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NEWS October 2024
OCTOBER 2024 The recent cyber attack on the Internet Archive is deplorable and can be reasonably compared with the repeated burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. I have used the Wayback Machine extensively, but, until the full extent of the permanent damage is clear, I am unable to assess its effect on Atlantipedia. At […]Read More »
Joining The Dots
I have now published my new book, Joining The Dots, which offers a fresh look at the Atlantis mystery. I have addressed the critical questions of when, where and who, using Plato’s own words, tempered with some critical thinking and a modicum of common sense.Read More »
King Arthur
Howells, Caleb
>>Caleb Howells is a British researcher with a passion for ancient history. He has already published a book about King Arthur [2077] and now offers a new look at the story of Brutus the Trojan King of Britain [2076] in The Trojan Kings of Britain. In addition, he has published numerous articles on a wide range of historical subjects(i). A number of these were produced as a content writer for the Greek Reporter website, where he has recently (2023) endeavoured to revive the ailing Minoan Hypothesis (a)(b).<<
Plato came from Athens, a city frequently damaged by earthquakes, he also spent time in Sicily where he must have been made aware of the continually active volcano, Mount Etna. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that Plato could distinguish between an earthquake and a volcano, so when he wrote that Thera had been destroyed by an earthquake, that is what he intended to say. Furthermore, his description of the submergence of Atlantis as a result of the ‘quake sound very much like liquefaction frequently associated with such events. The Minoan Hypothesis does not match Plato’s account.
Although I disagree with Howells’ identification of Atlantis as Minoan, I was pleasantly surprised that in a December 2023 article(c) he tackled the question of the Pillars of Herakles which included many of the points already published in Atlantipedia. He notes the use of the phrase as a metaphor, particularly by Pindar who used it “as an expression denoting the outermost limit of something. His use of the phrase ‘beyond that the wise cannot set foot’ indicates that he was not merely talking about athletic limits, but limits in general.” Howells also points out the multiplicity of locations designated as ‘Pillars’ and that more than one location were so called at the same time. Nevertheless, he cannot let go of a possible Minoan connection and so proposed the Gulf of Laconia where the Capes Matapan (Tainaron) and Maleas in the Peloponnese are the two most southerly points of mainland Greece. They had been proposed over forty years ago by Galanopoulos & Bacon [0263] as the ‘Pillars’ when the early Greeks were initially confined to the Aegean Sea and the two promontories were the western limits of their maritime knowledge at that time. Overall, Howells’ article is interesting but unoriginal.
A few days later (12/12/23) he cast doubts on the Capes Matapan and Maleas as the location of the Pillars of Herakles(d). Howells is like a dog with a bone where the Minoan Hypothesis is concerned and by now should be realising the true complexity of the Atlantis story.
Atlantis was destroyed by submergence following an earthquake, not a volcanic eruption. The Minoans were traders not invaders, so if Crete was Atlantis where is there mention of a war between Athens and the Minoans?(See Below) Atlantis was a confederation of some sort, so who were its constituents? Why did Plato not simply name the not-too-distant Cretans as the attackers of Athens and laud the victory of the Athenians?
In late January 2024, Howells expanded his efforts to bolster the Minoan Hypothesis. This time, using some rather convoluted reasoning, he identifies ancient Crete as the Caphtor referred to in the Bible.
This is another contentious issue among historians. The matter is discussed more fully in the Caphtor-Keftiu entry here, where you will find a number of locations identified as Caphtor, including Cyprus, Crete, Cilicia and the Nile Delta. Although currently the most popular would appear to be Crete, Wikipedia seems to favour the Egyptian region of Pelusium(e)!
Cyprus had previously been the most favoured location, about whom Immanuel Velikovsky noted(f) “if Caphtor is not Cyprus, then the Old Tesrament completely omits referenceto this large island close to the Syrian coast.” The Cypriot identification has been endorse by a number of commentators such as John Strange, author of Caphtor/Keftiu: A new Investigation[1052]. I think that with so much controversy surrounding the indentity of the Caphtorim that its possible value as support for the equally controversial Minoan Hypothesis is substantially weakened.
Furthermore, I note that in 2022, Phil Butler published a paper that also suggested identifying the Keftiu as Atlantean.
A number of commentators have supported the idea of Atlantis in the Aegean region. The most convincing, in my opinion, have come from Peter James [047], Eberhard Zangger [483] and more recently Nicholas Costa [2072] , all of whom designated an Anatolian location for Atlantis. They all have their shortcomings but have built stronger cases than Howells for their chosen locations.
