1. Sept. 24th
Lost Civilizations, such as Atlantis

2. Aztecs

3. Modern druids at
Stonehenge, England
New age worshippers at Chichen Itza, Mexico

4. Questions for today
Is there some grain of truth in the notion of brilliant but disappeared civilizations?
What role can archaeology play in bringing these stories to life?
If there is not much truth in these stories, can such stories still play a valuable role?
Or is there harm in these stories?
Is there any archaeological evidence for ancient cataclysms that have actually led to
the destruction of ancient societies?

5. Plato: 427-347 Plato’s vision of Atlantis
citizen of Athens, Greece

6. Minoans

7. Why the ancient Minoans serve as a model for Atlantis
--Like Atlantis, the Minoans flourished long before Plato
--Plato would have known about the Minoans
--Like Atlanteans, the Minoans were extremely gifted artists and engineers.
--Like Atlanteans, the Minoans had huge cities.
--Like Atlanteans, The Minoans lived on an island
--Like Atlantis, the Minoan civilization came to a mysterious end.

8. Minoans in Greek
mythology
King Minos
Son killed by bull
near Athens
Minos seeks
revenge
Has Daedalus
build the Labyrinth Theseus slays the Minotaur
Sends Athenians
to die in the
Labyrinth
Minotaur

10. Three major Minoan palaces found on Crete
Palaces reach their pinnacle at about 1500 BC
Palace of Knossos is largest

11. Palace of Mallia

16. Arthur Evans
(British, 1851-1941)
Excavated Knossos beginning in 1900

17. Michael Ventris
(British, 1922-1956)
Deciphers Linear B
Linear A
(has not been deciphered)

21. Knossos palace fresco: “Bull leaper”

22. Knossos palace fresco

23. Vessel made of stone
Bull made of stone

24. Vessel made of stone
Vessel made of fired clay

25. Human sculpture made of ivory (elephant tusks), Palaikastro, Crete

27. Coastal Peru
Robert Schoch
Mexico
England
Illinois

28. Minoans

30. EARTHQUAKE!!
Island of
Akrotiri Santorini

31. Akrotiri

32. Volcanic Eruption!!

40. Well-preserved buildings
at Akrotiri

41. Wall paintings preserved
at Akrotiri

42. Wall painting preserved at Akrotiri

43. The 536 AD event
”The sun was dark and its darkness lasted for eighteen months; each day it shown for
about four hours; and still this light was only a feeble shadow…”
(John of Ephesus, Mesopotamia)
”For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole
year, and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not
clear or such as it is accustomed to shed.”
(Procopius, Byzantium)
“We wonder that at noon bodies do not have shadows”
(Senator Cassiodorus, Ravenna, Italy)
"Yellow dust rained down like snow. It could be scooped up in handfuls."
(Nan Shi Ancient Chronicle of Southern China)
“rain is red and snow falls yellow”
(The History of the Southern Dynasties)