Canals are recognised as having been critical for the development of many ancient civilisations and are also evidence for the engineering capabilities of these early societies. Recent discoveries in the Peruvian Andes revealed canals over 5,400 years old.

Canals in the capital city of Atlantis are described by Plato in great detail but with dimensions that are quite unrealistic. One possible explanation for this; the whole story is fiction and the dimensions were just pulled out of thin air. However, if Plato or anyone had been writing fiction you would expect such details to be closer to reality. In fact Plato expresses incredulity at these dimensions but notes them as a record of Solon’s report. This adds weight to the theory that the numbers had been transcribed erroneously from the original Egyptian sources or the units of measurements were misunderstood.

The dimensions might be that of a natural feature adapted to suit the needs of a fortified harbour. The latter idea has been proposed and expanded on by Ulf Richter.

Peter James in opposing the idea of a Minoan explanation points out that no canal systems have been discovered on Crete or Thera.