Carthies in the new world?

[Aemilius Paulus]

The site is called Akrotiri,

Interesting. So that is what they call it in vernacular? That is not what they called it during the excavation. I suppose the government gave it that name?

The government, BTW, is a great leech and a pest for that site. After the site was excavated, they opened it to tourism, but just as Pompeii, the site is not air-conditioned and climate controlled as it should be, leading to degradation. The governments of Italy and Greece siphon millions from the site, but do not even maintain it, much less continue the digs. As we know, much of Pompeii and Akrotiri is yet to be excavated.

Not with the current lack of funding though. As the lead archaeologist of the Theran site remarked, perhaps it would be better to leave the site alone until in the future, history will perhaps be better appreciated and the site will actually be protected from the outside climate, in the contrast of today's situation.

AP - perhaps you can refresh my memory: isn't Akrotiri viewed as a Minoan colony?

Not at all. Independent civilisation according to the both lead excavationists. Two generations of excavations there were BTW. First a Greek, and then an Anglo-Saxon.

As to the Carthaginians in the Americas, I have to remain sceptical. It's not totally outside the realm of possibility (try to prove a negative), but it certainly seems extremely unlikely. The theory is mostly based on completely spurrious evidence such as the Bat Creek Inscription, and (if memory serves) a supposed rock carving in Brazil that is probably not a carving at all, but rather a natural formation. It's all rather dubious, at best.

Yeah, same here. I mean, I want to believe the Phoenicians did it, but as a natural sceptic, cynic, and a pessimist, I doubt it. The sensationalist nature of those discoveries does not help.