apparently rewarded by a large find of ancient bones.

Could the Tuareg indeed be descended from this eldest of lost kingdoms, claiming one of the best-known mythical figures as a forebear?

Conclusion

The belief in long-lost kingdoms enshrouded in lianas and guarded by leopards and poisonous reptiles is sometimes too great to resist--even eminently rational scientists occasionally give in to its siren's call.

Italian geologist Angelo Pitoni, a consultant on the acclimation of tropical plants and vegetables to Mediterranean climates for the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), succumbed to "lost kingdom fever" after performing his duties in the African republic of Guinea. His interested was ignited in 1991 by the totally fortuitous discovery of some enigmatic statues in war-torn Sierra Leone, followed by a totally unexpected find: a giant statuein the mountains of Guinea, known to locals as "the lady of Mali". In an interview with journalist Carmen Machado, Pitoni explained that the statue is located to the north of the city of Conakry and close enough to the country's border with Mali. The geologist estimates the "lady of Mali" to be some twenty thousand years old, gauging this through the displacement of a rock fault. Pitoni also speaks of caves in the area which contain very old mummies that are zealously guarded by the locals and their possible "Atlantean" origin.

The geologist bolsters his belief by means of an extraordinary object: a strange crystal found in Sierra Leone diamond fields and which resembles a pure turquoise similar to some found on the pectorals of Egyptian priests. Analyses