Yonaguni Monument: a creation of nature or an underwater city? Yonaguni underwater complex, Japan.
Off the coast of the westernmost of the Ryukyu Islands there is a rock massif that is equally popular among divers and scientists of various directions. In the world, the mysterious object is known as the Yonaguni Monument. What's so special about it?
The underwater world of the Japanese island of Yonaguni is quite picturesque. Diving enthusiasts are attracted coral reefs and the diversity of local fauna. Therefore, it is not surprising that the discovery of mysterious formations off the coast of the island belongs to the experienced diver Kihachiro Arataka.
In the spring of 1985, while exploring new places, Kihachiro accidentally discovered stone objects unusual shape and size. Outwardly, they resembled step pyramids. He was so amazed by the discovery that he immediately reported it to the authorities and the press. And I was right. Since its opening, the Yonaguni complex has become a real sensation. Research into the formations continues to this day.
General information about the Yonaguni complex
The rock formations at Yonaguni occupy a wide area off the southern coast of the island. They are located at a depth of 30 m. What stands out most is the stone massif with complex design, the base of which is a platform 183 m long, 150 m wide and 42 m high. The object has flat terraces going down in steps. Guided by the latter characteristic, some researchers compare this monument with the pyramids of the ancient Incas and Sumerians.
At the very top of the massif you can see a small “pool”, and next to it is a formation that scuba divers call a “turtle”. At the base of the object you can see a path paved with stones. The latter leads to a rounded 2-ton megalith.
Near the monument, a stone “fence” made of huge rock blocks was discovered, as well as small “pyramids” with a height of 10 m. The age of the terrace formations near the Ryukyu Islands ranges from 10-16 thousand years.
The origins of the Yonaguni Monument continue to be controversial. Some scientists believe this object has natural origin, others provide evidence in favor of its creation by man. In addition, there is an assumption that this is an ancient city.
Scientists' assumptions about the origin of mysterious stone formations
Robert Schoch's hypothesis. This is a geologist from Boston University who participated in the study of the complex in 1997. In his opinion, we're talking about about a structure not made by hands.
Schoch notes that the straight lines and sharp corners of the monument are due to the fact that the monolith consists of sandstone, which tends to crack along the planes. This sandstone feature is enhanced by the high seismic activity district. Later, German geologist Wolf Wichmann agreed with Schoch's conclusions.
At the same time, the American geologist noted that the formations are not without partial manual processing. This means that in ancient times it could have been a quarry, a quarry, or a natural dock for boats. Despite the fact that at first Schoch rejected the possibility that we were talking about an underwater city, he later made very unexpected assumptions.
In one of the publications, Professor Schoch noted that on the island of Yonaguni there are a number of ancient graves, the architecture of which in some places resembles the underwater monument being studied. Perhaps, when constructing burials, people imitated it, or maybe the monument itself was rebuilt by people. Thus, Schoch admits that the people who inhabited the island could partially change the natural structure of the massif.
Masaaki Kimura's hypothesis. The named scientist works at the University of the Ryukyu. Professor of Marine Geology Kimura, together with his students, made dozens of dives in the study area. As a result, he came to the conclusion that the Yonaguni monument is a man-made structure. In his opinion, the object was carved into the rock at a time when it was still above the water. In favor of his hypothesis, Kimura offers the following arguments:
- on the northern corners of the monument, symmetrical trenches are visible that could not have been formed as a result of natural processes;
- traces of markings;
- continuity of the massif structure from the underwater part to the ground;
- traces of the use of fire;
- stone tools found underwater and on land;
- one of the stones is decorated with a relief depicting an animal;
Kimura's hypothesis was generally supported by the Indian archaeologist Sundaresh. According to him, the terrace formations at Yonaguni are undoubtedly man-made. Sundaresh believes that before diving into modern depth the structure could serve as a pier for loading and unloading operations.
Rock masses similar to the Yonaguni Monument were discovered near Chatan Island in Okinawa, which raises questions additional questions and new assumptions. Who knows, maybe we are talking about a secret that will erase existing ideas about the ancient history of Japan.
History of outstanding archaeological finds develops differently. Sometimes experts spend decades searching for some treasure or civilization that disappeared from the face of the earth several thousand years ago. And other times, a lucky diver just needs to go underwater with scuba gear and - here you go, please - the remains appear before his eyes ancient city. This is exactly what happened in the spring of 1985, when scuba diving instructor Kihachiro Aratake dived in the coastal waters off the small Japanese island of Yonaguni.
Not far from the shore at a depth of 15 meters, he noticed a huge stone plateau. Wide, level platforms, covered with patterns of rectangles and diamonds, turned into intricate terraces running down large steps. The edge of the object ended vertically down the wall to the very bottom to a depth of 27 meters.
The diver reported his discovery to Professor Masaaki Kimura, a specialist in marine geology and seismology at the University of the Ryukyu. The professor was interested in the find, but most of his colleagues were skeptical about it. Kimura put on a wetsuit, plunged into the sea and personally examined the object. Since then, he has made more than a hundred dives and has become the primary expert on the site.