>>In September 2024, Howells published a YouTube video complaining about my treatment of his support for the Minoan Hypothesis (MH). To be clear, I bear no ill will towards Caleb, who seems to be an affable individual. For my part, as a grumpy old man, I have become quite intolerant of most of what is written today about Atlantis. The Minoan Hypothesis has developed over the past century, but, in my opinion, has not improved with age. Like most Atlantis theories it aligns with some of the characteristics described by Plato, but never all of them. I shall return to this shortly.
First, Howells was unhappy that I did not seem to give his historical work precedence over his teaching, which was inadvertent and now rectified. His other complaints are more contentious, starting with the war with the Mycenaeans. Until recently, the Minoans were generally considered to have been a peaceful nation. It is only recently that the idea of warlike Minoans have been seriously mooted, led by University of Sheffield archaeologist Barry Molloy(h), but, remains a minority view. My understanding is that the Mycenaeans (Greeks) attacked the Minoans (Atlanteans!), not the other way around as Plato described it. In Howells’ paper investigating Santorini as Atlantis he states “We do not know who the aggressor in this historical war really was.” The same paper(b) suggests that Santorini may have been Atlantis, which, for me, implied that the Temple of Poseidon would have been on the pre-eruption island. Howells, devotes this article to listing the similarities between Santorini and Plato’s Atlantis, but ends without any firm conclusion!
The identification of Caphtor with Crete is generally, but not universally, accepted and is not an issue for me. However, it does highlight how so little in ancient history is clear-cut.
My objections to the MH among other matters include –
>The fact that Plato clearly attributes the destruction of Atlantis to an earthquake and not to an eruption.
>Neither Crete nor Santorini was submerged or created any shipping hazard that lasted until Plato’s time.
>The missing elephants, described by Plato as being “of its nature the largest and most voracious” (Crit. 114e-115a). Certainly, they are not pygmy elephants.
>Where are the mountains situated to the north of the Plain of Atlantis described “as surpassing all that now exists in number magnitude and beauty.”
For me and many others, individually or combined, these facts remove Thera/Crete as a serious contender as the location of Plato’s Atlantis.
Finally, I must insist that I never intentionally set out to misrepresent anybody, I try to offer all sides of a debate, even those I dislike, which is why Atlantipedia includes many thousands of links, allowing readers to decide for themselves. For that reason, I greatly resent being accused of unreliability, when Howells’ real gripe should not be with me but Plato.<<
(a) Was Atlantis’ Temple of Poseidon the Palace of Knossos in Crete? (greekreporter.com)
(b) Was Atlantis a Minoan Civilization on Santorini Island? (greekreporter.com)
(c) https://greekreporter.com/2023/12/07/pillars-hercules-greek-mythology/
(d) https://greekreporter.com/2023/12/12/mythical-atlantis-located/
(f) Ages in Chaos p.210 n.79
(g) The Keftiu: Were They Absorbed and Erased from History? (argophilia.com)
Ward, Francis J. & Francis P.
Francis J. Ward
Francis J. Ward (1922- ) & Francis P. Ward (1951- ) are an American father and son team who have taken up the idea of Ireland being Plato’s Atlantis(a). They quote from Ulf Erlingsson, Cedric R. Leonard and the eccentric Conor MacDari in support of their view, which is that “Atlantis was a global, maritime empire based in Ireland”. They also modestly claim that “Among other ancient mysteries, we have solved the hidden message of the Great Pyramid(b), and the riddles of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable, the Fisher King, Pahana—the Lost White Brother, the Kalki incarnation of Vishnu, and the fulfillments of the Star, Branch, and World Ruler Prophecies.”
Their first book, The Truth Against the World-Red Phoenix Rising & the Return of the Thunder Gods[1156], but their supporting website(c) is currently offline, which may not be a bad thing!
(b) https://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2011/11/24/the-hidden-message-of-the-great-pyramid (Link broken July 2o20) See: Archive 2835
(c) See: https://web.archive.org/web/20120728100841/https://www.thetruthagainsttheworld.net/
Fletcher, Ron (m)
A Ron Fletcher, according to Rodney Castleden[225.189], saw the Roman 
Orpheus Mosaic in Woodchester(a), Gloucestershire and concluded that it depicted a map of Atlantis. Not content with that, he also claimed it as a star map as well as King Arthur’s Round Table, ignoring the fact that King Arthur is reputed to have lived long after the Romans left Britain. It is silly statements such as Fletcher’s that discredits serious Atlantis researchers. I have no other information regarding Fletcher,*[ apart from the fact that he appears to have self-published his ideas in a short book[1138].
