Andean Atlantis?

• Author: Becht, Debbie K.
• Position: Draftsman and intelligence interpreter Jim Allen believes that part of the Andean plateau in Bolivia is the location of the original Atlantis - Brief Article

Bolivia may seem an odd location to find the lost city of Atlantis, but British excartographic draftsman and aerial intelligence interpreter Jim Allen believes a section of the high Andean plateau in the Department of Oruro is where the mythical empire once thrived.

Atlantis was first and solely mentioned in the Greek philosopher Plato's dialogues Critias and Timaeus, written in the fourth century B.C. He described an island larger than Libya and Asia combined, located in the Western Ocean of the known world, across from the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar). It was a prosperous, utopian commonwealth that in one day and night sunk into the sea, disappearing forever.

Some people, like Allen, cling to Plato's written word, believing the empire exists today. Others maintain Atlantis was no more than fiction, a fabricated tale created by Plato to support his philosophical arguments centered on utopian societies. What is true is that explorers have continued to search the globe for the lost city.

Stirring things up in this hemisphere, Allen states in his book, Atlantis: The Andes Solution, that South America is the long-lost island-continent of Atlantis and that a section in Oruro is where the empire's capital--also called Atlantis--is located. The name Atlantis, says Allen, is actually composed of two native South American words: atl, meaning water, and antis, meaning copper.

In 1995 Allen first sighted in satellite images an unusually straight body of water located near Lake Poopo in Oruro. The feature measured the same width as a canal Plato said existed in the city of Atlantis, and the section near Lake Poopo fits Plato's general description. Allen further links this area with Atlantis by noting that the region around the lake is prone to earthquakes and floods. The lake shifts dramatically, changing shape every wet season. This has led Allen to speculate that, together with an earthquake, it could have helped sink the...