Many books have been written on Atlantis, Lemuria and the continent of Mu. I won't attempt to do that here. One of the most promising theories is that the real Lost Continent is in fact Australia or one of the other land masses of Oceania. As Jared Diamond reminds us in Guns, Germs, and Steel, the aboriginal peoples of Australia branched off from other peoples around 40,000 years ago. This is very much in keeping with the "ancient-of-ancients" timeline that goes with the myth of Atlantis. Even the civilizations closest in proximity do not share the same bloodlines as the Ancient People of Australia. The aboriginees of Australia were literally lost to History before it was written.
It would make perfect sense for the ancient oral historians to the north to believe Atlantis was lost to the sea. It was. At least the passage closest to them was. Land once existed in areas where there is now sea, and those areas of land made up the long passage from the greater continents to what is now called Australia. Although very minor trade routes existed, they were much later, and cofined to very non-influential local ports in that chain of islands and subcontinents. This would have happened over a very long period of time, and the stories would have slowly changed like a very long game of telephone.
As for the advanced technologies attributed to Atlanteans, perhaps they are mostly myth. But myths are how humans project the impossible, in order to make it possible. The myth-makers in turn, and in time, manifest their own myths. If you have not yet read Bacon's contribution to the subject, then you may be startled at what is possible when the imagination is called upon. Perhaps ultimately the story of Atlantis is part history, and part forecast of what was to come. Until we know for sure, I for one, will continue to scour the shallows for some hint of a lost past.
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