Soon the professor held a press conference, at which the reporter authoritatively declared: found unknown to science ancient city. Kimura presented photographs of the find, diagrams, and drawings to the attention of the general public. The scientist understood: he was going against the overwhelming majority of historians and risking his own reputation by defending the artificial origin of underwater structures.
According to him, this is a huge complex of buildings, which includes castles, monuments and even a stadium, connected complex system roads and waterways. The massive stone blocks, he argued, were part of a huge man-made complex carved directly into the rock. Kimura also found numerous tunnels, wells, stairs, terraces and even one pool.
Since then, scientific passions have not subsided around the underwater city off the coast of Yonaguni. On the one hand, these ruins are very reminiscent of megalithic structures in other parts of the planet, ranging from Stonehenge in England and the Cyclopean structures remaining in Greece after the collapse of the Minoan civilization, and ending with the pyramids of Egypt, Mexico and the temple complex of Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes.
It is related to the latter by both its characteristic terraced landscape and a mysterious sculpture reminiscent of human head in a feather dress, similar to those what the inhabitants of pre-Columbian America wore.
Even the technological features of the structures of the underwater complex are similar to the design solutions that the ancient Incas used to build their cities. This is quite consistent with today's ideas that ancient population The New World, which gave rise to the highly developed cultures of the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs, came from Asia.
But why do scientists argue so fiercely about the Yonaguni complex and there is no end in sight to the discussions? The whole problem is in the estimated date of construction of the mysterious city.
It does not fit into modern historical theories in any way. Research has shown that the rock in which it was carved went under water no later than 10,000 years ago, that is, much earlier than its construction. Egyptian pyramids and Cyclopean structures of the Minoan era, not to mention the monuments of the ancient Indians. By modern ideas, in that distant era, people huddled in caves and only knew how to collect edible roots and hunt wild animals.
And the hypothetical creators of the Yonaguni complex at that time could already process stone, owned the appropriate set of tools, knew geometry, and this runs counter to the ideas of adherents of traditional historical science. Indeed, it somehow boggles the mind that the same Egyptians reached a comparable technological level only 5,000 years later! If we accept as truth the arguments of supporters of Professor Kimura’s version, then we will have to greatly rewrite history.
Therefore, until now, most representatives of academic science prefer to explain the incredible relief of the underwater rock off the coast of Yonaguni by the whim of natural elements. According to skeptics, the bizarre stone landscape arose due to physical characteristics the rock that makes up the rock formation.
This is a type of sandstone that tends to crack along planes, which may well explain the terraced arrangement of the complex and the geometric shapes of the massive stone blocks. But the trouble is that the numerous regular circles found there, as well as the symmetry characteristic of the stone blocks, cannot be explained by this property of sandstone, as well as the strange binding of all these forms to one place.
Skeptics have no answers to these questions, and therefore the mysterious underwater city off the coast of the Japanese island of Yonaguni has long become a stumbling block for historians and archaeologists. The only thing that both supporters and opponents of the artificial origin of the rock complex agree on is that it ended up under water as a result of some monstrous natural disaster, of which there were many in the history of the Japanese Islands.
The world's largest tsunami hit Yonaguni Island on April 24, 1771. The waves reached a height of more than 40 meters. Then the disaster killed 13,486 people and destroyed 3,237 houses.
The tsunami is considered one of the worst natural disasters to hit Japan. Perhaps a similar catastrophe destroyed the ancient civilization that built the city off the island of Yonaguni. Professor Kimura presented his computer model of underwater ruins at scientific conference in Japan. According to his assumptions, there are ten underwater structures near Yonaguni Island, and five more similar structures are located off the main island of Okinawa.
The massive ruins cover an area of more than 45,000 square meters. Kimura believes the ruins are at least 5,000 years old. His calculations are based on the age of stalactites found in underwater caves, which Kimura believes sank with the city. Stalactites and stalagmites form only above water through an extremely slow process. Underwater stalactite caves found around Okinawa indicate that much of the area was once on land. “The largest structure looks like a complex stepped monolithic pyramid rising from a depth of 25 meters,” Kimura said in an interview. Throughout many years he created a detailed picture of these ancient ruins until he discovered similarities between the underwater structures and those found in archaeological sites on land.
For example, a semicircular cutout on a rocky platform corresponds to the entrance to a castle, which is located on land. Nakagusuku Castle in Okinawa has a perfect semi-circular entrance, typical of Ryukyu Dynasty castles in the 13th century. The two underwater megaliths - huge, six-meter tall, vertical stones placed side by side - also bear similarities to twin megaliths in other parts of Japan, such as Mount Nabeyama in Gifu Prefecture. What does this mean? It seems that the underground city off the island of Yonaguni was a continuation of a whole complex of above-ground structures. In other words, in ancient times, the ancestors of modern Japanese built up the islands as they saw fit, but a natural disaster, most likely a giant tsunami, destroyed the fruits of their labors.
One way or another, the underwater city of Yonaguni turns our ideas about historical science upside down. Most archaeologists believe that human civilization arose about 5,000 years ago, but few scientists believe that “advanced” civilizations may have existed as far back as 10,000 years ago and were wiped out by some catastrophe. And the underwater city of Yonaguni testifies to exactly this.
