Has the lost city of Atlantis been found?

A team of scientists from Spain, the United States, and Canada believe that they have found the fabled city of Atlantis in southern Spain’s mud flats. They were able to find the supposed city using a variety of technologies such as electrical resistivity tomography, satellite imagery, digital mapping, underwater technology, and ground penetrating radar.

Athanasius Kircher's Map of Atlantis (southern orientation)

Leading archaeologist Richard Freund, who is also a professor at the University of Hartford in Connecticut, and his team discovered what were believed to be memorial cities in central Spain that were developed to have a similar design to Atlantis. These cities date do approximately 4,000 years old. Because of their location, he is sure that the lost city must be located in Spain’s mud flats. It is believed that these cities were built by the survivors and refugees of Atlantis.

Using Plato’s descriptions of geological formations, they are now dating artifacts to attempt to confirm Atlantis’ existence. The resources of this Greek philosopher from almost 2,600 years ago say that the island had been in front of the Strait of Gibraltar, also known in Antiquity as the Pillars of Hercules.

The team say that the city was probably lost after being submerged by a tsunami despite being nearly sixty miles inland. Freund states that it is an amazing find, as it shows us the real power of such a natural disaster to wipe out an entire city and gives the field of archaeology more credibility for having found something previously unseen.

A National Geographic special named Finding Atlantis aired on March 13, 2011, revealing the new information and current results of the excavations. The researchers plan to continue doing more archaeological digs at the site they believe to be Atlantis and at the memorial cities. Many are looking forward to more finds, hopeful that relics of this lost city has been found.