Ancient Antarctica and The Piri Reis Map: Fact or Fiction?

Covered in ice at the very bottom of the world is a vast continent that has been a subject of discussion by many alternative researchers for decades and for this video, I’ve been looking into two specific claims, both of which have been heavily promoted by the History Channel’s somewhat irritating Ancient Aliens programme.

Both claims try to give a positive answer to the question of ‘Was Antarctica home to a now lost civilisation?’ The two claims are a) that there are pyramids on Antarctica and b) the famous Piri Reis map shows the coastline of the continent.


The coastline of the continent of Antarctica is only known today because of sonar, although the ice is melting fast and maybe more has been exposed in past few decades, I don’t know, but it was certainly covered over with thick ice sheets in 1966 when Charles Hapgood released his famous book ‘Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings.’


The book proposes there was an ancient civilisation that surveyed the globe based on the analysis of ancient maps including the Piri Reis map. It is claimed by Hapgood and promoted by other others such as Erich von Daniken that the map, created in 1513 accurately shows part of the coastline of Antarctica.


On top of the map, there are then the arguments that a couple of mountains on Antarctica are actually giant, ancient pyramids. So, is the evidence pointing towards a lost civilisation on the icy continent, or is this just a prime example of dodgy research, bad science and pseudohistory? Watch the video to find out.


All images are taken from Google Images for educational purposes only.

Matt Sibson
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