City of Atlantis found just in time for TV special?

Richard Freund and his team will unveil their discoveries on "Finding Atlantis" on NatGeo channel

/ CNET

(CBS) - Has the lost city of Atlantis finally been found?

A U.S.-led research team claims they have discovered the remains of what might be the mythical city in a swamp in southern Spain, according to Reuters. They theorize a massive tsunami sent the city to its watery grave thousands of years ago.

The site is 60 miles inland in an area of mud flats. The distance from the coast could be evidence of the tremendous destruction tsunamis can bring.

"This is the power of tsunamis," head research Richard Freund told Reuters. "It is just so hard to understand that it can wipe out 60 miles inland, and that's pretty much what we're talking about."

The team used ground-penetrating satellite images to discover the ruins buried in the swampy earth. The marshland, known as Dona Ana Park, is where the team believes they have pinpointed the ancient city.

Of course, according to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis is believed to have been an island. But Freund's team recently discovered "memorial cities" in central Spain they claim were built by survivors of Atlantis in the original city's image.

"We found something that no one else has ever seen before, which gives it a layer of credibility, especially for archeology, that makes a lot more sense," Freund told Reuters.

There are, as readers will no doubt guess, a lot of "ifs" and "maybes" in the report. Critical readers may also not be surprised that this announcement precedes the premier of "Finding Atlantis," a new special on the National Geographic Channel starring Freund and his team.

The debates over whether Atlantis even exists have gone on since ancient times. The only historical source of information about the fabled city are Plato's "dialogues" in which he famously writes that the city "in a single day and night... disappeared into the depths of the sea."

He probably would have made a great TV host.

Catch the full story on the National Geographic channel.

[pwapub]

Is Freund claiming the glory for other people's work? from a Newsweek articles I read it appears that "Freund and his team - including a film crew from National Geographic" were invited to help a Spanish team that had been working this site for many years - after it had been discovered by some Germans using satellite images. They already knew what they had found and believed it to be Atlantis. They invited Freund to assist - with the equipment he could leverage from the mining industry. He "parachuted" in and was there for a week. They dispute some of his claimed finds and resent his claiming all the glory. I have not seen the show yet - but I hope he attributes the find to the right people. If not - then I would be very wary of inviting him to any other dig.

[rockcutr]

Loads of wishfull thinking abound. The article provides none of the required proof which would make Atlantis discovery a worthy headline of this story. Likely because there is none that exists. Fluffy storys reak of rotten potatoes.

[skithebumps]

Isn't this about the 10th time they've found Atlantis?

[Scimajor]

That's an extraordinary claim that's going to require extraordinary proof.

[CarolStrick]

Sorry, but my money's on Santorini. It seems to fit just about every criteria. (But give me a call if they find out more about the underwater ruins in the Bahamas.)

[CarolStrick]

criterion (Is there an edit button?)

[OmegaWolf747]

It would be real cool if that was Atlantis.

[miami_don]

Yes it would.