Coghlan, Ronan
Ronan Coghlan (1948- ) was born in Dublin and now lives in Bangor, Northern Ireland. He has been a teacher at a number of schools and has published books on a variety of 
subjects ranging from Fairies to King Arthur to Atlantis. His best-selling Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends[0793] is reported to have sold 120,000 copies!
Coghlan has also produced a Companion to Atlantis and Other Mystery Lands, which is an A-Z guide to Plato’s island as well as the more contentious Mu and Lemuria. My principal objection to this work is the inclusion of too many references to the ramblings of so many self-proclaimed psychics, obvious psychotics and downright fraudsters. It would be nitpicking to go any further but on the positive side I found this book more informative than the A-Z Guide published by Simon Cox[0251] and free of the ancient America bias of Frank Joseph’s offering[0104]. .
Harrison, Hank *
Hank Harrison (1941- ) is an American writer and publisher and sometimes 
better known as the father of the singer, Courtney Love and father-in-law of the late Kurt Cobain(c). Among a range of subjects he has expressed great interest in Megalithic Europe in two of his books, The Stones of Ancient Ireland(a) and Finding Atlantis. In the latter, he supports the idea of a megalithic Atlantis with its centre of power probably located in the Morbihan area of Brittany.
In The Cauldron and the Grail [1789] Harrison focuses on the cultural background of the megalith builders. His instincts told him that many of the important sites had both a functional purpose an astronomical predictors and as early religious centres.
Another recent book by Harrison is Arthur the God(b).
(a) https://www.arkives.com/soai/soai.pdf (offline Mar.* 20*16) see Archive 2930)
(b) Arthur the God – Arthurian Myth and Legends (archive.org) *
(c) http://wikibin.org/articles/hank-harrison.html *
Sweeney, Emmet John*
Emmet John Sweeney is a Scottish historian, who graduated from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. He has followed the lead of Immanuel Velikovsky and produced several books[520][845] arguing for a radical revision of the generally accepted chronologies of the early civilisations of the Eastern Mediterranean.
He controversially claims that “all the civilisations on both sides of the Atlantic arose more or less simultaneously, sometime between 1100 and 1200 BC” [700.202].
In Empire Of Thebes, Or, Ages In Chaos Revisited [1867] Sweeney returns to the work of Velikovsky and “seeks to complete the work which he commenced, identifying the problems Velikovsky could not solve, and bringing forward a great body of evidence not even mentioned by Velikovsky which supports his identification of Hatshepsut with the Queen of Sheba. Velikovsky was rejected by the academic establishment because of a number of contradictions in the chronology he outlined. Sweeney shows that despite some gaps and incompletions, his (Velikovsky’s) books were brilliant works of scholarship with much to recommend them. For decades now various scholars have attempted to solve the enigma. Yet the answer was stunningly simple and in front of us all the time. Empire of Thebes provides the solution and finally allows the possibility of a complete and satisfactory reconstruction of ancient history. This work calls for a much more radical shortening of ancient chronology and asserts that Velikovsky ran into a dead end because he placed too much reliance on the Bible as a chronological measuring rod.”
Velikovsky’s (and Sweeney’s) identification of the Queen of Sheba with Hatshepsut was recently endorsed in a paper by Ken Griffith and Darrell K. White (f). However, others, such as Eulalio Eguia, identify the Queen of Sheba with Nefertiti(g).
He further claims that the Egyptian pyramids were constructed around 800 BC(d) and that Atlantis was destroyed around the same period! This date is significant as it coincides with an event that led to devastation in Southern Germany and the Alps involving huge inundations and tilting of lake shorelines which could only be brought about by a very powerful seismic upheaval(b).
