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Author Topic: Lost Cities and Civilizations  (Read 138808 times)

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AGelbert

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Yonaguni - Ancient Underwater City
« on: December 04, 2013, 03:27:42 pm »









http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBmJJtSDnQg&feature=player_embedded



Discovery


The sea off Yonaguni is a popular diving location during the winter months owing to its large population of hammerhead sharks. In 1987, while looking for a good place to observe the sharks, Kihachiro Aratake, a director of the Yonaguni-Cho Tourism Association, noticed some singular seabed formations resembling architectonic structures.[3] Shortly thereafter, a group of scientists directed by Masaaki Kimura of the University of the Ryūkyūs visited the formations.

The formation has since become a relatively popular attraction for divers despite the strong currents.[3] In 1997, Japanese industrialist Yasuo Watanabe sponsored an informal expedition comprising writers John Anthony West and Graham Hancock, photographer Santha Faiia, geologist Robert Schoch, a few sport divers and instructors, and a shooting crew for Channel 4 and Discovery Channel. Another notable visitor was freediver Jacques Mayol, who wrote a book on his dives at Yonaguni.[4]

Main features

The Monument consists of medium to very fine sandstones and mudstones of the Lower Miocene Yaeyama Group believed to have been deposited about 20 million years ago.[1] Most of the formations are connected to the underlying rock mass (as opposed to being assembled out of freestanding rocks).

The formation called "The Turtle"

The main feature (the "Monument" proper) is a rectangular formation measuring about 150 by 40 m (490 by 130 ft) and about 27 m (90 ft) tall; the top is about 5 m (16 ft) below sea level.[5]

Some of its details are said to be:

two closely spaced pillars which rise to within eight feet of the surface;
a 5 m (16 ft) wide ledge that encircles the base of the formation on three sides;
a stone column about 7 m (23 ft) tall;
a straight wall 10 m (33 ft) long;
an isolated boulder resting on a low platform;
a low star-shaped platform;
a triangular depression with two large holes at its edge;
an L-shaped rock.



Artificial structures

The flat parallel faces, sharp edges, and mostly right angles of the formation have led many people, including many of the underwater photographers and divers who have visited the site and some scholars, to the opinion that those features are human-made.[6] These people include Gary and Cecilia Hagland[6] and Tom Holden, who went on underwater expeditions to study and photograph the site. These features include a trench that has two internal 90° angles as well as the twin megaliths that appear to have been placed there. These megaliths have straight edges and square corners.

However, sea currents have been known to move large rocks on a regular basis.[2][5][7][8] Some of those who see the formations as being largely natural claim that they may have been modified by human hands.[1] The semiregular terraces of the Monument have been compared to other examples of megalithic architecture, such as the rock-hewn terraces seen at Sacsayhuaman.[9] The formations have also been compared to the Okinawa Tomb, a rock-hewn structure of uncertain age.

Other evidence presented by those who favor an artificial origin[who?] include the two round holes (about 2 feet wide, according to photographs) on the edge of the Triangle Pool feature and a straight row of smaller holes that have been interpreted as an abandoned attempt to split off a section of the rock by means of wedges, as in ancient quarries.

Kimura believes that he has identified traces of drawings of animals and people engraved on the rocks, including a horselike sign that he believes resembles a character from the Kaida script. Some have also interpreted a formation on the side of one of the monuments as a crude moai-like "face".

Supporters of artificial origin, such as Graham Hancock,[6] also argue that, while many of the features seen at Yonaguni are also seen in natural sandstone formations throughout the world, the concentration of so many peculiar formations in such a small area is highly unlikely.[6] They also point to the relative absence of loose blocks on the flat areas of the formation, which would be expected if they were formed solely by natural erosion and fracturing.[citation needed] Robert Schoch has noted that the rocks are swept with strong currents.[10]

If any part of the monument was deliberately constructed or modified, that must have happened during the most recent ice age, when the sea level was much lower than it is today (e.g. 39 m (130 ft) lower around 10,000 years BCE). During the ice age, the East China Sea was a narrow bay opening to the ocean at today's Tokara Gap.[11] The Sea of Japan was an inland sea and there was no Yellow Sea; people and animals could walk into the Ryukyu peninsula from the continent. Therefore, Yonaguni was the southern end of a land bridge that connected it to Taiwan, Ryūkyū, Japan, and Asia. This fact is underscored by a rock pillar in a now-submerged cave that has been interpreted as a fused stalactite-stalagmite pair, which could only form above water.

Kimura first estimated that this must be at least 10,000 years old (8,000 BCE), dating it to a time when it would have been above water.[7] In a report given to the 21st Pacific Science Congress in 2007, he revised this estimate and dated it to 2,000 to 3,000 years ago as the sea level then was close to current levels. He suggests that after construction tectonic activity caused it to be submerged below sea level. Archaeologist Richard J. Pearson believes this to be unlikely.[10] Kimura believes he can identify a pyramid, castles, roads, monuments and a stadium, and has surmised that the site may be a remnant of the mythical lost continent of Mu.[2]

The existence of an ancient stoneworking tradition at Yonaguni and other Ryukyu islands is demonstrated by some old tombs and several stone vessels of uncertain age.[1] Small camps, pottery, stone tools and large fireplaces were found on Yonaguni possibly dating back to 2500 BCE; Pearson notes that these were small communities, adding "They are not likely to have had extra energy for building stone monuments."[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonaguni_Monument

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