David Bressan

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I deal with the rocky road to our modern understanding of earth

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May 18, 2018,03:37pm EDT

 

This article is more than 4 years old.

 

Since ancient times, https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2016/08/16/the-origin-of-geological-terms-gold/#6c23727c642 9" aria-label="gold">gold has been seen as a mysterious element. Apart from copper, it's the only metal with a distinct color that also doesn't corrode over time. So it's no wonder that the unexpected discovery of a golden treasure is often surrounded by mystery and legends.

The Treasure of El Carambolo is a collection of 21 gold items discovered in the Spanish province of Seville in the year 1958. The origin of the artifacts was a mystery for over 60 years.

 

The Treasure of El Carambolo, exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Seville. Source and Credit:... [+]

J.A.M. FERNÁNDEZ

 

Apparently, the jewelry was manufactured using Phoenician techniques. The Phoenicians, a civilization with its roots in present-day Syria, colonized the Mediterranean area in the 8th century BC. It is possible that the artifacts were traded by Phoenician merchants and later buried in present-day Spain.

Another explanation attributed the artifacts to the local Tartessos culture. Tartessos or Tartessus was a semi-mythical harbor city, described by Greek historian Herodotus  (484–425 BC) to be located beyond the Pillars of Heracles (the present-day Strait of Gibraltar),  in the first millennium BC. Another Greek historian, Ephorus of Cyme (400–330 BC), describes the city as "a very prosperous market...[], with much tin carried by river, as well as gold and copper from Celtic lands."

The described river could also help to solve an archaeological mystery. The exact location of Tartessos is lost today. Some authors, based on the sudden disappearance of the city from the archaeological record, suggested that this city was somehow connected to another mysteriously vanished city. According to legends, the city of Atlantis disappeared from the surface of the earth“in a single day and night of misfortune” https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2016/11/11/the-bronze-age-eruption-that-ended-the-first-great-seagoing-civilization/#639e79456bc e" aria-label="during a volcanic eruption">during a volcanic eruption. However, a more simple explanation involves the present-day river of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalquivi r" aria-label="Guadalquivir">Guadalquivir. The ancient Tartessos may have been located somewhere along this river. So over time, as the river changed course, it may have simply destroyed or buried the former harbor.

By analyzing the chemical composition of the golden artifacts, a team from the Archaeological Museum of Seville and the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Huelva found further evidence to support the explanation of the Carambolo treasure as a local product. Gold often contains traces of other metals, like lead. Such impurities, especially the concentration and chemical signature, are unique to certain ore deposits. By comparing the chemical fingerprint of the gold items to samples of gold ore of various Spanish mines, the researchers were able to show that the gold used for the jewelry was mined near the modern city of Seville.

Additionally, the chemical composition of the Carambolo treasure shows similarities to gold items found in the 4,000 years old tombs of Valencina de la Concepción, a present-day town located west of Seville. This suggests that gold mining in the region had a long tradition and the items of Carambolo, dated around 700 BC, were the products of an already established civilization at the time. The observation that the items were made using Phoenician techniques can be explained by cultural exchange. At the time, the Phoenicians had established colonies around the Mediterranean Sea and it's likely that Phoenician craftsmen also traveled to foreign countries to exchange skills and artwork. So maybe an unknown Phoenician artist, using the locally mined gold, crafted the Treasure of El Carambolo. Just 100 years later the city of Tartessos disappeared and only chemical traces remain to tell the story of this lost civilization.

 

Interested in reading more? Try:

NOCETE et al. (2018):https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030544031830047 5" aria-label="The gold of the Carambolo Treasure: New data on its origin by elemental (LA-ICP-MS) and lead isotope (MC-ICP-MS) analysis">The gold of the Carambolo Treasure: New data on its origin by elemental (LA-ICP-MS) and lead isotope (MC-ICP-MS) analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 92: 87-102

Article

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2018/05/18/geologists-help-to-solve-mysterious-origin-of-golden-treasure/?sh=72423ba94ab6

Article

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/origins-gold-spill-secret-lost-culture-does-treasure-el-carambolo-lead-021868

 

 

Ancient Underwater Ruins Found off the Coast of Spain… Atlantis Again?

 

The coast of southern Spain is an archaeological wonderland with thousands of ruins from ancient Roman and Greek cultures, but hidden among these crumbling stones, scientists from a private satellite imaging firm claim to have found evidence of “a lost city with huge harbour walls", which they believe was built by the legendary “Atlanteans,” over 10,000 years ago – the legendary city of Atlantis.

In 400 BC Greek philosopher Plato wrote not the history of, but the ‘ story’ of Atlantis in his dialogues, the Timaeus and the Critias, written about 330 BC. Describing the catastrophic collapse of an island dwelling maritime civilization that had used high technology 9,000 years before Plato’s own lifetime , the capital city of Atlantis was described as having “huge entrance pillars, a temple to the god Poseidon, massive circular pieces of habitable land, and all this protected by ‘enormous harbour walls’.