“His claim that the Great Pyramid was constructed around 850 BC, rather than 2550 BC, is viewed as unfounded sensationalism. Sweeney’s claims that the pyramid-builders would have needed steel tools to cut granite, basalt and diorite, is said to have been disproved by the researches of Denys A. Stocks, who shows (Experiments in Egyptian Archaeology, 2003) that granite, for example, can be worked by pounding it with a harder stone, such as basalt. Sweeney however has pointed out that while large granite surfaces can be ground down in this way, Pyramid Age sculptors must have been in possession of steel tools, since the carving of basalt and diorite portrait statues, which display details of eyes, nose, ears, etc, can only have been executed using very sharp and fine cutting-tools.”(e)
He has also tackled the Arthurian legend, regarding which he considers Stonehenge to have been Arthur’s ‘round table’. The blurb for his 2001 book Arthur and Stonehenge[918] goes further stating that “As for Arthur himself, he was the primitive bear-god “Artos”, the Celtic version of Hercules. Originally portrayed with a bearskin over his head and shoulders and carrying a great oaken club, he became the prototype of the Greek Hercules when Hellenic traders, braving the wild waters of the Atlantic in search of tin, heard his story from the Britons.”
Sweeney has now ventured beyond his comfort zone and devoted his talents to the Atlantis question. He argues for the existence of a large island in the Atlantic, whose remnants today are the Azores. He sees this island as a stepping-stone to the Americas, which is necessary to explain the evidence of transatlantic contacts in the very distant past. He also takes the opportunity to highlight weaknesses in radiocarbon dating (p218).
The Washington Times, which is owned by the ‘Moonies’, gave his book a favourable review(a)! The reviewer, Martin Sieff, a native of Belfast and Velikovskian catastrophist, is accused by Jason Colavito[915] of using his critique to promote Sweeney more as a catastrophist rather than as an atlantologist and does so without revealing Sieff’s catastrophist background.
A more critical review of Sweeney’s work can also be found elsewhere on the Internet(c).
(a) https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/25/book-review-atlantis/print/
(b) H. Gams and R. Nordhagen, Mitteil. der Geograph. Ges. in Munchen, XVI, H. 2 (1923), pp. 13-348. R. Sernander, ‘Klimaverschlechterung, Postglaciale’ in Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte, VII (1926); O. Paret, Das Neue Bild der Vorgeschuchte (1948), p.44.
(c) https://web.archive.org/web/20140416073952/https://wikibin.org/articles/emmet-sweeney.html
(d) https://www.algora.com/140/book/details.html
(e) Emmet Sweeney (wikibin.org)
(g) https://cread.jd.com/read/startRead.action?bookId=30564080&readType=1 *
Heracles
Heracles (Herakles) was a Greek mythical hero(c), later known to the Romans as Hercules. He is one of several mythical heroes who were reportedly abandoned as babies(f).
There is also a claim that the Greek Herakles had a much earlier namesake the patron of Tyre and known as Melqart, which translates as ‘king of the city’. “Melqart was considered by the Phoenicians to represent the monarchy, perhaps the king even represented the god, or vice-versa, so that the two became one and the same. The ruler was known by the similar term mlk-qrt, and the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel criticises the kings of Tyre for considering themselves god on earth”(i).
He has also been identified with the biblical Samson(a) and the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh(b). Dhani Irwanto who claims that Atlantis was situated in Indonesia has tried to link Herakles with the Javanese mythical figure of Kala [1093.118]. However, Dos Santos who also advocated an Atlantis location in the same region decided that Hercules was originally the Hindu hero Vishnu [320.129], quoting Megasthenes (350-290 BC), the Greek geographer, in support of his contention. Others have referred to Megasthenes as identifying Hercules with Krishna(e)(g). The list of associations seems to go on and on, including the Scandanavian Hoder, Akkadian Nergal, Roman Mars and Ireland’s Cú Chulainn(h).
The penitential twelve labours of Hercules have long been associated with the zodiac(j), which is reminiscent of the warriors in the Iliad who have also been associated with the zodiac!(k) Alice A. Bailey was probably the best-known exponent of this back in the 1980s, in The Labours of Hercules [1163].
He is usually portrayed as brandishing a club and wearing a lion’s head as a helmet, probably because he, like Samson, reputedly unarmed, overcame lions, but the similarities don’t end there(a).
Euhemerists have suggested that he was a real historical figure, possibly a former king of Argos.
James Bailey noted [149.322] that Diodorus Siculus wrote in different books of his Histories that Heracles was born in India and Egypt!
