1999. By Grant Keddie When Europeans from the Old World came to the New World of the Americas in the 16th century, they observed thousands of native societies speaking a variety of languages. These cultures ranged from small, loosely organized bands of hunter-gatherers living in small settlements, to highly organized agricultural societies with large cities. Europeans tried to explain how these native cultures came to be in the New World. Scholars looked for clues in the main sources of information available – the Bible and the Greek and Roman classics. In 1535, a Spanish writer, Oviedo, added religious dogma to Plato’s story of the lost civilization of Atlantis. He asserted that Atlantis was a land mass extending from Spain to … Continue reading “Old World New World”