Was Atlantis an island/empire near Denmark?

Ok,

First-off, I believe the standard issue theory that the 'atlantis' legend is based on an ill-fated island within the Minoan sphere of influence.... One which saw its demise right before Greece entered its 'archaic' or 'dark' period in about 1100 BC or so. I also do not believe that Atlantis was some fantastic, nearly alien civilization that had all sorts of super technology and mystical power... That is, i believe it existed, but had oared ships and not spaceships....

However, today I came across a book in the library which argues that 'Atlantis' was really an island trading post off of the coast of Denmark. Quickly flipping through the pages, it seems to make a fairly cogent argument -- at least one that's as believable as the Minoan and Mycenean ones. Essentially, it says that Norse lore tells of a mighty island empire that was destroyed around the time the atlantis legend points to... and archealogy has unearthed many artifacts that reveal, in fact, a wealthy and mobile trading empire centered near Denmark at about this time (1100-1200BC).

Interested in the idea that Atlantis may not have been a Minoan or Mycenean state, after all, I did some quick looking through some books on Norse mythology and seafaring... Indeed, as I already knew, an extensive shipping culture already existed in denmark 3000 years ago ... and, it turns out, these myths, and unearthed riches DO exist. I've also, in this rough search, found that the 'Danish Isle=Atlantis' theory goes back about 130 years...

So (and I'm at work, so really can't be more thorough right now), have you guys ever heard of this? Do you have any info or links? What are your thoughts?

Personally, I've always seen theories that put atlantis outside of Jamaica... or as some huge lost continent... as total bunk, and have always wanted a solid solution that's rooted in marine archeology. So, do you think this theory is what I am looking for?

I also heard soemthing about this. It is the Danish island Bornhom which was once Swedish.

There are alot of symolic stone pillars there?????

Nothing like the other stoneage, bronzeage stuff we got around here.

I havn't heard this one before. Thanks for bringing it up. I'll go see what I can find.

hmm-ness...perhaps you could tell me what that particular book was called? I'm all into the Atlantis stuff as well, and yes believe it was near Minoan islands...by chance have yo ever read Erik von Daniken? or Zecheriah Sitchtin(dunno if I spelled it right) both are fun things to look up online, and bring some interesting thoughts to mind...although Sitchin is a bit...out there...to get to them just type in +"Niburu" on the Google search engine...or type in +"Tiamat" +"PlanetX" or +"Reptillians" or +"Agharti" that's how i came across both men by reading a book about Agharti (don't have exact title as a friend is borrowing the book) also try Thor Heyerdahl, he's dead now, but when he was alive he proved that ancient peoples, i.e. Egyptians, Sumerians, and such had contact with North American's and Central/South American's before Vikings and "Civilized" man...fun stuff to look up, and please do E-Mail me that book title, E-Mail is [email protected] to hear from you soon...G'Night, and I Hope some of my information keeps you entertained/Thoughtful.

"Atlantis" was in "med" or in Atlantic ocean.. ?

Welll,
I'd like to emphasize that the 'Atlantis=Island off Denmark' theory is not, in any way, related to any theory which could be called 'paranormal','mystical', or 'extraterrestrial'. The theory is based on 1)physical evidence, 2)Corraboration with local (proto-Norse) myths, and 3)What has come down to us from Greek myths.

'Ship burials' had been common in Denmark for centuries before the modern era, and are most often associated with the Vikings. however, maritime historians have been able to 'uncover' more ships, and remains of ships, from ancient Denmark than most people realize. In fact, there is more evidence, today, of northern European shipping than there is of Greek craft from around the year 1100BC. The physical facts show that overseas travel... and thus commerce and fairly advanced seamanship... was developed to a comparatively high degree in the area around Denmark around 1100... That is, it was developed to the extent that it could support (and indicate to us) a complex, advanced culture.

Now, looking at the legend of Atlantis, as discussed specifically by Plato.. it talks about a shipping empire far beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Now, the Pillars are what we call the Straits of Gibraltar today... So, Atlantis is specifically placed beyond the Med by those who have relayed the legend of it to us. The idea that Atlantis must be a Minoan or Mycenean city-state/island is simply an easy answer wherein someone assumed that the Greeks were mistakenly talking about one of the loacl empires that existed, in their neighborhood, in the pre-archaic times. Yes, I'll admit that it's as supportable as the Denmark theory, in many ways, but it ignores a lot of maritime evidence.

You see, we know for a fact that shipping between the North Sea and the Med was quite common before the Archaic period. Seafarers in this period would see, no doubt, the Cretan empire as a short range hop from Mycenae. Any remote destination for their travels would have to be.. well... remote... but able for them to get to.

With that in mind, it should also be noted that Denmark and the British Isles were end points for Phoenician trade at this time. That is, a place such as an island off of denmark would have served as a hub (like a modern airport such as Ohare) for trade -- Phoenician and Baltic ships would both see it as an end point for their travels.

Anyways... I'm obviously beginning to believe... The book that I mentioned before is:

Atlantis of the North by Jurgen Spanuth (ISBN: 0442213662). I don't agree with every conclusion it makes, but it has encouraged me to look at a lot of my books on ancient shipping differently... That is, many of the things the book talks about are supported by known maritime history.

OIMD,

I would never dispute your knowledge of ships and shipping, but you have to show that such a transportation hub could support a large populace for me to believe that it's 'atlantis'. That is, none of the things you've talked about so far (ship remains, traded goods) necessarily indicate a local population on the scale of a Mycenean city... Rather, they could arguably be the remains of an, I admit, heavily used trading bottleneck. You have to show that the local economy (Baltic+Southern Scandinavia) could FEED a city-sized population. So far as I know, agriculture in this are was limited at the time.

you can't take the story of atlantis for what it is you have to look into the deaper meaning of the story there was no island that dissapeared beneath the sea however there was a great civilization that existed before what we consider written history and there was some kind of disaster either natural or the doing of the let's call them the atlantians for lack of a better term that destroyed there civiliztion and it took them back into what we call the stone age or pre histor where the history that we know today begins atleast this is my theory about the atlantis story

Best information, historically and geologically, regarding the myth of Atlantis was that it was likely the Island of Santorini.

The ancient "Atlantean" civilization that was based there was likely the Minoan civilization that did indeed greatly dominate large sections of the Med at about the time historically attributed to the Atlanteans.

The volcanic destruction of Santorini fits the story of the destruction of Atlantis to a T. A giant pyroclastic eruption of approximately 100 megatons yield literrally ripped out about 60% of the island itself.