This evidence and
the theory that would back it up has also to explain the observed fact
that glaciers such as those of the Himalayas, of Greenland, of Antarctica,
etc., have been on place for several millions of years.
Likewise, equatorial forests such as those of the Brazilian Amazonia, Africa and Indonesia have existed for millions of years, gradually developing their enormous variety of species, in a delicate ecological equilibrium that is very easily disrupted by any form of interference. If the Pole had indeed shifted in recent geological times, these forests would have been carried into the temperate or the polar regions of the world, alongside with Atlantis. The fact that these forests still exist, as they have existed for millions of years is proof sufficient that Pole Shifts never ocurred in times within the Atlantean horizon.
So, scientifically minded Atlantologists would better forget about Pole Shift and Arctic or Antactic locations for Atlantis, if they indeed want to be taken seriously by the academic community. By the way, there is a frequent confusion among several of the proponents of these obstreperous ideas. The earth has both a Magnetic Pole and a Celestial Pole. One is determined by its magnetism, and changes rather often over geological times. But its shifting causes only very minor effects on life and over the earth's crust. The other one is dictated by earth's spinning in relation to the stars, and is essentially invariant due to the Conservation of Earth's Angular Momentum. In other words, the earth behaves as a sort of giant gyroscope, and tends to keep fixed the direction of its axis of rotation relative to the stars, even if disturbed by considerable external influences.
Only a major interference say, a giant meteoritic collision of planetoidal size would cause a major shift of earth's Celestial Pole. There are no traces whatsoever that this has happened in the last several million years, as we just said.
Moreover, the detailed observations of
rock magnetism, of pallimnological analyses (pollen studies), of sedimentology
(marine and lacustrine deposits) and of varve analysis (lake level yearly
variations) leave no doubt at all that Pole Shift is indeed an illusion
of frustrated amateur Atlantologists that have despaired of ever finding
the lost continent of Atlantis anywhere in this real world of ours.
6) Large Population
Plato gives several clues that the population
of Atlantis was indeed huge for the epoch in question. This fact alone
rules out most regions of the ancient world such as Europe, North Asia
and North America, which were icy deserts in the Glacial Age. It also precludes
North Africa and the Near East, which were mainly desertic in that epoch.
We are thus left with Central and South America, as well as with the Indies
and Southeast Asia.
Agriculture and Animal Domestication as contrasted
with hunting and gathering are the two primordial requisites for the
development of city life and large, stable, civilized societies. Such large communities were rarity in the Old World outside Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and the
Far East. As for the Pleistocene epoch, they probably inexisted outside
Atlantis proper.
The population of Atlantis can be estimated
from the facts disclosed by Plato. First of all, we have the great
extension of the country, its fabled fertility, its two yearly crops and
the immense network of irrigated culture grounds. These were, says Plato,
about 600 x 400 km? . If we take the typical productivity of Asian
agriculture (rice), we get an yearly crop for the region of something like 10 to 20 million
tons of rice, plus a corresponding plurality of other agricultural and
pastoral products.
Now, this is enough rice and produce to
feed a population of 15 to 30 million people and still leave an ample surplus for exports. These are numbers
that equate well with the ones actually observed in the South Asian regions.
So, we see that Plato was speaking of reality rather than inventing anything.
In all probability, these crops were partly exported for cash, affording
the legendary riches of Atlantis. These exports of food and the proverbial
abundance of the Isles of the Blest (Atlantis) are commemorated in many
myths and traditions which we comment elsewhere.
We can also estimate the population of
Atlantis by the data of Plato concerning its armed forces. Plato gives
their number in detail, which totals 1,160,000 soldiers. If we consider
that one half of the population was female and that about a half of the males were children and that, furthermore, in all probability,
no more than 1/4 or so of the adult male population was actually conscripted,
we come up with a population of some 20 million people, in fair agreement
with the number estimated above.
