On the question of Atlantis

Do you like the pretentious title?

I'm also a Randall Carlson fan (so shove over Joe Rogan :)), and his more recent discussions of the topic of Atlantis and the development of modern research that relates to its possible historic existence as more than a Platonic delusion (see here for example) has been a pleasure to follow. An idea that he doesn't seem quite willing to commit to, but seems obvious to uneducated me, is that what can only be honestly described as an empire (per Plato, Atlantis was but one of ten kingdoms - possibly the capital of the empire, but that isn't addressed directly by Plato's source Solon) must have been scattered over an area of the Atlantic Ocean easily the size of Libya, which historically was basically most of the N. African coastal region west of Egypt (at least to the Pillars of Heracles). Since the largest submerged land form adjacent to the Straits of Gibraltar is the Azores Plateau, which isn't that impressive a fraction of the area the ancient Greeks called Libya, it has to be surmised that the total area of the Atlantean empire member Kingdoms would be the proper understanding of Solon's description, and not of a single land mass.

Stipulate, if you will, that Plato essentially got it right; where did all of the people go who weren't trapped in one of the cities of the empire on the day? As a sea-going civilization, it has to be ordinary for a significant percentage of the population (sail and oar-powered ships remember) to be "underway" during the events that resulted in the destruction of their various home ports. As well, some further percentage of the population would have lived at sufficient altitude to survive the initial Melt Water Pulse B floodwaters that flooded the cities of the empire. From this it seems likely that there were sufficient survivors to not lose the empire's accumulated technology and ideology post deluge (not to mention the tectonic upheavals that followed). Possibly the Phoenicians were the eventual result of that, with the added possibility of the people western history records as "The Sea Peoples". 

One other possibility to consider is the civilization that preceded the Egyptian Dynasties initiated by Narmer. Not much is known about this civilization, but one of the current hypotheses is that at least some of the Egyptian pyramids were constructed by them, at least in part (it is supposed that succeeding dynasties adapted these structures to their own purposes many years/centuries? later). 

No opinion on any of that. 

Back to Plato and his telling of Solon's story of Atlantis, Solon plainly states that the Egyptian priests he spoke with stated that the Greeks only knew about one cataclysm that ended civilization; they believed their records identified up to 10 such events. Where but from this preceding civilization could these records have come (other than priestly imaginations - I don't think I'm quite that cynical. Yet.)?

If any of this has any relationship with reality, then we have to be willing to consider it is all true. Which would mean that Homo Sapiens Sapiens has achieved civilization on par with our current efforts before this, possibly several times. Thinking positively, we know of at least 13+ thousand years since whatever caused Melt Water Pulse B, so let's use 15k as our historical periodicity. There are archeological discoveries of late which seem to date our species to at least 150k years ago. By no coincidence, a multiple of our working date number.

Out of ten periods in which modern humanity had time to develop civilization, it seems likely to me that we've done some variant of all of this before. [Quick segue: some months ago the PRC space program reported that their lunar rover on the Far Side had identified an object that appeared artificial. Could it also be of - really old - human origin?] Oh, not the same technology, although one suspects the effects of what we call physics have always been universal, but an effectively equivalent level of capability. An unoriginal idea that the Egyptian pyramid builders used an application of sound waves that exerted a physical force on the object it was directed at doesn't appear to be out-right impossible, we just haven't quite figured it out yet. I personally like the idea of using the usually predictable wind blowing upriver to inflate sails to "float" the gigantic stones along the river to the build site and then into place. And who can say which is ultimately the more plausible supposition? The point being that there are distinct technologies capable of achieving the same end result, so the thought of some previous iteration of ourselves at least equaling our achievements can't really be considered unthinkable. Unprovable, so far, but that's where you find the intellectual challenges, don't you?

All of which ignores the possibilities of the rest of Homo Sapiens genus. Homo Sapiens Florencis, Homo Sapiens Neanderthalus, along with all the rest, surely had sufficient time some when along the way to make their own mark on the physical universe at least to the degree we have. If such an artifact were to have survived undiscovered until now, Luna Far Side might be the only place possible that we can reach. It's currently fashionable to humble-brag about the percentage of Neanderthal DNA in your own DNA (or so the company doing the DNA work would have us all believe :)). Wouldn't it be a hoot, sorry - not sorry, if it turned out that proof of Homo Sapiens Sapiens DNA being designed from modified Neanderthal DNA is found inside that Far Side "structure" the PRC claims to be investigating as I type this? By Neanderthals, necessarily. 

Even without the CBD, my imagination doesn't stretch quite that far (who knew sleeping alone could be this fun?), and I believe we can safely leave space exploration to Elon and his competitors for the moment, but what of Randall Carlson's theory that "Atlantis" existed on the Azores Plateau - presumably at the depth of what would have been the shoreline prior to the Younger Dryas. Such a survey is eminently possible with current technology, and not even THAT cutting edge; James Cameron probably already owns most of what would be needed, for only one example. A large yacht capable of supporting say 6 people in addition to crew requirements for 3-ish weeks without replenishment, that can also support the necessary cable for RV's working down to 600' minimum. Being able to do side-scanning sonar simultaneous to down-looking sonar bottom scans ought to provide sufficient evidence of any possible structures that resemble Solon's measurements of the city of Atlantis. Perhaps a big enough yacht support vessel would work.

I won't commit myself to pay my own way, but I would work for room and board to be a member of that expedition.