The Milos Atlantis Conference (Greece)
“The Atlantis Hypothesis: Searching for a Lost Land”
took place between 11th and 13th July 2005.
 
Specialists in the fields of archaeology, geology, volcanology and other sciences presented and substantiated their views
regarding the place where Atlantis existed, the time when it was destroyed and the causes of its destruction,
whilst a number of people expressed their doubts as to whether it actually existed.
Based on the accounts of Plato, the conference participants agreed on the following 24 criteria,
which a geographical area must satisfy in order to qualify as a site where Atlantis could have existed:
 

1.The Metropolis of Atlantis should have been located where an island used to be and where parts of it may still exist.
2. The Metropolis of Atlantis should have had a most distinct geomorphology composed of alternating concentric rings of land and water.
3. The Atlantis should have been located outside the Pillars of Hercules.
4. The Metropolis of Atlantis was greater than Libya and Anatolia and Middle East and Sinai (combined).
5. Atlantis must have sheltered a literate population with metallurgical and navigational skills.
6. The Metropolis of Atlantis should have been routinely reachable from Athens by sea.
7. At the time, Atlantis should have been at war with Athens.
8. The Metropolis of Athens must have suffered a devastating physical destruction of unprecedented proportions.
9. The Metropolis of Atlantis should have sunk entirely or partly below the water.
10. The Metropolis of Atlantis was destroyed 9000 Egyptian years before the 6th century B.C.
11. The part of Atlantis was 50 stadia (7,5 km) from the city.
12. Atlantis had a high population density, enough to support a large army (10,000 chariots, 1,200 ships, 1,200,000 hoplites)
13. The region of Atlantis involved the sacrifice of bulls.
14. The destruction of Atlantis was accompanied by an earthquake.
15. After the destruction of Atlantis, the passage of ships was blocked.
16. Elephants were present in Atlantis.

17. No physically or geologically impossible processes were involved in the destruction of Atlantis.
18. Hot and cold springs, with mineral deposits, were present in Atlantis.
19. Atlantis lay on a coastal plain 2000 X 3000 stadia surrounded by mountains falling into the sea.
20. Atlantis controlled other states of the period.
21. Winds in Atlantis came from the north (only in Northern hemisphere)
22. The rocks in Atlantis were of various colors: black, white, and red.
23. There were canals for irrigation in Atlantis.
24. Every 5th and 6th year, they sacrificed bulls.

Using the above criteria, independently arrived at by the conference participants, the editor of this page has compiled the following table which illustrates how the various locations proposed for Atlantis may fit or not fit, as the case may be, the criteria for Atlantis.