A more controversial suggestion has been made by Emmet J. Sweeney, in his 2001 book, Arthur and Stonehenge[0918], in which the blurb for the book claims that “Arthur himself, he was the primitive bear-god “Artos”, the Celtic version of Hercules. Originally portrayed with a bear-skin over his head and shoulders and carrying a great oaken club, he became the prototype of the Greek Hercules when Hellenic traders, braving the wild waters of the Atlantic in search of tin, heard his story from the Britons.” However, Sweeney also identifies Moses “as an alter ego of Hercules.” in his Atlantis: The Evidence of Science[700.198].
There appears to have been a cult of Heracles that may have extended as far as Britain, where the Cerne Abbas chalk figure is sometimes claimed to represent him(d).
The term ‘Pillars of Heracles’ was used by the ancient Greeks to define the outer reaches of their limited seagoing range. This changed over time as their nautical capabilities improved. Some of the earlier ‘Pillars’ were located at the entrance to the Black Sea and the Strait of Sicily and the Strait of Messina. Later the term was applied exclusively to the Strait of Gibraltar.
(a) Archive 3444
(b) https://phoenicia.org/greek.html
(c) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracles
(d) https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/dorset/ancient/cerne-abbas.htm
(e) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megasthenes’_Herakles
(f) https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/moses-as-abandoned-hero/
(g) Shri Krishna and Hercules – indian and greek mythology – Indian mythology (archive.org)
(h) https://www.aeonjournal.com/articles/samson/samson.html
(i) https://edukalife.blogspot.com/2015/01/congregation-bible-study-week-starting.html
(j) The Twelve Labours of Hercules (Herakles) (archive.org) *
Baillie, Mike
Mike Baillie is an Emeritus Professor of Palaeoecology in the School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University, Belfast. He is a dendrochronologist[113] of world renown, who outlined in his recent book [111] the evidence for catastrophic encounters with asteroids or comets over the past five millennia that opened a whole new chapter in the search for the truth about our past. Baillie ascribes these events to 2354-2345 BC, 1628-1623 BC, 1159-1141 BC, 208-204 BC and 536-545 AD. He touches on a number of 
legendary and historical events such as the Deluge, the Exodus and King Arthur, but seems to studiously avoid any direct reference to Atlantis. Nevertheless, his theory in conjunction with the suggestions of writers such as Emilio Spedicato enhances the possibility of the destruction of Atlantis being a consequence of a more widespread catastrophe.
In a 1999 article, Baillie concluded with the following comment, “There is, I feel, a strong case for the contention that we do not inhabit a benign planet. This planet is bombarded relatively often. If this story is correct, we have been bombarded at least three times – and probably five times – since the birth of civilization some 5,000 years ago. And each time, the world was changed.”
In 2004 it was revealed that a very large comet or asteroid, estimated to be ¾ of a mile in diameter, crashed into what is now Germany. The date is calculated at 200 BC, which coincides with one of Baillie’s dated catastrophes. A crater field stretching from the town of Altoetting to Lake Chiemsee is all that remains today.
Perhaps even more relevant to our study was a PowerPoint presentation(b) from Baillie to a Quantavolution Conference in Athens in 2011, which offered compelling evidence for a catastrophic event in 2345 BC. His data reinforces the work of George Dodwell who demonstrated with his study of ancient gnomons, decades earlier, that something dramatic happened to the rotational axis of the Earth in 2345 BC, which is possibly the same 2346 BC encounter with a comet proposed by William Whiston in 1696. At the same conference Baillie also presented evidence for dating the eruption of Thera to 1628 BC.
Baillie is also co-author with Patrick McCafferty of a fascinating work[112] that reinterprets some of the heroes and gods of Celtic mythology as a coded account of our ancestors’ observation of a close encounter or impact of comets with the Earth. However, Baillie’s books should be read in conjunction with an equally compelling volume, Thunderbolts of the Gods [148](a). by David Talbot and Wallace Thornhill who offer a complementary but rather than conflicting interpretation of early man’s perception of highly visible cosmic events. Talbot and Thornhill have linked ancient myths and thousands of petroglyphs with their view of an electric universe, where large-scale plasma phenomena were witnessed and recorded by preliterate man. Their book has drawn extensively on the work of Dr. Anthony Peratt, who has gathered and classified an enormous database of petroglyphs from all over the world(d) that are apparently a record of celestial demonstration(s) of plasma physics.
