient hovises and see the dark shapes of objects that had been there undisturbed for 3,500 years.”

On the walls of the upper floors of the houses were frescoes depicting Mi-noan-like marinescapes. Although animal skeletons have been unearthed, no human remains—or gold—have yet been found. As archaeologists see it, this suggests that the inhabitants had some warning of the final eruption and fled—where, no one knows.

Mavor’s expedition may have discovered the city none too soon. Each day, ancient houses on Thera are destroyed by mining companies that dig up fine ash for cement factories. To preserve their find, Mavor & Co. plan to buy the land over the interred city and begin a ten-year, $1,000,000 excavation. They will also try an unprecedented adaptation of mining to archaeology. Rather than ripping up the surface to expose the city, they hope to hollow out underground caverns and create a subterranean museum.

The exact link between Thera and Atlantis may never be known, but the new find is an impressive clue. “Two years ago, I couldn’t find a single archaeologist interested in the Atlantis theory,” says Mavor. “Now several admit there may be some connection.”