UNDERWATER PYRAMIDS IN JAPAN
Remains of a Lemurian city on the ocean floor near the Japanese island of Yonaguni
By 24,000 BC. Only one state stood fearlessly on the path to world domination of the Atlanteans. It was located in the territory of Eastern China and Primorye. This was the proto-Chinese Empire (the colony of the deceased “Mu”), which also had different types weapons.
The Atlanteans decided to direct a powerful beam of the Fire Stone through the center of the Earth and burn out all the enemy cities with it. But there was an error in the engineering calculations and they missed. The Source of Light has become a source of trouble. When the rays reached the layer of molten magma, an explosion of colossal force was heard.
The participation of the Power Crystal in the World War led to a monstrous explosion on the central island of Atlantis 26,000 years ago. Cm.
10,300 BC e. The Gothenburg magnetic pole shift occurred. The pole abruptly moved from Canada (the area of Akpatok Island in the Hudson Strait) to its present position. Alaska and Siberia abruptly entered the Arctic Circle.
The islands of Hyperborea moved into the zone Arctic Circle. Happened.
Small groups of Andites 7,900 BC headed to Japan, southern China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. In Japan they created the Jomon culture (VIII-V millennium BC).
7,500 -7,290 BC There was an Ainu settlement not far from the capital of Japan, Tokyo. It's called Itsushima. Cm.
3,760 BC ETRUSSIAN magnetic pole shift.
3,760 BC DARDAN'S FLOOD occurred.
In 1987, tour operator and diver Kihachiro Aratake discovered massive rock structures on the seabed near Yonaguni Island, located south of Okinawa in Japan.
This terraced pyramid appears to have been created using high technology. It did not attract much attention until experts and amateur divers published photographs and began excavating the site.
Dr. Masaaki Kimura, a geologist at the Ryukyu Maritime University, has been diving there for more than 18 years to measure and map the Yonaguni complex, as it is commonly known. It consists of a huge network of buildings, including castles, monuments and a stadium, connected by a complex system of roads and waterways.
Most likely, this ancient structure sank under water during a disaster associated with earthquakes and tsunamis. Japan is located in a region of great tectonic instability - the Pacific Ring of Fire. Strong earthquakes very common in this area.
The largest recorded tsunami in the world hit Yonaguni in 1771. According to evidence, the wave height reached more than 40 meters. The same event could have happened in the prehistoric period, as a result of which the ancient civilization to which these buildings belonged died.
Kimura presented his research and a computer model of the ruin site at a scientific conference in Japan in 2007. According to him, there are 10 more structures underwater near Yonaguni, and five more similar structures are located near the island of Okinawa. The massive ruins cover an area of more than 4,500 square meters. Kimura believes the ruins may be at least 5,000 years old. This is the age of the stalactites found in underwater caves, which, in his opinion, sank along with the city.
In fact, there are many underwater caves with stalactites in the waters of Okinawa. Stalactites and stalagmites can only form above water, and this is an extremely slow process. An underwater cave with stalactites discovered near Okinawa shows that much of the area was once above water.
"The large structure appears to be a complex, monolithic, step pyramid that rises from a depth of 25 meters," Kimura said in a 2007 interview with National Geographic News.
The stone stepped pyramidal tower measures 600 feet wide, 90 feet high (180 meters wide, 30 meters high) and dates 8000 BC.
Over the years, he created a detailed picture of this ancient city, and found many similarities between underwater structures and the remains of ancient settlements on land. For example, a semicircular cutout in a sunken stone platform matches the entrance to a ruined old castle on land. Nakagusuku Castle in Okinawa has a perfect semi-circular entrance, typical of Ryukyu Dynasty (13th century) architecture.
The two underwater megaliths, huge, 6-meter tall, upright stones located next to each other, also bear similarities to twin megaliths in other parts of Japan, such as the Nabeyama Mountains in Gifu Prefecture.
Geologist Robert M. Schoch of Boston University, who has dated the Sphinx sculpture to an earlier date, has a different opinion about the Yonaguni complex. At first, after making several dives at the site, he thought that the platforms and terraces were completely natural formations.
Schoch took some rock samples from the bottom, and tests showed that the sandstone was from a rock formation called the Lower Miocene Yaeyama Group, which was deposited about 20 million years ago.
Kimura also admits that the basic structure of the stone is natural, but argues that it was "terraformed" by humans. For example, the two pairs of steps on the "main terrace" leading to the "upper terrace" are difficult to explain by natural erosive forces.
Kimura also points out that rubble and debris were not found at the base of many structures or in rock channels, which would be expected if they were created by natural erosion.
After subsequent dives, Schoch decided: “We must also consider the possibility that the Yonaguni site is a natural structure that was used, expanded and modified by man in ancient times,” he wrote in a paper published in 1999.
Ancient and modern civilizations have used natural rock formations for various purposes. The best example is the Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt, which is carved from "living rock"; other examples are the temples of Petra in Jordan and Mahabalipuram in southern India.
Many structures were discovered as researchers and divers continued their exploration. One of them has the shape of a seated statue, similar to a sphinx.