>Although in Exodus to Arthur (2000) Baillie attributed ancient global catastrophic ‘climatic upsets’ to encounters with asteroids or comets, in 2012, he wrote a paper concerning the same five events, but now ascribed the cause to major volcanic eruptions in the distant past(g)! Archaeologist Colin Burgess wrote a paper supporting Bailie’s work(h).<
Nevertheless, Baillie also has his critics, particularly in relation to his attitude towards proponents of the ‘New Chronology’ such as Peter James and David Rohl(c).
(b) https://www.qconference-athens-2011.grazian-archive.com/the2345topicmbai/index.html
(c) https://www.cokenais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/non-iranian/Judaism/Persian_Judaism/book6/pt1.htm (half way down page) (link broken)
(d) https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1265340
(e) http://www.zetatalk.com/theword/tword04n.htm
(f) https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/714636/posts
(g) Do Irish Bog Oaks Date the Shang Dynasty? – Current Archaeology *
(h) Volcanoes, Catastrophe and the Global Crisis of the Late Second Millennium BC – Current Archaeology *
Avalon
Avalon is the legendary resting place of Britain’s King Arthur. Tradition has it that it was also famous for its apples and this feature led some to link it with the legend of the Hesperides considered another name for Atlantis. This linkage of Avalon with Atlantis is extremely tenuous. The apple connection is also suggested by the Welsh for Avalon which is Ynys Afallon, possibly derived from afal, the Welsh for apple.
Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historiae (xxxvii.35) named Helgoland as ‘insulam Abalum’, which has been suggested as a variant of Avalon. Other locations such as Sicily and Avallon in Burgundy have been also been proposed. A series of YouTube clips(a) bravely links Avalon, Mt.Meru and Atlantis, which is supposedly situated in the Arctic!
The isle of Lundy in Britain’s Bristol Channel has been speculatively identified as Avalon(b).>Other leading contenders are the Isle of Man and Glastonbury(c).<
(a) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrSr594L70c
Lyonesse
Lyonesse is a mythical land between Cornwall and the Scilly Isles that reputedly sank into the sea. Ancient maps indicate that most of the Scillies were united in Roman times(a) noted by Peter Stanier in his book[0997] about the region. Legend has it that it contained 140 temples. Mordred is said to have fought his final battle with King Arthur at Lyonesse. This ancient tale has been regularly linked with the destruction of Atlantis.
There is a parallel Breton legend of Kêr-Is (Ker-Ys in French).
A group of rocks called the “Seven Sisters” lies six miles (10 km) off Land’s End, the southernmost tip of Britain. According to legend, these rocks mark the site of a kingdom that once linked Britain to France. The site description fits in with the Cornish myth of the kingdom of Lyonesse – also known as the City of Lions. In the 5th century A.D., Lyonesse was inundated and disappeared beneath the sea. The legend has it that there was only one survivor. Since then, local fishers have caught pieces of buildings and other remains in their nets. They claim that these come from Lyonesse.
Henry Beckles Willson in a 1902 booklet[1427] claimed that land now lost, once extended from Land’s End to the Scilly Isles. Contrast that with a speculative map in Lucile Taylor Hansen’s book The Ancient Atlantic[572], which shows Lyonesse as a large landmass west of the Scillies. She also informed us that the island of Tresco, which today is roughly 2 miles long and a mile across at its widest, had a circumference of ten miles in 1538.
A team of Russian scientists were hoping to answer the two and a half thousand-year-old mystery regarding Plato’s Atlantis, with an investigation of the underwater ‘Celtic Shelf’ beyond the Scilly Isles. Viatcheslav Koudriavtsev, of the Moscow Institute of Meta-history, has used a re-interpretation of the classical Greek texts to locate the possible position of the fabled ancient lands. It is claimed that in the 1990s the British authorities were set to issue a six-week licence for the exploration of Little Sole Bank, a conical submerged hill lying only 50m below the surface approximately 100 miles south-west of the mainland, but apparently, due to a lack of funding, nothing has been heard of the project since.
>Paul Dunbavin offers a valuable overview of the history and mythology relating to the story of Lyonesse on his website(d) and in Prehistory Papers [1758].<
In 2012 the ‘micronation’ self-styled as the Principality of Lyonesse declared its ‘independence’(b)(c).
Also see: Micropatrology
(a) https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isles_of_Scilly
(b) https://lyonesse.weebly.com/
(c) https://shimajournal.org/issues/v10n2/k.-Hallerton-Shima-v10n2.pdf
>(d) Lyonesse – Lost | Paul Dunbavin (third-millennium.co.uk)<