Niebla
Atlantis in Andalusia
Atlantis in Andalusia: A Study of the Ancient Sun Kingdoms of Spain [053] by Mrs E.M. Whishaw is an account of her 25-year search for Tartessos which she believed she had found under the city of modern Seville.
>An association of Andalusia with Atlantis goes back more than 400 years when José Pellicer linked Atlantis with the Doñana Marshes, an idea that received considerable attention in the 20th century leading to extensive unsuccessful excavations in an area where satellite imagery suggested buried structures.<
Despite of the original title of her book, her view was that Tartessos itself was not Atlantis but one of its colonies. The book describes in detail Mrs Whishaw’s excavations in the town of Niebla, where she lived and the evidence she found which indicate an early culture that she claimed was Atlantean and which was brought from Libya following the drying of the Sahara around 10000 BC. She also investigated the pre-Roman mining that was carried out in the region and concluded that the copper extracted there was the ‘orichalcum’ of Plato’s narrative.
Mrs Whishaw established a museum in Niebla.
Whishaw’s book was reprinted as Atlantis in Spain (Adventures Unlimited Press, Illinois, 1994)
Whishaw, Elena Maria
Elena Maria Whishaw (1857-1937/40) was the widow of fellow archaeologist, Bernard Whishaw, whom she succeeded as director of the Anglo-Spanish-American School of Archaeology. Mrs Whishaw devoted a considerable part of her life to the search for evidence of Atlantis in Andalusia and in particular around the town of Niebla and the city of Seville. However, she was convinced that the region had been colonised by Atlanteans from Libya. She published her discoveries in a 1928 book[053] that has now been reprinted after many years. The region attracted Atlantis seekers following the views of Juan Fernandez Amador de los Rios published in 1919. Adolf Schulten the German archaeologist also spent a considerable time searching in the area during the first half of the 20th century.
Apart from her interest in history and archaeology, Whishaw also studied local folk arts, in particular embroidery. She lived in Niebla until her death, where she founded a small museum, which unfortunately is now rather neglected.
In 1926 she discovered a prehistoric water conduit, which solved the serious problem of supplying the local population. For all that and other good works, she was named ‘adoptive daughter of Niebla’ in 1927.
In March 2018, the local Niebla Council organised an exhibition of artefacts representative of her life’s work and her contribution to the local community.(a)