Despite any proven truth to the story, countless Atlantis “experts” have all successfully located the famous lost continent in places such as: the Atlantic Ocean, Antarctica, Bolivia, Turkey, Germany, Malta and the Caribbean. Only two months ago The Express published a similar article claiming a researcher had “finally discovered Atlantis” in the Sahara. Plato, however, was crystal clear about where Atlantis was located: “in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles,’ i.e. “The pillars of Hercules" or the Straits of Gibraltar, at the mouth of the

Mediterranean

 

Atlantis was described as having huge entrance pillars and enormous harbour walls. (Public domain illustration)

 

The Latest Discovery of the Legendary City of Atlantis

Scientists at Merlin Burrows are celebrating having discovered the most important archaeological finding of all time, exactly where Plato said it was, “in front of “the pillars of Heracles.” According to a report in The Daily Mail , Atlantis, is located “north of the city of Cadiz, Andalucía, centered around the Doñana National Park,” which the Merlin Burrows historians “believe was once a vast inland sea.”

Even though a Live Science feature in February applied clear scientific logic to establish that “Plato’s lost city of Atlantis was never lost; it is where it always was: in Plato's books,” using satellite investigation techniques, aerial photography and ground observations, the Merlin Burrows experts believe they have “found all the features of Atlantis Plato described“ and that “that south and north of the park there is further evidence of the ancient civilization, with 15 other settlements dotted along the coastline.” What is more, they have found evidence that the city was destroyed by a tsunami, again, just like Plato said happened to Atlantis.

 

Showing utter defiance in the face of what will amount to a towering wall of rock hard skepticism, Maritime historian Tim Akers, head of research at Merlin Burrows, went so far as to tell reporters that his team “have collected samples which have been scientifically tested in a lab in Modena, Italy, which is used to test ancient Roman finds. The results of the tests prove the age of the finds are older than Roman or Greek, and that they were more advanced.”

Plato wrote that the harbor wall was “50 stadia” (five-and-a-half miles) in length and the satellite images show what Merlin Burrows claim is “evidence still visible today of sand dunes where this massive wall was destroyed by a huge influx of water” measuring an incredible 75 meters (245 ft) thick. The team also claim, “Laboratory analysis' of material recovered from Spain showed evidence of a type of cement not seen before, as well as ancient advanced metallurgy.” “A greenish blue patina has been found covering some of the ruins which tests have shown is an ancient combination of metals. Plato describes in detail a patina on the buildings and structures of the cities and temples making up this complex,” Akers added.

 

Andrea Carpi is a space materials engineer who commented on the tested materials: “We can confirm with certainty that the samples analyzed were the creation of an ancient civilization with advanced construction methods, which makes me believe that we're talking about a civilization with very advanced technology.’

• 3 Problems to Remember When Trying to Find Atlantis
• The Search for a Legendary Land: Does the Truth of Plato’s Atlantis Rest on a Shifting Sea Floor?
• The Legend of Atlantis: Between Ancient Ruins and a Philosopher’s Tale
•  

 

How Old Is ‘This’ Atlantis then?

Tim Akers said: “The site is spread over 100 miles from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, as to age as yet we have been unable to give a fixed date for the beginning, but its end was at the last Ice Age around 10,000 years ago.” He believes “At the centre of the line of coastal cities was one gigantic inland sea 65 miles long, filled with multiple islands, some natural, others man-made. The main complex consists of two distinct individual multi-Island platforms.”

What is more, “one is offset from the other so that anyone on those islands can see every island in the complex. It is unique, nowhere in our world is there anything resembling this, and the structures match exactly Plato's dimensions with no deviation. It is absolutely spot on.” Merlin Burrows have recorded a documentary film about their mission to reveal Atlantis called ‘Atlantica' in which their experts visit sites ‘they believe’ still show clues to the past people that once lived there, right up to the naming of the ancient town in the region Medina-Sidonia.” Believed to be the oldest city in Europe, the archaeologists said: “The site has both Tartessian, Greek, Phoenician, and Roman additions and our scans show multiple occupations over time till the final and ultimate destruction.”

While Tim Akers is confident that his company “only present the facts and try not to delve into speculation…” he had better really, really believe that, at the deepest most level of his being, for he is not just claiming to have found a lost city. No. This is much, much more. If a 100-mile ancient city, dating to 10,000-years-ago, is actually discovered, then our entire historical understanding of human’s path through time is incorrect. Entirely wrong.

If all this is indeed as the scientists claim, Atlantis, then author Graham Hancock has been right all along, an advanced civilization of human beings came to a cataclysmic end around 11,000 BC and every child who has walked into a history class has been sold a lie.

 

But let's hope this is not the case, and that this discovery of Atlantis is like the one made 8 weeks ago, and the two discovered in 2016, the one unearthed in 2009 and the 2 between 2003 - 2004. And similarly, to all of those previous “Atlantean” discoveries, this one is ‘not' being circulated on Science or Nature, or by ‘any’ other reputable academic communities.

Top image: A representation of what the lost city of Atlantis may look like ( diversepixel / Adobe Stock)

By Ashley Cowie

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Article

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/ancient-underwater-ruins-atlantis-0011008

Archaeology breakthrough as lost 'massive landscapes' found in ancient Bolivian forest

 

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have hunted for lost civilisations and their cities across the Amazon for decades. Now, researchers have found another gem hidden deep inside Bolivia's near-impenetrable forest.

 

 

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Article and Video

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1645678/archaeology-breakthrough-lost-city-ancient-forest-bolivia-spt

Vulci, Italy

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Video

Vulci 3000: Maurizio Forte and Antonio LoPiano

Article

https://www.artandobject.com/articles/vulci-3000-lidar-3d-renderings-and-future-archaeology