My name is Lauren Lasater. I have a degree in Anthropology with a concentration in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Since 2018, I have been researching the Richat Structure using satellite imagery. Around September of 2018, my cousin, Brian Millican, sent me a YouTube video about the structure possibly being the lost city of Atlantis, which peaked my interest. What interested me even more was that I had never heard of or seen the Richat Structure before. I have studied the ancient history of Africa since I was a little girl, mainly ancient Egypt, and never ran across any mention of the Richat Structure. I took many world history, archaeology, and geology courses in college and the Richat was never part of the curriculum. For it to be such a huge and unique geologic feature, I was shocked that Western higher education did not even touch on it. This drove me to begin to take a look at the physical properties of the structure to see if I could learn more about it myself. Specifically, my thoughts moved me to thinking about how ancient cultures used this formation in the past. I used my knowledge of GIS systems to begin to analyze the Richat and to my amazement, structures, obviously constructed by humans, began to appear by the hundreds. This is where my infatuation with the Richat began. Now, I am sharing my findings with all of you to spark a bit of wonder in us all and to hopefully lead us down a path where archaeologists can one day begin to examine the structure, with boots on the ground, in order to shed more light on the ancient past of the Richat and the ancient Western Saharan culture.

L.