Atlantis conference Milos List of points for Atlantis location and features	Bolivan Altiplano	Cyprus		Thera	Malta	Straits of Gibraltar	Azores	Off Cuba	Malasia	Antarctica
1.The Metropolis of Atlantis should have been located where an island used to be and where parts of it may still exist.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	Difficult to verify, Under water		Yes	Malta Is an island	Difficult to verify, Under water	yes	Difficult to verify, Under water	Various islands	An island continent
2. The Metropolis of Atlantis should have had a most distinct geomorphology composed of alternating concentric rings of land and water.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	no	no		no	no	no	no	no	no
3. The Atlantis should have been located outside the Pillars of Hercules.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	no	no		no	yes	yes	yes	yes but Plato said it was in the Atlantic Ocean	yes
4. The Metropolis of Atlantis was greater than Libya and Anatolia and Middle East and Sinai (combined).	Yes The continent of Atlantis is now called “South America	no	no		no	no	no	no	no	yes
5. Atlantis must have sheltered a literate population with metallurgical and navigational skills.	Yes Difficult to prove since it was destroyed but later people had both metallurigical and navigational skills		Yes
6. The Metropolis of Atlantis should have been routinely reachable from Athens by sea.	Yes Coca and tobacco were found in Egyptian mummies, “Bolivian” pyramids are built in “Egyptian” cubits and cuneiform writing has been found near Lake Titicaca	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	not probable	not probable
7. At the time, Atlantis should have been at war with Athens.	Difficult to prove, but probably refers to the invasion of Egypt and Greece by the “Sea Peoples”
8. The Metropolis of Athens must have suffered a devastating physical destruction of unprecedented proportions.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	no	Yes		no	no	no	no	no	no
9. The Metropolis of Atlantis should have sunk entirely or partly below the water.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	claimed but difficult to verify	Yes		no	claimed but difficult to verify	no	claimed but difficult to verify	no	no
10. The Metropolis of Atlantis was destroyed 9000 Egyptian years before the 6th century B.C.	Difficult to verify an actual date	Difficult to verify an actual date	Some say dividing years by 10 would fit Thera		Difficult to verify an actual date	Difficult to verify an actual date	Difficult to verify an actual date	Difficult to verify an actual date	Difficult to verify an actual date	Difficult to verify an actual date
11. The part of Atlantis was 50 stadia (7,5 km) from the city. This should read “the sea was 50 stadia from the city”	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	no	no		no	no	no	no	no	no
12. Atlantis had a high population density, enough to support a large army (10,000 chariots, 1,200 ships, 1,200,000 hoplites)	Yes Difficult to verify, but before the conquest, South America had a vast population	no	no		no	no	no	no	no	no
13. The region of Atlantis involved the sacrifice of bulls.	Yes For “bulls” read “llamas” which are still sacrificed there today.	not known	Yes Bull games on crete		no	not known	no	not probable	not probable	no
	Bolivan Altiplano	Cyprus	Thera		Malta	Straits of Gibraltar	Azores	Off Cuba	Malasia	Antarctica
14. The destruction of Atlantis was accompanied by an earthquake.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	no	Thera was destroyed by volcanic eruption, not earthquakes		no	not known	no	Yes earthquake zone	no	no
15. After the destruction of Atlantis, the passage of ships was blocked.	Yes Nearby Lake Poopo is today not passable	no	no		no	no	no	no	no	no
16. Elephants were present in Atlantis.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	no	no		no	no	no	no	Yes	no
17. No physically or geologically impossible processes were involved in the destruction of Atlantis	Yes The Altiplano is subject to the earthquakes and floods Plato mentioned		Yes		No. no sunken island		No. entire continents cannot sink in a single day	Yes earthquake zone	No. entire continents cannot sink in a single day	No. has been under ice for a longer period than Plato’s timescale
18. Hot and cold springs, with mineral deposits, were present in Atlantis. Editor’s note, the minerals were gold, silver, copper, tin and orichalcum	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified and the only site with all the minerals Plato mentioned	no	no		no	no	no	no	Yes	no
19. Atlantis lay on a coastal plain 2000 X 3000 stadia surrounded by mountains falling into the sea.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	no	No Even if the plain were on Crete and divided by 10, it would be too large to fit.		no	no	no	no	no	no
	Bolivan Altiplano	Cyprus	Thera		Malta	Straits of Gibraltar	Azores	Off Cuba	Malasia	Antarctica
20. Atlantis controlled other states of the period.	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove		Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove
21. Winds in Atlantis came from the north (only in Northern hemisphere)	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove		Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove
22. The rocks in Atlantis were of various colors: black, white, and red.	Yes at Pampa Aullagas, easily verified	no	Yes Not known, but is Indicative of a volcanic environment		no	Not known	Yes Indicative of a volcanic environment	no	no	no
23. There were canals for irrigation in Atlantis.	Yes Visible on satellite images of the Altiplano	no	no		no	no	no	no	no	no
24. Every 5th and 6th year, they sacrificed bulls.	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove		Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove	Difficult to prove
	total 19	total 1	total 8		total 1	total 2	total 4	total 4	total 3	total 2
	Bolivan Altiplano	Cyprus	Thera		Malta	Straits of Gibraltar	Azores	Off Cuba	Malasia	Antarctica

From the above criteria as defined by the Milos conference, the key points must surely be the geographic description of the island i.e. in particular (2) that it should have a particular geomorphology composed of alternating concentric rings of land and water, (3) should have been located outside the Pillars of Hercules, (4) The Metropolis of Atlantis was greater than Libya and Anatolia and Middle East and Sinai combined (18) Hot and cold springs, with mineral deposits, were present in Atlantis,
(19) Atlantis lay on a coastal plain 2000 X 3000 stadia surrounded by mountains falling into the sea, (22) The rocks in Atlantis were of various colors: black, white, and red,
(23) There were canals for irrigation in Atlantis.

The only candidate site which contains an island with the specific geomorphology of the alternating rings of land and water, destroyed by earthquakes and floods and which also lies on a rectangular level plain which in turn is in the centre of a continent opposite the Pillars of Hercules is Pampa Aullagas on the Bolvian Altiplano and the lack of these key, determining features surely disqualifies the other candidates.

The viewer may also like to visit http://www.realatlantis.com/statementscomparison50points.htm for a list of 50 points of comparison between the Bolivian Altiplano and Plato’s Atlantis