“One example I described as an underwater sphinx resembles a Chinese or ancient Okinawan king,” says Kimura.
This mysterious carved structure is now called "Goddess Rock" and was discovered at a depth of about 50 feet. You can see the headdress and long limbs, like the Egyptian Sphinx.
A large round stone resembling a human head was also discovered. Like the Moai figures on Easter Island on the coast of Chile, this giant head rests on the ground, perhaps the head of the legendary giant Atlas, who made this lost city famous.
Some divers and explorers have discovered writings carved into the surface of the rocks around the monument, and some of them have claimed to have seen images of animals carved into the rocks.
Stone slabs found nearby, one of which is known as "Okinawa Rosetta", are engraved symbols similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs(cm.
Yonaguni complex - mysterious underwater ruins near Okinawa April 11th, 2013
The Okinawa archipelago stretches with a scattering of small islands hundreds of kilometers south from Japan, all the way to the island of Taiwan. 100 km east of the island of Taiwan is the last islet of the Okinawa archipelago - the Japanese islet of Yonaguni, which is popular among diving enthusiasts.
In the spring of 1985, in the coastal waters of the small Japanese island of Yonaguni, local diving instructor Kihachiro Aratake accidentally stumbled upon a strange object. Not far from the shore, literally under the surface of the waves, he saw a huge stone monument that extended to the limits of visibility. Wide, level platforms, covered with patterns of rectangles and diamonds, turned into intricate terraces running down large steps. The edge of the object breaks vertically down the wall to the very bottom to a depth of 27 meters, forming one of the walls of the trench running along the entire Monument.
Even if this turned out to be just a trick of nature, Arataka would already be lucky - he found an object worthy of surprise even the most picky tourist. But the abundance of regular geometric shapes made us think about the possibility of their man-made nature, and Aratake decided to report his discovery to specialists. Japanese newspapers were full of sensational headlines.
Alas... The scientific community almost completely ignored these messages. Historians have no information about the culture that could create such a structure here. Therefore, they preferred to declare the hypothesis of the artificial origin of the underwater monument of Yonaguni a simple speculation and attribute everything to a bizarre game of nature. And quite quickly, discussion of the find became the property of only esoteric publications, ignored by official science.
Only Masaaki Kimura, a professor at the University of the Ryukyu, took the discovery seriously. And in this, the Monument was very lucky, since Kimura is a recognized expert in the field of marine geology and seismology. He has been studying the underwater surroundings of Yonaguni for more than 10 years, during which time he has completed more than a hundred dives and become the main expert on the object. As a result of his research, Professor Kimura decided to go against the vast majority of historians and risk his reputation by defending the artificial origin of the Monument.
But, as often happens in such cases, his opinion for a long time remained a voice crying in the wilderness...
It is unknown how long the “conspiracy of silence” would have continued around the Aratake find if Graham Hancock, a staunch supporter of the hypothesis of the existence of a highly developed civilization in ancient times and the author of a number of books on this topic, had not learned about it.
In September 1997, he arrived in Yonaguni with a film crew. He managed to interest and attract to the trip Robert Schoch, a professor at Boston University, a geologist, best known for his conclusion that the real age of the famous Egyptian Sphinx is much greater than official Egyptology believes. And Hancock hoped that Schoch would use his authority to confirm the artificial nature of Aratake’s find. But that was not the case...
On his first trip in 1997, Schoch did not find clear evidence of the man-made nature of the object. Quite the contrary...
The fact is that the Monument consists of sandstone and sedimentary rocks, outcrops of which are still visible on the coast of the island. Under the influence sea waves, rain and wind, they are destroyed in such a way that forms like steps and terraces appear. Nature is not capable of such “whims,” but here, in addition, the very structure of the deposits leads to the appearance of almost perfectly straight cracks. Moreover, at angles of 90 and 60 degrees to each other, which contributes to the formation of strict geometric shapes: rectangular steps, triangles and rhombuses...
Everything seems to indicate that the Monument is of natural origin. This was Shoch’s first conclusion.
It is characteristic that in several films - including one from the BBC - this opinion of Schoch was cited as arguments against Hancock's theory. Unfortunately, the authors of these films “forgot” to mention that this story had a direct continuation...
Schoch understood perfectly well that in just a few dives it is impossible to see absolutely everything and it is quite possible to miss some important details. Therefore, he and Hancock’s group flew to Okinawa to meet with Kimura, whose arguments significantly undermined his position. Moreover, these arguments were supported by photographs and diagrams of parts that Shoch simply did not see during his dives.
From the point of view of Massaki Kimura, the following facts speak in favor of the artificial origin of the Yonaguni megalith:
Firstly, the blocks separated from the rock during the formation of the Monument do not lie where they should have fallen under the influence of gravity and other natural forces. Instead, they often end up clustered in one place, or sometimes missing altogether. If the structure was created by erosion, then there would be quite a lot of debris on the bottom next to it, as is the case, say, on the modern shores of the island. But the Monument does not have such an abundance of fragmentary material.
