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

Sea peoples story mutation

Trade: tin, gold, ivory, bronze

Ivory trade:

A principal argument of this paper is that western and central Saharan peoples may have had knowledge of, or interaction with, ‘Atlantic Europe’. The extent of this relationship, if it existed, is unknown but connections between the Maghreb and southern Europe via the Mediterranean, at least from the Early Bronze Age, are well documented. There is now a growing body of evidence to indicate seafaring along the Atlantic coast as well. Early Bronze Age (EBA) Bell Beaker burials have been recorded at Khemisset in Morocco and Bell Beaker pottery is known from a number of locations in western Morocco. 44 These occurrences of cultural elements traditionally associated with the European EBA close to the Moroccan Atlantic coast support the premise that interaction was not simply via the Mediterranean Sea but that an Atlantic coastal route was also used. Schumacher et al., argue for trade in ivory from the African savannah elephant to Portugal and south-western Atlantic Spain during the European Chalcolithic, and with south-eastern Spain in the EBA, and infer an Atlantic route for this trade, based on the above chronological differences and on comparisons between ivory artefacts from Iberia and modern-day Morocco. 45 Recently, a complete, unworked African Savannah elephant tusk was found in an elite Chalcolithic burial at the site of Valenica de la Concepción, near Seville in southern Spain.46 Indeed, as long ago as 1955, Jodin argued that an Atlantic trade route between Iberia and northwest Africa existed by the Neolithic.47 How far south these connections reached is uncertain due to a dearth of evidence but more and more circumstantial evidence is coming to light all the time. The concept of an ‘Atlantic Europe’ has existed in the archaeological literature for many years, and relates to a specific set of cultural and ideological traits spanning millennia and evident in the regions ‘fronting’ the Atlantic Ocean from Scandinavia to the Iberian Peninsula.48 The nature and extent of what constitutes Atlantic Europe is still debated but archaeologists agree that its principal architectural expressions can be documented during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages as megalithic stone monuments that references both the landscape and astronomical features in culturally specific ways.49 There is also a clear preference for contrasting colours and textures in the different uses of stone for the construction of monuments, including the special selection of quartz.50

PLATO: Some buildings they framed of one simple colour, in others they wove a pattern of many colours by blending the stones for the sake of ornament (Critias 116b)

Furthermore, many of the stelae

Iberian Warrior stelae - Atlantic soldiers comparison⁠

are made from quartz, and quartzite (’white stone’) is found in the outer ring of the Richat

Geography⁠

In Western Sahara, watercourses linking the Saharan interior with the Atlantic coast are very likely to have served as refugia, within the context of both the immediately adjacent areas and the wider western Saharan region as a whole. Given their role as refugia in a drying Sahara, watercourses such as the Saguia al-Hamra and its tributaries (including the Wadi Tifariti), must be considered as potential corridors of cultural interaction and exchange. Movement along these corridors and contact between different cultural groups provides a potential mechanism for the transmission of ideas, practices and ideologies between the different regions of the Sahara and farther afield. In terms of Atlantic connections, the better watered regions of the Sahara desert would have been attractive destinations for people landing on the arid coast, particularly those regions linked by water courses.51 It is along these route ways that we might expect to find evidence of the percolation of material and ideological aspects of Atlantic European culture. It is therefore unlikely to be coincidence that evidence for connections between the Saharan interior and Atlantic Europe should be found along and in the vicinity of these drainage systems.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333929971_Burial_Practices_in_Western_Sahara⁠

PLATO: [The channel] received the streams which came down from the mountains and after circling round the plain, and coming towards the city on this side and on that, it discharged them thereabouts into the sea. And on the inland side of the city channels were cut in straight lines, of about 100 feet in width, across the plain, and these discharged themselves into the trench on the seaward side, the distance between each being 100 stades. It was in this way that they conveyed to the city (118e) the timber from the mountains and transported also on boats the seasons' products, by cutting transverse passages from one channel to the next and also to the city. And they cropped the land twice a year, making use of the rains from Heaven in the winter, and the waters that issue from the earth in summer, by conducting the streams from the trenches. (Critias 118c-e)

Ivory trade Iberia, phoenicia, north africa bronze age

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Tin trade:

PLATO: And after crossing the three outer harbours, (117e) one found a dyke which began at the sea and ran round in a circle, at a uniform distance of fifty stades from the largest circle and harbour, and its ends converged at the seaward mouth of the channel. The whole of this dyke had numerous houses built on to it, set close together; while the sea-way and the largest harbour were filled with ships and merchants coming from all quarters, which by reason of their multitude caused clamour and tumult of every description and an unceasing din night and day. (Critias 117d-e) SEE

Tumuli - Richat vs Tichitt⁠

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All the circumference of the wall which surrounded the outermost circle; and that of the inner one they coated with tin (Critias 116b)

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https://www.jstor.org/stable/124202⁠

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_sources_and_trade_in_ancient_times⁠

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https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/early-metal-working-in-subsaharan-africa-a-review-of-recent-research/64A702CBB43803F07F9E9276D547B962⁠

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0305440388900362?via%3Dihub⁠

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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10963-009-9030-6⁠

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https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211610/http://www.csarmento.uminho.pt/docs/ndat/rg/RGVE1999_005.pdf⁠

Atlantic bronze age trade

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https://brewminate.com/navigation-in-the-ancient-mediterranean-and-beyond/⁠

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https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2110552118⁠

One of the most critical resources controlled by the Berbers was tin. Tin was a vital component in the production of bronze, a revolutionary alloy that greatly advanced weaponry, tools, and art during the Bronze Age (Kelleher, 2015). Unlike other regions, such as the Mediterranean, which lacked significant tin deposits, the Sahara Berbers had access to this critical resource (Brett, 2007). This unique advantage likely made them sought-after trade partners for Bronze Age civilizations, including the ancient Egyptians.

The ancient Egyptians were well-known for their pursuit of valuable resources, and they maintained extensive trade networks (Shaw, 2019). Given the proximity of Egypt to North Africa and the Sahara, it is plausible that the Berbers engaged in trade with the Egyptians. Their abundant resources, especially tin, would have been highly attractive to the Egyptians, as they would not have had easy access to tin mines in the Mediterranean region.

Brett, M. (2007). The Berbers. Wiley-Blackwell.

Cline, E. H. (2014). 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Princeton University Press.

Kelleher, C. A. (2015). Tin in Antiquity: Its Mining and Trade Throughout the Ancient World with Particular Reference to Cornwall. The Edwin Mellen Press.

Shaw, I. (2019). Ancient Egyptian Warfare: A Brief Overview. In D. L. McInerney (Ed.), A Companion to Warfare in the Ancient Mediterranean (pp. 1-19). Wiley-Blackwell.

Sulas, F. (2010). The Central Sahara During the Neolithic Period (Sixth to Fourth Millennium BC): Environmental Conditions and Human Occupation Patterns. African Archaeological Review, 27(4), 297-331.

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https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211610/http://www.csarmento.uminho.pt/docs/ndat/rg/RGVE1999_005.pdf⁠

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