There are several well-known examples of underwater structures around the world ...

...their existence raises questions over the established view of prehistoric events.

Following the end of the last ice-age the world experienced a period of flood events, which raised the coastline around the world by several metres, flooding all the existing coastal cultures of the time. The contours of these ancient coast-lines are easy to determine with contour maps (click here). In fact, with computer simulation, it is now becoming possible to estimate the age of underwater discoveries reasonably accurately through their relative depths underwater. While it is accepted that this science is still in its infancy, the implications of certain underwater discoveries are forcing historians to reconsider the recent path of human evolution.

A labyrinth filled with stone temples and pyramids in 14 caves—some underwater—have been uncovered on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, archaeologists announced in Aug 2008.

According to Maya myth, the souls of the dead had to follow a dog with night vision on a horrific and watery path and endure myriad challenges before they could rest in the afterlife.

In one of the recently found caves, researchers discovered a nearly 300-foot (90-meter) concrete road that ends at a column standing in front of a body of water.

"We have this pattern now of finding temples close to the water—or under the water, in this most recent case," said Guillermo de Anda, lead investigator at the research sites.

  It was announced, following the Boxing-day Tsunami of 2004 that the remains of an ancient city was uncovered close to the Mamallapuram temple in Tamil Nadu, India.

UK News report - Quote:

'The remains, which include two granite lions were discovered after the coastline had receded by a fisherman who survived the tsunami by clinging to the arch of the shore temple. Scientists from the Archaeological Survey of India are examining the relics close to the 7th century beachfront temple and are continuing an underwater search that started in 2002 for further remnants of the submerged port city. Legend has it that a large city which once stood on the site was so beautiful that jealous gods sent a flood to swallow it'.

(The Guardian. 02.04.2005)

 

The Gulf of Cambay cities: Update. Work in peripheral land areas of the Gulf of Cambay like Kathana, Lotal and Motibaur gave evidences of major earthquakes in the Cambay areas in the following period (1) 2780 ± 150 years BP, (2) 3983 ± 150 BP and (3) 7540 ± 130 BP. Herein lies the evidence of the end of the Gulf of Cambay civilization. In the old major event at about 7,600 BC, the southern metropolis appear to have been thrown down by faulting and the nearby sea appear to have inundated it. Because of this the people appear to have proceeded north in the elevation higher than the sea level and established the 2nd or northern metropolis. This also got affected by faulting due to earth quakes around 4,000 BP and destroyed by the 2780 ± 150 BP earthquake, by down-throwing the metropolis with the sea transgressed the area to completely submerging it. The site has yielded artefacts dated at 9,500 BP. (7,500 BC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1768109.stm

 

 

The Gulf of Cambay cities: Update. Article By BBC News Online's Tom Housden : The vast city - which is five miles long and two miles wide - is believed to predate the oldest known remains in the subcontinent by more than 5,000 years. The site was discovered by chance last year by oceanographers from India's National Institute of Ocean Technology conducting a survey of pollution. Using sidescan sonar - which sends a beam of sound waves down to the bottom of the ocean they identified huge geometrical structures at a depth of 120ft. Debris recovered from the site - including construction material, pottery, sections of walls, beads, sculpture and human bones and teeth has been carbon dated and found to be nearly 9,500 years old. Marine archaeologists have used a technique known as sub-bottom profiling to show that the buildings remains stand on enormous foundations. Chronological problem This, Mr Hancock told BBC News Online, could have massive repercussions for our view of the ancient world. "There's a huge chronological problem in this discovery. It means that the whole model of the origins of civilisation with which archaeologists have been working will have to be remade from scratch," he said. However, archaeologist Justin Morris from the British Museum said more work would need to be undertaken before the site could be categorically said to belong to a 9,000 year old civilisation. "Culturally speaking, in that part of the world there were no civilisations prior to about 2,500 BC. What's happening before then mainly consisted of small, village settlements," he told BBC News Online. Dr Morris added that artefacts from the site would need to be very carefully analysed, and pointed out that the C14 carbon dating process is not without its error margins. It is believed that the area was submerged as ice caps melted at the end of the last ice age 9-10,000 years ago Although the first signs of a significant find came eight months ago, exploring the area has been extremely difficult because the remains lie in highly treacherous waters, with strong currents and rip tides. The Indian Minister for Human Resources and ocean development said a group had been formed to oversee further studies in the area. "We have to find out what happened then ... where and how this civilisation vanished," he said.