Secondly, often within a limited area of the monument there are several elements of completely different types very close to each other, for example, a face with sharp edges, round holes two meters deep, a stepped descent, a perfectly straight narrow trench. If the reason were only natural erosion, then it would be logical to expect that it would manifest itself equally throughout the entire piece of rock. The fact that such different forms are found side by side is a strong argument in favor of artificial origin.
Thirdly, in some upper sections, steeply descending to the south, there are deep symmetrical trenches, the formation of which cannot be explained at all by known natural processes.
Fourthly, on the southern side of the monument there are steps rising at regular intervals from a depth of 27 meters to the very top, located at a depth of 6 meters.
And fifthly, the western part of the monument is covered by a clearly defined “wall”, the presence of which is difficult to explain by the action of natural processes, since it is made of limestone blocks, which are atypical for the Yonaguni area.
Upper terrace of the Monument:
Ring road:
Sun Stone (now fallen from the site):
A very remarkable and obviously artificial element is the two colossal megaliths at the western edge of the Monument. Their appearance and position evokes associations with the famous Stonehenge. These megaliths are sometimes called "twin pillars". Looking at their strict geometric shape, it is difficult to doubt their artificial origin. Moreover, Kimura’s research leads to the same conclusion: the “twins” are not made of the same material as the monument itself, but of limestone. But where did they come from then? Who and why dragged these blocks here, reaching, according to some estimates, two hundred tons each!?.
And another question: why are they here?.. Their position seems simply meaningless. Masaaki Kimura considers the “twins” to be a symbolic gateway to the Monument. But why do we need the kind of effort that moving such blocks requires, for the sake of some kind of symbolism?.. Conventional logic suggests a completely different option: the “twins” seem to have simply fallen from the top of the Monument...
“After meeting with Professor Kimura,” Schoch later wrote, “I cannot completely exclude the possibility that the Yonaguni monument was at least partially processed and modified by human hands. Professor Kimura pointed to a row important elements, which I did not see during my first, short visit...”
The meeting of two professional geologists was literally of epoch-making significance for the Yonaguni monument. If earlier Shoch adhered to the version of the natural nature of the object, then Kimura insisted on its completely artificial origin. As a result of taking into account all the available facts, both experts agreed on a kind of “compromise”, both of them abandoning extreme points of view. They came to the conclusion that the Monument belongs to the so-called “terra-formations”, that is, the original natural “blank” was later changed and modified by human hands. Such “terra-formations” are not something completely unusual, but were quite common in the ancient world...
Materials from the 1997 expedition were included in the documentary film “The Search for the Lost Civilization,” shown on British television and accompanying the release of Hancock’s next book, “Mirror of Heaven.” The film and book received wide response. The information blockade around the Yonaguni megalith was broken, and the scientific community was forced to respond.
13 years after the opening of the Monument, in July 1998, a decision was finally made about its intersectoral scientific research. Led by diver and certified archaeologist Michael Arbuthnot, a team of specialists tried to uncover the mystery of the object. The group included geologists, underwater archaeologists, experienced divers, and even anthropologists and linguists. Shoch was also invited to join the expedition, who had the opportunity to satisfy his desire to re-inspect the Monument and be convinced of the fruitfulness of his “compromise” approach with Kimura.
The group spent 3 weeks diving and exploring. And, perhaps, the opinion of its leader speaks very eloquently about the results of the expedition. At first, Arbuthnot was skeptical of Kimura's theory about the artificiality of the Monument, but during the course of research he was forced to abandon his skepticism.
“I was convinced of the man-made processing of the Yonaguni object,” he concluded. “We examined the natural geology around the find, but there are no such uniform external forms there, and therefore the likelihood of human processing of the monument is very high. There are also many details that exclude the possibility that the object formed naturally.”
A kind of intermediate result of the research that continued after the expedition was Kimura’s report at a conference in Japan in 2001. The general conclusion that the Yonaguni megalith is a trace of an ancient civilization has received the support of most Japanese scientists.
It would seem that the question about the nature of the Monument is closed. However, the scientific community is very inert, and even conservative in matters of ancient history. And despite the conclusions of the conference, despite the numerous eyewitness accounts, including geologists, writers, journalists and simply amateur divers, the fact of the artificiality of the Yonaguni Monument is still either simply ignored or tried to be refuted in the world scientific literature. And as often happens, the most active “refutators” themselves have never seen it with their own eyes...
While there were disputes between supporters and opponents of the artificial origin of the Monument, the search in the coastal waters of Yonaguni continued. It soon became clear that this was far from the only contender for the title of ruins of an ancient civilization.
200 meters southeast of the Monument there is an object called the “Stadium”. It really looks like a kind of stadium, representing a clear area about 80 meters in size surrounded by stepped structures reminiscent of spectator stands. Although the “tribunes” themselves are very similar to purely natural formations, they also contain cut gutters and “paths”.
In the end, an object was found that resolved all questions. From a distance it somewhat resembles the control room of a large submarine. But as you approach this “conning tower”, it turns into... a 7-meter human head!!! It is sometimes called a "moai-like figure" in allusion to the statues of distant Easter Island. And if desired, a certain similarity can be found, although very separate.
