Potatoes

[Grace]

So I enjoyed some potatoe pancakes this morning.

And it occurred to me, if there was once a transatlantic empire based out of a lost continent called Atlantis...

Then why did it take until 1536 for the potatoe to be introduced to Europe?

[Deacon Ash-Shaytan]

Is there a specific conspiracy you're referring to, Nemesis?

[Ron Caliburn]

Maybe the Atlanteans thought French Fries were bad for them and didn't decide to trade potatoes across the oceans?

[Grace]

Mr. Ash-Shaytan,

I believe I was referring to the myth of Atlantis rather than any conspiracies surrounding it.

Mr. Caliburn,

I know you prefer to grub guns as I do, but I'm sure you could come up with better than that if you were really trying. Sure the European's thought that the potatoe was poisonous initially, but they soon got over that.

Or are you perhaps referring to the health concerns of just french fries? Because there are other, more nutrious ways of preparing the humble potatoe. Although I do think you were being humorous in your response.

Why, I remember my mom's potatoe salad... oh wait, I never knew my mom. It's hard to keep the stories straight at times.

Now, if only one strain of potato were taken out of South America, a disease could possibly have wiped them all out. Such as happened during the Irish Potato Famine.

Any other thoughts?

Or does anyone claim to know the truth of the matter?

[Technocrat]

Perhaps the Potatoe was not discovered or harvested at the time of Atlantis?

[Grace]

Seems plausible.

[finder_fee]

That could be, but they also didn't have corn, and That has been a crop over here for a REAL long time... like creation story long time I think...

Fi

[Gabriel]

Atlantis, if it truly existed, was a city. Not an ocean-spanning nation. Just a grandiose city, who, in the tradition of the day, had stories of it grow taller with each telling.

Had it existed another generation, it would have been larger than the world itself...

[Cybermancer]

The oldest and so far as is known, first account of Atlantis is Plato's.

He describes it thusly:

For it is related in our records how once upon a time your State stayed the course of a mighty host, which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean, was insolently advancing to attack the whole of Europe, and Asia to boot.

For the ocean there was at that time navigable; for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles,' there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together; and it was possible for the travelers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent over against them which encompasses that veritable ocean.

For all that we have here, lying within the mouth of which we speak, is evidently a haven having a narrow entrance; but that yonder is a real ocean, and the land surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest sense, a continent.

Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvelous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent.

It is upon this account that all others are based.

[Grace]

That could be, but they also didn't have corn, and That has been a crop over here for a REAL long time... like creation story long time I think...

Fi

That's a good point. Imagine if they'd had popcorn at the gladatorial games.

[Cybermancer]

Perhaps trans-Atlantic traders simply reserved their precious cargo space for more valuable exports.

[Hannah]

Here's an idea - climate change and disease.

Couldn't it be possible that maybe such plants did grow on both sides of the Atlantic, but the populations on the Eastern side were wiped out by the combination of climate change (ie Egypt only became a desert a few thousand years ago, England used to be good for growing grapes and olives, etc) and some sort of disease?

Hannah.

PS: Not that I have any proof, just saying.

[RAVEN]

That is an interesting question, Hannah. It is well established that at least the Vikings reached North America. Not all of these explorers (the Vikings being a good example) would have been interested in establishing trade routes. The North American tribes didn't have much worth stealing fro a Nordic point of view, and the Iceland was much easiler for colonization due to its natural borders and closer proximity to Europe.

As much as I enjoy the drug trade theory (and I will have to ask Professor Ali about that), there is a more basic economic explanation. Assuming a trans-Atlantic trade network did exist, there is the issue of control. The Spice Islands for centuries controlled a monopoly on the most desired resources in the world because they sold the ground-up spices, not the living plants nor seeds. If some wholesaler in the Americas or Atlantis was selling a reasource like corn, he would have incentive to grind it up into cornmeal first so he can continue to control the supply.

Concerning patatoes specifically, it could also have been the case no one yet realized their usefulness to the Old World. The reason patatoes became so important in Ireland is that they will grow anywere, in a pete moss field even. A lack of suitable land for other staple foods kept Ireland's population low (and hungry) for thousands of years before patatoes were introduced.

To my mind a more important question is where did Atlantis go? If Plato was correct about Atlantis being a continent, then it would have to be in the Atlantic Ocean because that is the only place with enough space for it (baring the Pacific Ocean which would just be silly). During the Cold War, the two superpowers sent out perhaps hundreds of submarines to search this area for each other in this area. Those boats found no sunken continent. I think it was abducted by aliens.

[PeterSchnauss]

Interesting thread here...never thought that Atlantis, potatoes and cocaine infused mummies could be combined in a single topic.

My take on Atlantis is it was probably just a fable, but I knew a Greenlander who made a very compelling arguement that Greenland is/was Atlantis. And it didn't sink, but drifted North.

Anyhoo....Atlantis theory isn't my strong suit though.

Greenlantis site

[Gotham Witch]

I think the major issue here is that potatoes are an Andean cultivar - waaaaaay to the south of areas that are believed to have ever been visited by Europeans pre-Columbian, and along the Pacific watershed rather than the Atlantic. As for the Spanish, they became well acquainted with potatoes during their conquests of Native Americans during the 16th century - they did feed their silver miners spuds after all.