legend

A team of archaeologists, working with the Kitchenuhmaykoosik Inninuwug First Nation, has discovered a 4,600-year-old burial at the mouth of the Bug River, on the south side of Big Trout Lake in Canada.

Big Trout Lake is located in the far northwest of the province of Ontario. Even today it’s difficult to access. The province’s road system stops nearly 400 kilometres south of the area, making planes the most practical way to get in and out.

The lake is located on the same latitude as Manchester, but the climate is far colder. In the winter the temperature can go down below -30 degrees Celsius. The area around the lake is heavily forested with evergreen trees. The population encompassed by the Kitchenuhmaykoosik Inninuwug First Nation community is estimated to be around 1,200.

Tonight the documentary 'Atlantis – The Evidence' premières on BBC Two – in which historian Bettany Hughes traces the origins of Greek philosopher Plato's Atlantis myth to the Minoan civilisation.

The Timewatch special will present the theory, and evidence, that Plato's story was inspired by a real historical event: the Thera eruption. Dated to around 1650BC, the eruption on the Aegean island of Thera, better known to tourists as Santorini, was disastrous for the Minoan culture, which was at that time at its height.

Historian Bettany Hughes will star in Timewatch Special 'Atlantis: The Evidence', to première on BBC Two next week. She'll be tracing the origins of the Atlantis myth and presenting evidence that the Thera eruption inspired Plato's account of the mystical land.

2,400 years ago Greek philosopher Plato wrote of an ancient island civilisation of unparalleled wealth and splendour, which was struck by earthquakes and floods and was swallowed up by the sea in one grievous day and night.