In principle, the “head” itself could well be a purely natural formation. But what is absolutely indisputable is that the recesses forming the mouth and eyes have signs, if not of artificial origin, then of obvious modification. In addition, the remains of a bas-relief can be seen on the side of the head, in which some perceive a distinct resemblance to an Indian headdress made of feathers. To be honest, the “resemblance” is so-so... Unless you turn on your unlimited imagination...
If anyone else might have any doubts about the presence of evidence of an ancient civilization in the coastal waters of Yonaguni, then with the discovery of this statue, skeptics find themselves in a very unenviable position...
Head:
However, the problem is not at all limited to adding another civilization to the list of ancient civilizations. The fact is that although the megaliths were found below sea level, they clearly had to be created on land. Then, in order to determine the time of their creation, you must first answer the question of how the structures ended up in the sea: very quickly during the catastrophe, how, for example, during an earthquake or volcanic eruption, or slowly, during gradual geological or climate change. As, say, this is happening now, when, as a result of global warming, the ice of the polar caps and mountain glaciers is melting, the water of which flows into the sea, causing a rise in the level of the World Ocean. Some of the small island states even fear for their continued existence...
The option of quickly changing the position of Yonaguni objects is supported by the fact that the area is located in a very active tectonic zone. This is not surprising, since the island is located directly on the so-called fault line; here the Pacific and Eurasian plates collide, supported in addition by the Philippine plate, which wedges between them from the south.
But if the area near Yonaguni were to sink under water during some catastrophe, then a miracle would have to happen for the Monument not only to maintain its horizontal position on the seabed, but also to survive without any signs of destruction, inevitable in such an impressive earthquake. which is accompanied by a change in heights of several tens of meters. In such catastrophic events, the Monument would not only be covered with cracks, but would almost inevitably split into pieces. And certainly at least small fragments of it should have remained next to him. But there is nothing like that at all! And the same is the case with other underwater objects near the island. Everything indicates that water covered the structures gradually as a result of a slow rise in the level of the World Ocean. However, the slow sinking of the Yonaguni objects (given their size and depth) means that they could only have been created when the sea level was several tens of meters below the current one. That is, no later than 8-10 thousand years ago!!! This is what shocks historians!..
But the arguments of geologists are inexorable. The facts directly pointing to such a distant time are also inexorable. For example, in the immediate vicinity of the Yonaguni monument, diver Chouhachiro Izumi discovered a “stalactite cave” on the seabed. But in nature, stalactite caves are formed only on land, when slightly acidic rain or river water seeps into a limestone layer. Water dissolves limestone salts and, encountering a cavity or cave on its way down, drips from its ceiling onto the floor. Slowly, over many centuries, these salt-rich droplets create stalactites on the ceiling and stalagmites below. This is the only way the “stalactite cave” found near Yonaguni could have formed.
Radioisotope dating (no matter how reliable it is) carried out for this cave indicated that the process of formation of stalactite and stalagmite in it was completed no later than 10 thousand years ago!.. Just when the cave was swallowed up sea waters during changes in the level of the World Ocean. Although for the time of creation of underwater objects Yonaguni, many researchers call much more early dates. Up to 16 thousand years ago!..
Who created the Monument at such a distant time? If an entire civilization existed here, then there should have been something else left that would allow us to lift the veil of secrecy about the builders of giant structures. There really are other finds.
Researchers, for example, recovered from the bottom several stone exhibits with simple symbols such as dashes, crosses and hooks carved on them. Similar symbols can be found on stones that still lie under water. The most interesting exhibit is a stone with a relief in the shape of a four-legged animal resembling a bull. And at the bottom around Yonaguni, several parts of stone tools were also found - primitive scrapers.
On the “upper terrace” of the Monument, researchers also discovered traces of wedges that ancient people used to split rocks - the wedges driven into the recesses were poured with water, the wood swelled from the water and split the monolith. The same traces were found on separate blocks in other places in the coastal waters and on the island itself...
The simplest symbols, primitive tools and equally primitive technologies... Somehow all this does not fit with the strict grace of the straight lines and geometric shapes of the Monument. And this is even less compatible with its size and the scale of work that was required to create not only the Monument, but also other underwater objects. The megalithic structures of Yonaguni are more consistent with a very highly developed rather than primitive civilization. However, the main expert, Dr. Kimura, agrees with this, and believes that the creation of the Monument required a high level of technology and the use of machines. How can it be?..
In fact, there are clearly two periods in the history of the monument. At the first stage - in a very long time, somewhere from 10 to 16 thousand years ago, the Monument was created by a highly developed civilization that had quite complex technologies that made it easy to handle multi-ton blocks. At the second stage, after many thousands of years, this civilization was replaced by another, primitive one, which did not find (and could not find) anything better than to dig a certain number of holes in the heritage it inherited and use it only as a convenient berth and, perhaps a burial ground, until the Monument was completely covered with water...
At a 2001 conference, it was reported that a giant stepped structure similar to the Yonaguni Monument had been discovered off Chatan Island in Okinawa; mysterious underwater “labyrinths” are located near the island of Kerama; and near Aguni Island, cylindrical depressions similar to those found in the “triangular basin” of the Monument were found. On the other side of Yonaguni, in the strait between Taiwan and China, underwater structures resembling walls and roads were discovered...
