Yonaguni

Off the coast of of the tiny island of Yonaguni, Japan, lie some of the world's most mysterious and least-explored monuments. Though they were first discovered in 1985, few underwater archaeologists from the west have seen them, or are even aware of their existence. Media coverage has been virtually non-existent. There are eight anomalous, underwater sites found to date. The site that is getting the most attention is immersed under just 6o feet of water. The structure’s five irregular layers look like ceremonial, terraced platforms. Although some researchers still argue as to whether the monuments are natural or man-made, their striking angles and linear features seem to indicate hand-crafted precision. Most Japanese scientists agree that the monuments are man-made. In all likelihood they date prior to the end of the last ice-age - at least 12,000 years ago. According to orthodox historians and archaeologists no civilizations existed at that time. Then who built it? Apparently an ancient and previously unknown
civilization.

Two of Japan’s leading researchers on the sites are Kihachiro Aratake, who first discovered the Yonaguni site, and Prof. Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist with the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa. Prof. Kimura has spent several years studying all eight sites, especially Yonaguni. Kimura believes these are monuments made by man, left by an unknown civilization, perhaps from the Asian mainland. He reasons that if the five layers on the Yonaguni site had been carved by nature, you would find debris from the erosion to have collected around the site, but no rock fragments have yet been found. He adds that there is what looks like a road encircling the site as further indication it was used by man, as well as holes drilled into the surfaces that could have supported long-gone wooden structures. He believes building this monument necessitated a high degree of technology, and some sort of machinery.

A few possible scenarios have been suggested to date these sites. They may have been submerged when sea levels rose at the end of the last Ice Age as the continental ice sheets melted. Or, tectonic activity might have caused subsidence of the land. Perhaps a combination of subsidence and inundation from rising sea levels, or some catastrophic event, dropped it, intact and upright, into the ocean. Teruaki Ishii, a professor of geology at TokyoUniversity, believes the site is partly man-made,partly natural, and suggests a date of 8,000 B.C., contemporary to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Others have suggested a date of 12,000 years.

Source: Team Atlantis, http//:www.teamatlantis.com

Research Objective: To visit and document the site. To research the links the local populations of the nearby islands have with ancient cultures. To document stone structures on the nearby islands that bear similarities to submersed structures.

Unanswered Questions: Are the formations natural or man-made? What civilization created or enhanced the formation?

Significance: If these structures are man-made, they are the most important underwater archaeological discovery of the century! This site could very well be conclusive evidence that civilization attained incredible heights of technology 5,000 years or more prior to our current scientific beliefs.




		Yonaguni Off the coast of of the tiny island of Yonaguni, Japan, lie some of the world's most mysterious and least-explored monuments. Though they were first discovered in 1985, few underwater archaeologists from the west have seen them, or are even aware of their existence. Media coverage has been virtually non-existent. There are eight anomalous, underwater sites found to date. The site that is getting the most attention is immersed under just 6o feet of water. The structure’s five irregular layers look like ceremonial, terraced platforms. Although some researchers still argue as to whether the monuments are natural or man-made, their striking angles and linear features seem to indicate hand-crafted precision. Most Japanese scientists agree that the monuments are man-made. In all likelihood they date prior to the end of the last ice-age - at least 12,000 years ago. According to orthodox historians and archaeologists no civilizations existed at that time. Then who built it? Apparently an ancient and previously unknown civilization. Two of Japan’s leading researchers on the sites are Kihachiro Aratake, who first discovered the Yonaguni site, and Prof. Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist with the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa. Prof. Kimura has spent several years studying all eight sites, especially Yonaguni. Kimura believes these are monuments made by man, left by an unknown civilization, perhaps from the Asian mainland. He reasons that if the five layers on the Yonaguni site had been carved by nature, you would find debris from the erosion to have collected around the site, but no rock fragments have yet been found. He adds that there is what looks like a road encircling the site as further indication it was used by man, as well as holes drilled into the surfaces that could have supported long-gone wooden structures. He believes building this monument necessitated a high degree of technology, and some sort of machinery. A few possible scenarios have been suggested to date these sites. They may have been submerged when sea levels rose at the end of the last Ice Age as the continental ice sheets melted. Or, tectonic activity might have caused subsidence of the land. Perhaps a combination of subsidence and inundation from rising sea levels, or some catastrophic event, dropped it, intact and upright, into the ocean. Teruaki Ishii, a professor of geology at TokyoUniversity, believes the site is partly man-made,partly natural, and suggests a date of 8,000 B.C., contemporary to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Others have suggested a date of 12,000 years. Source: Team Atlantis, http//:www.teamatlantis.com Research Objective: To visit and document the site. To research the links the local populations of the nearby islands have with ancient cultures. To document stone structures on the nearby islands that bear similarities to submersed structures. Unanswered Questions: Are the formations natural or man-made? What civilization created or enhanced the formation? Significance: If these structures are man-made, they are the most important underwater archaeological discovery of the century! This site could very well be conclusive evidence that civilization attained incredible heights of technology 5,000 years or more prior to our current scientific beliefs.