Have archaeologists discovered evidence for the lost city of Atlantis?
   Carrie, 12, Web post

Dr. dig responds:

No one has yet proved that Atlantis really existed. According to the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, Atlantis was located "on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules" (or what we call the Rock of Gibraltar). For Plato and the Greeks who lived along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, "the other side" meant the Atlantic Ocean. Plato also wrote that the people of Atlantis had become greedy and lazy and, as punishment, the god Zeus destroyed the city with earthquakes and floods. Atlantis sank into the sea and vanished forever. While some scholars believe that the tale of Atlantis is an allegory, used to teach the ancients a lesson about the evils of greed and power, others think the tale is based on people's memory or a real island and that the island was located not in the Atlantic, but somewhere closer to home in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1967, the Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos began excavating Thera, a volcanic island 60 miles north of Crete in the Mediterranean. There he discovered a city, Akrotiri, buried 15 feet deep beneath volcanic ash. The ash had preserved buildings, streets, and beautiful wall paintings. Marinatos determined that Thera was destroyed by one of the world's largest volcanic eruptions in around 1500 b.c. Some people think Thera could be the island of Atlantis. There are, of course, many problems with this interpretation‹one being that Thera is not in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. But people still dream and long to discover Atlantis, even with no archaeological proof of its existence. To get the real scoop about the "Lost City of Atlantis," don't just go see the movie, read about this mystery isle in the April/May 2000 issue of DIG, available at your local library.