(More about prehistoric India)

Found near the south shore of Okinawa, Japan in 1995, these fantastic underwater structures were at first argued to have been fashioned by nature.

'The sunken buildings are known to cover the ocean bottom (although not continuously) from the small island of Yonaguni in the southwest to Okinawa and its neighbouring islands, Kerama and Aguni, some 311 miles. If, after all, ongoing exploration here does indeed reveal more structures linking Yonaguni with Okinawa, the individual sites may be separate components of a huge city lying at the bottom of the Pacific. The single largest structure so far discovered lies near the eastern shore of Yonaguni at 100 feet down. It is approximately 240 feet long, 90 feet across and 45 feet high'. (2)
                                                                             

Genetic studies have revealed that native Taiwanese populations carry the purest form of Asian specific Human Lymphocyte Antigens (A24-Cw8-B48, A24-Cw9-B61 and A24-Cw10-B60). Studies have shown that the Taiwan area was the centre of dispersal for the; Tibetans, Thais, Tlingit, Kwakuitl, Haida, Hawaiian, Maori, Pima, Maya, Yakut, Inuit, Buryat, Man, Japanese from Shizuoka and Orochon from North East China (6). This major dispersal event, which happened about 6,000 years ago, suggests a major catastrophic event, such as flooding of the coastline, which caused an exodus of people, from which many new civilizations were born. Mysterious megalithic monuments on Taiwan and numerous underwater ruins north of Taiwan such as near Yonaguni confirm that a significantly organized society once existed in this area as much as 10,000 years ago and was destroyed by rapidly rising sea levels.

On Yonaguni Island and elsewhere in the Okinawa area there appears to be an ancient tradition of modifying, enhancing, and improving on nature (Shinto). On Yonaguni there are very old tombs (age unknown, but possibly on the order of thousands of years old) that stylistically appear to be comparable to the "architecture" of the Yonaguni Monument.

The formations have been compared to the Okinawa Tomb, a rock-hewn structure of uncertain age.

How old is Yonaguni.?

'The rock-faces appear to be dressed stone. If this is an artificial, man-made structure then it is reasonable to assume that it was carved not underwater but at a time when this area was above sea level. Indeed, this area has experienced major rises in sea levels during and since the Pleistocene ("Ice Age") and based on well-established standard curves of sea level rises in the region, as recently as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago the Yonagumi Monument may have been above local sea level. Thus we can suggest with some confidence that if the Yonaguni Monument is a man-made construction then it must be at least 8,000 years old. (3),(7)

 

Astronomy: 10,000 years ago Yonaguni was located very close to the Tropic of Cancer. Today the Tropic of Cancer is located at approximately 23 degrees 27 minutes north latitude while Yonaguni Island is located a full degree further north. However, the position of the Tropic of Cancer varies over the millennia, from under 22 degrees to over 24 degrees, according to a 41,000 year cycle. At around 8,000 B.C. the Yonaguni Monument was located much closer to the Tropic of Cancer.

What proof is there that the site was altered by mankind.?

The archway (left), has been found composed of blocks 'beautifully fitted together' and reminiscent of the masonry of the Inca cities.(2)

Other evidence presented by those who favour an artificial origin include the two round holes (about 2 feet wide) on the edge of the Triangle Pool feature, and a straight row of smaller holes which have been interpreted as an abandoned attempt to split off a section of the rock by means of wedges (see right), a feature common in prehistory.

(Other Examples of prehistoric 'quarry marks')

 Supporters of an artificial origin 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. They also point out 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.

If any part of the Monument was deliberately constructed or modified, it must have happened during or following the last Ice Age, when the sea level was much lower than it is today (e.g. 25m 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. 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.

