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Atlantis:  Fact, Fiction, or Phenomenon?
A conversation with Dr. Charles Orser
The legend of Atlantis, the lost continent described in a story written by Plato around 360 B.C., has inspired ardent speculation for many centuries.  In modern times, public interest in the subject has been accompanied by imaginary proposals that stretch Atlantis well beyond the bounds of Plato’s story.  For many, distinguishing Atlantis fact from Atlantis fiction has become quite perplexing.

One of the goals of The Archaeology Channel is to provide reliable information on archaeological subjects of public interest.  Public attention on Atlantis has been elevated recently by the new animated Disney movie, Atlantis: The Lost Empire.  This is a good time for us to take up the subject and examine the story from a sound archaeological perspective.  To do that, we have asked a real Atlantis expert, Dr. Charles Orser, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Illinois State University, to share with us his perspectives on Atlantis in an audio interview with Rick Pettigrew.

To hear the interview, click on the bandwidth for your player below.  To continue to see this page or others on The Archaeology Channel while you are listening, minimize the player (click on the minus sign in the upper right corner of the player) when it comes up.

Windows Media Player  56k   300k       RealPlayer  56k   300k


Web links:

The Web links below are selected websites for exploring this and related subjects.  These include sites that we regard as informative, reliable and (certainly in the case of the Disney site) entertaining.  Many more websites on Atlantis, including those that are more speculative, may be found through the use of Web search engines.

Charles E. Orser, Jr., Home Page 

The Skeptic (article by Dr. Orser on the Discover Archaeology website) 

The Active Mind: Atlantis 

The Skeptic’s Dictionary: Atlantis 

Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Official Home Page for the Disney movie 

The Sunken Kingdom: The Atlantis Mystery Solved (book)

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