Collective Research

First Debate

Gaps in the theory / missing links

Sources/citations

Minecraft recreation of Richat-Atlantis

Opera: Atlas Chained

Documentary brainstorm

Atlantis Together Documentary Critiques

Structure of Documentary

Explore

Richat structure neolithic - bronze age

Rock art: bulls, chariots, concentric rings

Although Plato’s account of Atlantis does not mention any visual art besides statues (Critias 116d-e), the entire sahara region is known to be rich in cave paintings dating from various time periods, stretching from 12.000 BP to 1.700 AD (Coulson & Campbell, 2010.)(British Museum, n.d.-a). The chronology of these many different rock art sites is highly controversial and scientifically uncertain. Some of the rock art and surrounding artefacts have sadly already been taken, destroyed or vandalised by tourists. (Coulson & Campbell, 2010) Since these sites are endangered because of their exposure to the sun and sandy winds, absolute dating methods such as carbon dating samples of paint is often prohibited or even impossible in the case of sites with sparse pigment, or carved art without paint, which comprises the majority of surviving rock art (Lupacciolu, 1978). Another, less accurate way of physically dating rock art is to look at the colour of its patina, which changes due to internal chemical processes, or to look at differences in varnish, which is caused by the accumulation of particles. The deterioration of the traces of the rock engravings can also be used to derive a chronology, but these methods are not all too accurate and also susceptible to contamination (British Museum, n.d.-b).

Therefore, historians mostly rely on other less precise techniques, known as relative dating methods. The most promising technique is to look at sites where different styles of art overlap, known as superimposition, and try to identify which layer came before the other. However, this does not ensure that these different art styles did not overlap in time and could still have been contemporaneous. Different art styles are grouped together based on their themes, visual style and degree of complexity, as well as by looking at the animals which are depicted, and matching these with the time periods during which these animals lived in the area around the rock painting (British museum, n.d.-b). The depiction of certain technologies such as horse riding and chariots has also been used to place the rock paintings into the known chronology of their respective regions, however, this chronology is always being updated, and might thus be obsolete in the future. As has already been mentioned, the Atlanteans were said to have ridden horses and possessed chariots.

It should be noted that many rock art sites are often separated by vast distances of space and time regardless of commonalities, making the task of constructing an accurate chronology very complicated. Presently, historians await future technology which might allow us to more accurately date individual sites. The titanic amount of rock art sites -the largest site, Tassili n’Ajjer contains over 15.000 paintings and engravings (Hachid, 1998)- combined with their often remote and dangerous locations, are responsible for the underdevelopment of this general academic field.

In the Adrar region which surrounds the Richat structure, a total of about thirty rock paintings have been documented, however since research has not at all been comprehensive, many more undocumented rock art sites are expected to exist. Some of Mauritania’s rock art is estimated to be older than 5.000 BP, while others are more recent, with rock art which depicts camels dating from the last 2.0000 years (British Museum, n.d.-b). Rock paintings are often found along the edge of the massif, and two known sites are close to the Richat structure: Agrour Amogjar, which lies 140 kilometres or 87 miles Southwest of the Richat structure, and El Ghallaouiya, which lies some 90 kilometres or 56 miles Northwest of the Richat structure.

In Mauritania, a total number of around 200 rock art depictions of chariots are known to exist, often depicted as being pulled by an ox or other animal, or standing on its own. Interestingly, no known depictions exist of horses pulling a chariot, while Plato’s account does state the presence of these in the mesolithic Atlantean society (Critias 119a). These depictions have been relatively dated by placing them in the currently academically agreed upon chronology of Western and Northern Africa. These chariots have thus tentatively been linked to the Garamantes culture, who were documented by ancient sources to exist between 2.500 BP - 1.300 BP, and known to have possessed chariots. The oldest evidence for chariots in the Sahara which is currently known dates to 3.200 BP. However, this historical dating method does not hold up to scrutiny, because they are often not accompanied by additional exact dating methods. Because of our enormous lack of knowledge about the prehistory of the Sahara, they might as well have been created by some other, older society which could have also already possessed chariots, but has gone unnoticed by archaeologists, simply because of the lack of available data. For this reason, these depictions are often ascribed to anonymous hunter-gatherers, nomadic peoples or pastoralists (British Museum, n.d.-b).

The presence of chariots, as well as writing (see II.17) and early basic agriculture (see II.12.E) during this period would be a revolutionary new discovery for prehistoric archaeology, even in the latest possible period of around 5.000 BP, in which case Atlantis would be contemporaneous with ancient Sumer. The chariots the saharan rock art consistently depict carts with one axis, light hollow wheels (as opposed to solid wooden or stone wheels), a single or double rod connecting the axis to two carriage animals, and in some cases the chariot also has a basic seat for the rider. This bears great similarity to some ancient Egyptian war chariots, which were built with a minimal amount of material to enhance speed and endurance. Since the Atlanteans were said to have been the early predecessors of the later Ancient Egyptian civilisations, they might have passed this technology onto their future generations of survivors.

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CHARIOTS:

Rock art in Adrar region depicting Bovines, Libyco-Berber writing and some chariots:

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Loading…⁠

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Loading www.researchgate.net⁠

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343485416_Complements_a_l'inventaire_des_chars_La_route_des_chars_Aouineght_el-Gallaouiya_et_autres_sites_sahariens_Les_Cahiers_de_l'AARS_-_N21_2020_67-106⁠

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Compare with Iberian Atlantic soldier chariot:

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https://africanrockart.britishmuseum.org/thematic/chariots-in-the-sahara/⁠

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https://africanrockart.britishmuseum.org/introduction/chronologies/#:~:text=Stylistic%20dating&text=Round%20Head%20Period%3A%2010%2C000%20%E2%80%93%208%2C000,Period%3A%202%2C000%20years%20ago%20%E2%80%93%20present⁠

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https://www.gettyimages.nl/fotos/the-richat-structure?assettype=image&page=4&phrase=the%20richat%20structure&sort=mostpopular&license=rf,rm⁠

Monod Bulls and chariots and Libyco-Berber writing rock art El Ghallouyia

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CONCENTRIC RINGS:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjijttYMAe4&ab_channel=LivingLikeLaura⁠

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341821378_FAZER_E_PARTILHAR_A_ARTE_RUPESTRE_ATLANTICA_EVIDENCIAS_DE_CONECTIVIDADES_PRE-HISTORICAS⁠

Atlantic rock art

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Iberian Warrior stelae - Atlantic soldiers comparison⁠

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Atlantic trade culture rock art concentric rings and channel cutting through. ironically these concentric rings are already officialy known as ‘Atlantic rock art’, but not in reference to Atlantis, but rather the cultural diaspora of the regions which boder on the Atlantic Ocean (which was still named after Atlas). Ireland, Bretagne, Iberia and North Africa exchanged cultural elements through maritime trade, and the Atlantis symbol might have been embedded in this tradition.

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