Up to this point we have established with overwhelmingly convincing evidence the fact that the Richat structure most probably was the world-famous ringed structure Atlantis. Lest every single detail which I have pointed out happened to match the Richat structure by pure coincidence, it seems safe to assume that the Richat structure was indeed Atlantis. This has unprecedentedly huge implications for our understanding of the chronology of our shared prehistory, a period of which our knowledge has always been restricted to mere shadows. The account used by Plato, which up to now has proven to have been incredibly accurate, also mentioned a moderately advanced urban society and continental federation of kings of Atlantis. U In the current chapter, I will systematically describe the vast amounts of neolithic artefacts and ruins which have been found around the Richat structure, as well as other evidence pointing to the existence of a large settlement of mesolithic West-Africans in this region and era. In chapter 13, I will discuss their diet, in chapter 14 I will argue for what their empire might have looked like, in chapter 16 I will attempt to logically reconstruct their mythology, and in chapter 17 I will give concrete archaeological evidence for the possibility that they might have already had a writing system, the Libyco-Berber script, at least 8.200 years before the currently oldest known writing system, Sumerian. If these hypotheses are eventually fully confirmed by future archaeological research in and around the Richat structure, this will turn the historical community upside down, and unleash a new era in the understanding of prehistory (Janssens, 2023).
Constraint 15: The site must also contain evidence for human presence around 11.600, such as the remains of the foundations of temples, forts and walls, rubble the from simple houses that were washed away by the flood, rock art, human remains and wooden and stone artefacts from the late paleo-/meso-/neolithic period related to seafaring and warfare, as well as brass, tin, silver and gold. (Critias 114e, 116a-e, 117c-e, 118c, 119a-d, 120b).
C - Material remains
Now that we have established that the Richat structure completely matches the precise description provided by the Egyptian account, as well as noting the presence of many large fortified cattle enclosures in and around the ringed city, we shall now move on to describe the physical aspects of the Atlantean culture as described by the account, and match these with the many mesolithic artefacts which have been found by local modern inhabitants, lying scattered around the surface of the dried up Richat structure. First we shall look at artefacts relating to hunting and fighting, since these are mentioned quite prominently by the account, as well as being among the most commonly found artefacts in the region. The account mentions the following:
The shipyards were full of triremes and all the tackling that belongs to triremes, and they were all amply equipped (Critias 117d)
War-chariots (Critias 119a)
Small shields (Critias 119b)
Archers and slingers (Critias 119b)
Spear throwers (Critias 119b)
Ships (Critias 119b)
The ten princes, being alone by themselves, after praying to the God that they might capture a victim well-pleasing unto him, (119e) hunted after the bulls with staves and nooses but with no weapon of iron. (Critias 119d-e)
Throughout the Richat structure many artefacts have been found, among which large amounts of Acheulean artefacts identified by the French scholar Théodore Monod (Monod, 1975). The Acheulean culture spanned between 1.76 million years to 130.000 years BP, and from this period large amounts of hand axes were found, which were used by various early human species, but rarely by homo sapiens (Barkai, 2011). This is too early for our Atlantean society, but definitely proves that this region has been inhabited by human species since the dawn of mankind. However, later artefacts have also been found, such as many precisely manufactured spear points. These were discovered in river related sediments which I have already mentioned in II.12, and through the carbon dating of shells which were also found in this sediment, the time window of 15.000 - 8.000 BP has been established (Sao et al., 2012), which coincides with the African humid period, as well as with the chronology of Atlantis as described by the account. These spear points were found to be generally absent from the inner depressions of the Richat structure, which is easily explained by the fact that these rings were filled with water during this period.
Spear points bought at the Richat structure by Atlantis Together (all made from flintstone, except the tallest which is made from bronze and should be dated!!):
In their original documentary, Alexander and Rosen featured a collection of these artefacts which was being collected from the Richat structure and preserved in a small hut by the wonderful local town chief named Yeslem (Alexander & Rosen, 2011). In 2023, Noraly Schoenmaker, a Dutch geologist and solo motorcycling vlogger, visited the Richat structure and shared some valuable high quality footage of this makeshift museum, together with Yeslem’s explanation of some of these artefacts (Schoenmaker, 2023). In the footage that is available of this collection, I have been able to identify many Alechian hand axes, but also later grinding stone slabs, spherical and oval grinding pestles, vertical pounding stones, large and small stone arrowheads, iron arrowheads, stone fishnet weights or bracelets, stone pots, copper rings, a stone needle, wooden cattle straps and fossilised elephant molars.
Besides the ruins and tumuli, large amounts of artefacts have been found all around the Richat structure, and these are sadly being collected and sold to tourists by local inhabitants because of the poor economic conditions of the region. I have attached images of collections of these artefacts along with my commentary in the google drive. The abundance of grinding stones which have been found could potentially be linked to the emergence of pearl millet agriculture in Mauritania during the neolithic. This might be further corroborated by the presence of stone arrowheads and beads, although their exact chronology is still to be established. This might be used to show ties to the more southern Tichitt culture, which seem to share a few similarities in their building style, although the Tichitt don’t feature such geometric forts as in the Richat. Ideally they should be professionally excavated sometime in the future, but I understand that their remote location would make this quite a challenge.
(Amber beads in the background? Gum? Mineral?)
The arrowheads match the archers which were mentioned to be present, small stone spheres suggest a previous use of ammunition by slingers, and spear points match the mentioned spear throwers (Critias 119b). The account mentioned that the princes of Atlantis would ritually hunt bulls in the sanctum of Poseidon, not with iron tools but with simple staves and nooses (Critias 119de-e). This specific detail could imply that iron weapons did exist already at that time, but that they were not used in this ritual, perhaps because of a historical tradition which will be expounded upon further in section II.14. The account also stated that the Atlanteans dug trenches in the landscape (Critias 118c), for which they might have used larger stone tools, which are also kept in Yeslem’s collection. Obviously, the discovery of fossilised elephant molars also matches the large stock of elephant which was said to be present in Atlantis (Critias 115a).
Wood for carpenter's work. (Critias 114e)
The account also mentioned the presence of wooden artefacts such as ships, small shields and chariots, however these have not been identified yet. Some wooden artefacts have been found in the Richat structure but their age has not been empirically determined, and they do not immediately seem to be related to seafaring or shields. Perhaps these wooden artefacts have not been preserved during the large climatic shift in the region during the period since Atlantis, or perhaps some artefacts were preserved under the sand, waiting to be uncovered. The reported presence of chariots is surprising, since the currently oldest known wheel is a 5.200 year old solid wooden wheel from a Slovenian marsh (Mestni muzej, 2012). The hypothetical discovery of any chariot related artefacts from this time period would revolutionise our understanding of prehistoric technology.
Furthermore, the presence of many grinding stones and pestles with a flat side suggests a previous usage for grinding grains of some sort, which would also set back the earliest known agriculture to the time of the Atlanteans (more on this in II.13). This hypothesis could be empirically verified by examining these artefacts for the presence of plant residue, which could be carbon dated.
Flat MILLSTONES at desert nomad’s collections near the Richat structure:
Artefacts collected in situ and sold by local women at the southern entrance of the outer mound (red pointer = artifact vendors, blue pointer = tumuli, green pointer = fortress ruins):
Support for the oil-lamp hypothesis: some types feature a handle, while others are designed without a handle, indicating that the same type of artifact was used for both portable, as well as stationary light-candles.
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Artefacts