Quote: Robert Schoch 1999

'We should also consider the possibility that the Yonaguni Monument is fundamentally a natural structure that was utilized, enhanced, and modified by humans in ancient times. The Yonaguni Monument may even have been a quarry from which blocks were cut, utilizing natural bedding, joint, and fracture planes of the rock, and thence removed for the purpose of constructing other structures which are long since gone'. (7)

(Prehistoric Pacific Islanders)

Extract from BBC News education by Sean Coughlan: (4)

"In 10,000 BC, hunter-gatherers were living on the land in the middle of the North Sea. By 6,000 BC, Britain was an island. The area we have mapped was wiped out in the space of 4,000 years," explains Professor Gaffney.

So far, the team has examined a 23,000-sq-km area of the sea bed - mapping out coastlines, rivers, hills, sandbanks and salt marshes as they would have appeared about 12,000 years ago.

And once the physical features have been established, Professor Gaffney says it will be possible to narrow the search for sites that could yield more evidence of how these prehistoric people lived.

These inhabitants would have lived in family groups in huts and hunted animals such as deer.

The mapping of this landscape could also raise questions about its preservation, says Professor Gaffney - and how it can be protected from activities such as pipe-laying and the building of wind farms. (4)

This classic underwater site has been repeatedly studied since its discovery in 1968 .

The Bimini Road (right) is an underwater formation near North Bimini island in the Bahamas. Discovered in 1968, it is generally assumed to be of natural origins. Some have claimed that the formation is an ancient road, or perhaps a collapsed wall.

In May 2005, a series of unexpected discoveries was made at Bimini by Donato and the Littles. These included the discovery of numerous stone anchors at the main Bimini formation (commonly referred to as the “Bimini Road” or “Bimini Wall”). Several cut artefacts, including two-dozen pieces of grey marble, were recovered from under large blocks at the Bimini site. In addition, numerous uniform, rectangular slabs of stone with sharp, angular edges and smooth sides were photographed under massive blocks. In several cases, stacks of these slabs were photographed under huge blocks—essentially serving as levelling stones. Numerous multiple tiers of stone were also photographed. A nearby site, called “Proctor’s Road,” yielded at least 8 stone anchors found on the bottom, mortise cuts on stones, and at least five stone circles placed at regular intervals. (5)

Go to http://satellitediscoveries.com - For several satellite shots of underwater anomalies in the region.

As well as the existence of man-made structures , there are still residual 'memories' visible in nature which also demonstrate a time when the coast-lines of the land masses were different to their present form.

• Lewis Spence suggested that the 'Catopsilia' butterfly from the north coast of S. America may genetically remember a land area in the ocean east of Guyana, since every year the male butterfly of the species undertake a fatal mass flight over the ocean until "in great coloured clouds they fly into the sea" (1)

• A Phenomena is reported by seamen and fishermen in an area south of the Azores as they observed flocks of migratory birds on their annual winter flight from Europe to S. America. As the birds arrive within the area, the flocks begin to circle around over open sea as if looking for a place to land, some of the tired birds falling into the ocean. The birds repeat the same process when they return from S. America. (1)

• European and American eels, both of which species make a journey over thousands of miles of rivers, seas and oceans, eventually to spawn in the Sargasso sea. Plato commented on the fact that the European eel, which every two years disappeared from the lakes and ponds of Europe and swam down rivers into the sea. It is now known that eels from both sides of the Atlantic return to their breeding ground. The European eels take four months to return en-masse. (1)

The coast of Morocco - Single stones recorded, each one larger than 'two-storey houses', have been discovered incorporated into a wall extending for 9 miles under the sea. (1)

Loch Ness, Scotland - A Sonar scan revealed the presence of underwater prehistoric stone ruins. (1)

Bahamas - The famous 'Blue holes', with underwater stalactites and stalagmites. (1)

Yucatan and Belize - Ancient Mayan roads continue out from the coast to destinations undersea. (1)

North of Venezuela - An underwater wall was found that extends for at least a hundred miles. (1)

Madeira - It was on the 'Ampere Seamont', north of Madeira that a Russian expedition reported in 1977 that underwater photographs showed pictures of walls, pavements and steps. (1)

The coast of France - Out in the Mediterranean, in front of Marseille, the passages of an underwater cliff have revealed a series of mine shafts and smelting facilities. (1)

The coast of Georgia - There is another long and wide underwater road in the Atlantic off the coast of Georgia. (1)

Jaques Cousteau tells of having discovered a road along the sea bottom of the Mediterranean. (1)