Unearthing Plato's Atlantis -

A Lesson in Archaeology as a Jigsaw

Puzzle that Can Be Solved

Europe's first advanced civilization sprang not from a well-watered river plain as was the case in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India or China but from the craggy landscape of the Aegean. Islands such as that of Crete became part of a vast center of commerce - an interaction sphere based on ideal standards of life - Plato called it a utopian life. The farmers, herders, and artisans who lived there some 4,000 years ago in scattered inland villages developed one of the most remarkable cultures of any time. In ways, far ahead of their time with running water and even perhaps the first ever flush toilets, Minoan culture thrived in reality and later in the lore of Plato as Atlantis. Only in the early 20th century did the island's history come to light.

In 1894, Arthur Evans, a wealthy Englishman with a passion for antiquities, traveled to Crete to investigate the source of some engraved gems and seal stones he had found in Greek bazaars. Pottery sherds on the ground persuaded him to buy a six-acre site at Knossos, where he embarked on large-scale excavations in 1900. Within months, Evans and his crew uncovered the remains of an elaborate palace. Terraced into a hillside for protection against earthquakes, the multistoried palace was built around a large open courtyard and contained two floors of underground chambers and passageways. Thousands of artifacts identified the functions of various rooms: kitchens, residences, workshops, ceremonial rooms, storerooms, and even bathrooms with toilets. Pottery, stone and metalwork, and colorful frescoed walls attested to the skill of the builders and artisans.

Evans called these ancient people Minoans, after Minos, the legendary king who kept the half-bull, half-man Minotaur trapped within a labyrinth. Mazelike Knossos, it turned out, was the most important of the four largest Minoan palace cities. First erected around 2000 B.C., Minoan palaces were rebuilt and enlarged after probable earthquake damage around 1700. Soon after, palace culture reached its zenith. However Minoan influence was to end shortly afterwards.

Minoan history is still not fully understood. We know they were great sailors, plying the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, trading timber, pottery, and farming products for gold, ivory, gemstones, and establishing outposts. Minoan influence is evident in remains at Akrotiri on the island of Thera, 70 miles north of Crete. An immense volcanic eruption in the 17th century B.C. buried this town under layers of ash, pumice, and rock, preserving its Minoan heritage. Vivid frescoes painted on the walls of Theran houses tell us of a people very much like those of Knossos. They led a peaceful and idealized life from what we can tell.

Yet the life on Thera with all its grandeur ended abruptly with a fiery destruction in 1628 B.C. This cataclysmic eruption spread a cloud of ash across the world and sent a tidal wave nearly half the height of the Empire State Building in New York City onto the coast along the Mediterranean. Yet it was not this eruption that led to the destruction of the Minoan civilization. The evidence now points to conquest by the warlike peoples from the Greek mainland who eventually began to dominate the region that Plato once called Atlantis.

The story of Atlantis one of lore and yet it is a story that doesn't come from the Chariots of the Gods but the stuff of archaeology. Charles Pellegrino, in his masterful book Unearthing Atlantis, traces the detective story of archaeology, geology, and history. The following has been taken from Pellegrino's book and tells the story of discovery and of science (pages 233-246):