I always thought that Atlantis was just one more iteration of the lost 'Golden Age' that is such a key part of so many mythologies, and is used as an example by several ancient philosophies.

What does fascinate me, however, is the way archaeologists and others keep turning up evidence that shows, time and again, that our prehistoric ancestors were far more sophisticated in their cultures than we imagined! It seems to me that The Flinststones, while undoubtedly comic fantasy, may in some ways be closer to the mark than our common conception of fur-wearing, club-wielding, grunting cavemen!