Checklists

Checklists have been published by a number of authors that compare the features of Plato’s Atlantis with that of their preferred location and that of other writers. While such lists can appear impressive they suffer from a number of defects. First the lists are drawn up arbitrarily^(a) and frequently omit headings that may not suit the theory of its compiler, but might support a competing view. Secondly, another excuse for not including particular items is often done on the grounds that they were just modifications by Plato. Finally, since Plato’s text contains various ambiguities and contradictions, some list headings are capable of more than one interpretation, for example, the location of the Pillars of Heracles or the date of Atlantis’ destruction.

Finally, if the Atlantis narrative is accepted as a mixture of detail from more than one source, possibly separated by thousands of years, it is meaningless to include everything in a single list. An example of this might be where the clues to the location of the Atlantean capital might be based on a very ancient source but the description of its architecture may have been inspired by structures from a different location, possibly from Plato’s own experience. In such a case the two will never be discovered together.

The earliest list of details purporting to match specifics in Plato’s description of Atlantis with a particular theory came in the seventeenth century, when Olof Rudbeck assembled 102 ‘proofs’ that he believed associated Sweden with Atlantis.

In the case of Indonesia, Dos Santos drew up a 32-point checklist^(b), which has now been adopted and expanded to 60 points^(e) by Dhani Irwanto, who published Atlantis: The lost city is in Java Sea^[1093] in 2015.

The Atlantis Conference of 2005 concluded with the drafting of a list of 24 criteria^(f),  which must be met to qualify as Plato’s lost city. Jim Allen initially expanded this list to 34 points^(a) and in December 2010 added a further 16 , bringing his new total up to 50 criteria^(d), chosen with an obvious bias towards his own Bolivian theory.

The 2005 conference also led to the drafting of the Atlantis Research Charter, which although not a checklist in the sense that I have used it, does provide a rational set of guidelines for researchers to follow,  firmly rejecting pseudoscience, dogmatism and abuse for political or religious ends.

The most recent (2016) checklist from Philip Runggaldier, not unexpectedly, points to his chosen location of the Celtic Shelf rather than Minoan Crete as the location of Atlantis. Not, in my mind, a fair comparison.

My book, Joining the Dots, as far as I’m aware, raises for the first time in any detail, the obvious prerequisites for a successful invasion. Obviously Invaders require a powerful army, military intelligence (spies) and the ability to keep supply lines as short as possible. The latter demands that military expansionism is directed at neighbouring territories, a fact confirmed by the manner in which all ancient empires developed. However, when it comes to checklists the need for proximity is conveniently ignored as can be seen by its absence from the lists compiled by advocates of some of the more extreme Atlantis locations, such as, Antarctica, America or Indonesia. At least some Plato’s Atlantis identifiers can be linked with most proposed locations, but if they are not within ‘striking distance’ of ancient Athens, they cannot be Atlantis.

^(a) Bolivia – https://web.archive.org/web/20200709081410/http://www.atlantisbolivia.org/atlantistheories.htm

^(b) Indonesia – http://www.atlan.org/articles/checklist/  – Link Broken*

^(d) https://web.archive.org/web/20170724234247/http://www.atlantisbolivia.org/beyond24points.htm

^(e) https://atlantisjavasea.com/2015/08/22/evidence-in-hypothesized-location/

^(f) https://grahamhancock.com/phorum/read.php?1,249446,249654