"Which ATLANTIS Terrain Look: 9500 BCE or 1400 BCE???" Topic

Please, this question is about architecture preferences to build terrain that depict a long-lost and exotic civilization, and NOT to get into whether it existed or not . . .

If you were to depict Atlantean ruins, would you go with the typical "9000 years before Solon" look or the 900 years before Classical Age look (proposed by some who think that an extra digit was somehow added to the date)?

Either way, it wouldn't look all that ancient and exotic if I went with Classical Greek architecture, right?

How about Minoan-esque? Proto-Egyptian? Something else?

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

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Actually, you could use a mix of all the cultures you mention. If you take into account that Atlantis influenced them all. Hypothetically speaking of course!!

Kyoteblue,

Hmm. Hadn't thought of monolithic. Maybe something like Malta's ruins then?

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Sorry. Meant to say "megalithic".

CC

Proto-Egyptian, or some variant on the Easter Island stuff, maybe with a little Minoan stuff thrown in for good measure.

A current theory is that the story of the fall of Atlantis is based around the events of the massive explosion of the volcano Thera around 1620 BCE and this lead to the fall of the Minoan civilsation, so have a look pictures of palace at Knossos on Crete for inspiration.

Martin

Proto-everything. Possibly with a more "modern" or finished look (imagine Egyptians try to duplicate using only stone).

Or, go all glass and steel, one reason you can't find it (it was all broken and washed away)

Crystals, my boy, it was all crystals; which is why no one can find it.

I think slugbalancer's suggestion is a solid one. I saw a great Nova special on the research being conducted on that theory. Minoan architecture looks quite distinctive, and we have some wonderful "holes" in the story to provide good cover for fantastic invention. Otherwise, decide what sort of building inventions a fictional "Atlantean" culture might have had. Did they use the arch, or was it post and beam? Early corbeled or the slab method of neolithic building? Other, as suggested by those above? This would guide your building plans.

I would mix Greek, Catal Hoyuk, Minoan Palace Culture, modern domed Greek isle architecture and Egyptian into one big melting pot. They were supposed to be advanced, so make them advanced. Don't assume that the forms were crude unless you want to assume that. For example, the ruins might be monolithic, but in it'd day, the malta ruins might have been plastered to look like they were cut from a single cyclopean block of white stone.

To me, the best Atlantis story is the Black Sea flood that took place around 7,000-10,000 BC. I am sure that you have heard of the book Noah's Flood. If not, it is a great read, and factual.

This is kinda cool:
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Especially mixed with this:
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And this: link

Damn, those Malta ruins are cool!

Another option is the "alien civilization" look. Wall carvings that look disconcertingly similar to circuitboard patterns, and such.

My two favourite portrayals of Atlantis are those from the old point-and-click PC adventure game "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis", and the anime "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" (an extreme re-imagining of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea). Both portrayed the Atlantean architectural style as neat but "blocky", getting it's inherent coolness rather from it's cyclopean size than any esoteric decorations and ornaments. The impressions really stuck.

Minoan and the sort of rambling stone/stucco structures

This is an interesting map, showing where the Atlantean outpost of Opar was supposed to be, in the African jungles, in relation to Tarzan's other adventures:

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I guess I'll plan on a Minoan-esque style, with some proto-Egyptian thrown into the mix. I love the "inverted" columns the Minoans used (thicker at the top).

I just need to get some stone statues of bulls or such, to add more flavor to it, like this big boy:

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Thick vines and overgrowth should finish it off, I hope.

CC

Not exactly Minoan architecture, but could be done as Minoan, I think:

erbzine.com/mag15/1547.html

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CC, you're in south Texas. Onyx carved animals from the tourist shops. The definition may be weak, but then they have been outdoors for 11,000 years.

Thanks guys.

I can't wait to get home (probably another 3-4 weeks) to get started on it!

CC

Ooo this looks good here:

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I could use it as Opar (Tarzan) or even as Osgiliath (LOTR).

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This one is beautiful:

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Another one:

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Better image of that link two posts earlier:

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For some giant statue decor:

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CC

What would a 9500 BC look be like?

"What would a 9500 BC look be like?"

Reallllly oooold. Just kidding.

Maybe something more monolithic (a la Malta, 4000-2500 BCE), perhaps, than Minoan:

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