At the moment, these listed objects, unfortunately, lack scientific data. Their research has not yet really begun. But one can hope that it will still take place without such long interruptions, as was the case with the Yonaguni Monument, which remains the most exciting discovery in the region.
However, there is something interesting on the island itself...
One of the ancient Japanese legends, which even Okinawa schoolchildren know, tells about a fisherman named Urashima-Taro, who lived in time immemorial on the seashore. One day Urashima went on a boat to buy fish. But that day he was clearly unlucky, and instead of a fish, the same turtle was caught on the hook three times, which the fisherman each time, regretting it, released back into the sea. Having caught nothing, he had already directed his boat to the shore, but then, out of nowhere, a big ship with a messenger from Otohime, the daughter of the Lord of the Seas, who invited Urashima to visit her. Urashima boarded a ship, which suddenly plunged into the depths of the sea and sailed to such a magnificent palace, the beauty of which cannot be seen on earth...
Otohime arranged a sumptuous feast in honor of the young fisherman. And he liked it so much in the underwater palace that three years flew by like one day. But finally he became homesick, and as a farewell, Otohime gave him a casket, which Urashima was supposed to open in case of insurmountable trouble.
When the fisherman returned to his village, he discovered that everything around him had changed a lot, since during this time not three years, but three hundred years had passed on earth. Feeling upset, Urashima opened the casket, instantly grew old, turned into a crane and flew away. And Otohime turned into a turtle and climbed ashore to meet Urashima...
There is an interesting detail in the legend about the fisherman that we briefly retold. When Urashima returned and went to look at the ruins of his house, he saw that all that remained was the slabs in the courtyard and stone bowls for washing hands. Slabs and stone bowls, as it turns out, have a very real embodiment - they are found throughout the island. But some of the bowls are so large that you can not only rinse your hands in them, but also wash your entire body. Not a jacuzzi, but still... Local residents, however, prefer to grow flowers in them... The true initial purpose of the bowls and information about those who made them has long been covered by the darkness of time. And only their presence in one of the most ancient legends gives at least one clue: slabs and bowls already existed in those immemorial times when this legend was composed...
During the expedition, it turned out that some photographs of Yonaguni objects published on the Internet were clearly retouched in order to give greater “authenticity” to the artificiality of their origin: the gutter on the upper platform of the Monument has excessively sharpened edges; the bas-relief on the underwater head is painted on to give it a greater resemblance to an Indian headdress made of bright feathers and the like. Such techniques do not help supporters of the ancient history of the underwater objects of Yonaguni, but only discredit their arguments and mislead the uninitiated.
We also had to abandon the version of the artificial origin of the “arched gate”. Photos of them are most often published on the Internet only from one side and from a favorable angle - so that it seems that they were hand-made by someone from huge stones. However, the view from the other side of the “gate” makes me very, very doubtful: nature is capable of something other than that...
However, no matter how many arguments are given in favor of the human, one might say, highly developed human origin of the structures, there are those who dispute this idea. If you try to accept their point of view, it turns out that all these blocks and even sculptures received their shape only thanks to the random play of nature - the peculiarities of water flow, fluctuations in its temperature and composition.
One of the most famous skeptics is Robert Schoch, a professor at Boston University. He visited these ruins, carefully studied them and did not find anything “human” in them. He points out that the monolith is made of a type of sandstone, and this stone tends to crack along its planes. Hence the straight lines, sharp corners, brick-like surfaces, and the like. And if we take into account such a factor as the increased seismic activity of the area, then the greater “cracking” of the rock is not at all surprising.
It seems that, unfortunately, representatives of the Japanese authorities also adhere to a similar point of view. They do not recognize any cultural value in the ancient monument. And, naturally, they refuse to engage in any support for researchers of the heritage of an unknown people who founded an amazing stone city.
Because of this, the study of underwater structures is very slow. It is still unknown how the city ended up under water. Obviously, the reason is some kind of cataclysm - apparently, some kind of tsunami that happened, according to Kimura, about 2 thousand years ago. But how severe the disaster was is still unclear.
We can only hope that these mysteries will be resolved sooner or later, and we will become aware of some interesting facts past. And maybe the future... Who knows what the heavy silent stones of a mysterious civilization store?
Three professional geologists - Masaaki Kimura, Robert Schnoch and Wolf Wichmann - dived off Yonaguni, gaining first-hand impressions of the underwater formations, and publicly commented on what they saw. As far as is known, at the time of writing these lines, they are the only geologists who have ever carried out underwater research there. Therefore, when we talk about the "geologists' opinion" regarding the Yonaguni anomalies, it is very important to consider that we are relying on the work and ideas of only three people who also do not agree with each other, and thus there is no consensus of opinion. Other geologists who expressed their opinions without having dived at Yonaguni were unlikely to be able to participate in the debate professionally enough.
sources
http://www.vodainfo.com/
http://lebendige-ethik.net/
http://www.lah.ru/
http://www.mandalay.ru/
I suggest you remember the mysterious ones, or maybe you haven’t heard? The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -Yonaguni Island is the westernmost territory of Japan. It is located on the southwestern edge of the Ryukyu Island group in Okinawa Prefecture, about hundreds of kilometers from Taiwan. There are no direct flights from Tokyo here. To get to Yonaguni, you need to fly 1,500 kilometers south to the capital of Okinawa Prefecture - the city of Naha, then transfer to a local airline and travel another 500 kilometers. The island is not large, its area is about 30 square kilometers, the population is about 1800 people. The main occupations of the residents are breeding an endemic breed of horses and agriculture, fishing and work in the tourism sector. The island produces “floral” sake, which is quite strong for Japan – “ Hana-Zake", the usual strength of which is 43 degrees, but sometimes reaches 60 degrees.
Palace from legend
In Okinawa, all residents know the old legend about a fisherman named Urashima Taro, who, having caught a strange turtle in his nets, released it back into the water. In gratitude, the turtle, who turned out to be the daughter of the ruler of the seas, the beautiful Otohime, invited the fisherman to visit her underwater palace Ryugyu-jo, where Urashima stayed for several days. When he decided to return home, Otohime gave him a paper box with instructions to never open it. Intrigued, the fisherman accepted the gift and returned to the village to find that it had been missing for 300 years. During this time, everyone he knew and loved died, and time erased all traces of their presence in this world. In desperation, Urushima opened the gift, and smoke came out of the box, which instantly aged the fisherman by three centuries. His bones instantly decayed, and the wind scattered his ashes across the island. Today, this legend is often associated with the Yonaguni monument: maybe the Otohime Ryugyu-jo Palace was a castle in the Ryukyu Kingdom, and only time slightly changed its name?In 1985, Japanese diver Kihakiro Aratake discovered a giant rock formation near Yonaguni Island, the westernmost island of the Ryukyu Archipelago, at a depth of 25 meters. At first, he simply called this place the “Ruins dive point,” but very soon controversy began to flare up over the “ruins.” Surprisingly, the opening of the Yonaguni Monument occurred only in 1985. These waters have always been popular with divers, who visit huge quantities came to the island in winter period to observe hammerhead sharks. In the area where the monument is located, fans dive in several places to contemplate the games of sea predators, but for decades the mysterious structure remained out of sight of divers. One gets the impression that nature itself did not want people to discover the monument. The find had very impressive dimensions: more than 40 meters in height, 150 meters in width, 180 meters in length. But this is not the main thing. The geometric shapes of the “ruins” - straight lines, wide “streets” with markings in the form of strange symbols, smooth terraces, round holes, a gutter crossing the monument - everything indicated that the mysterious structure most likely has an artificial origin. Recent studies of the "Ruins of Yonaguni" showed that the sunken "city" is at least 10,000 years old. It is older than the Sphinx, which, in turn, is older than the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Official science refuses to consider the Yonaguni monument as man-made. Indeed, in this case, everything we know about the history of mankind will have to be revised and adjusted: it turns out that on our planet there was a more ancient civilization than all currently known cultures, whose representatives could process stone - very skillfully and on a fantastic scale .The Japanese government also does not consider this rock formation to be man-made, and therefore special means There are no funds allocated for its research and the monolith is studied only by enthusiasts. Suffice it to say that the first serious studies of the Yonaguni monument were carried out only in 1998 (13 years after its opening) and the experts who took part in the dives sharply disagreed in their opinions. A diver’s acquaintance with the monument begins with the “arched gate” in the southwest complex, through which only one person can swim. Behind them, a fantastic picture opens in front of the diver: two seven-meter rectangular stone blocks with perfectly even edges and corners, as if they were cut with a laser on a giant machine. Research has shown that these two blocks consist of a different rock than the Yonaguni monument itself. This means only one thing: the blocks, each of which weighs at least one hundred tons, were brought here from another place. Consequently, these blocks prove the artificial origin of the “ruins,” as well as the area on the upper terrace, where almost 70 identical holes seem to have been drilled in the stone in one row. The path to the upper terrace leads through the so-called main terrace, more than 40 meters long. Its perfectly flat surface and the equally geometrically correct steps leading to it also raise suspicions that someone other than nature had a hand in their creation. On the upper terrace there is another object that could hardly have arisen on its own. This is something like a pool, a triangular depression with stepped walls, in one of which two round holes with a diameter of 40 cm and a depth of 2 meters are hollowed out. In the area of the Yonaguni underwater monument there is a strong underwater current - it is this that prevents the stones from becoming overgrown with corals and algae, thanks to which the rocks appear in all their beauty and severity of forms. The world learned about the underwater ruins of Yonaguni thanks to the writer Graham Hancock, author of the novel "Traces of the Gods", in which he tried to prove that in different parts In prehistoric times, there was a highly developed civilization on Earth, which gave rise to the cultures known to us. By a strange coincidence, this book was published around the same time when the first mentions of a mysterious underwater structure on the western tip of the Ryukyu archipelago appeared in the Japanese press. Graham Hancock visited Yonaguni . Having made several dives, the writer gave his assessment of what he saw: the monument was clearly created by man.
