Haim Mazar expresses a personal opinion: it is worthwhile to employ marine archaeologists who will try to locate settlements that drowned in lakes due to sudden climate changes in different periods
Underwater studies in a number of lakes around the world led to the surprise of the researchers to the discovery of man-made structures at the bottom and these are not individual structures, but rather large arrays, which indicates a lively urban activity in these places. It seems that these structures were not built by underwater activity and the question that begs to be asked is what happened? In order to try to deal with this challenging question we will present the findings that were discovered and based on these we will try to reach these conclusions even if they are preliminary.
An extraordinary evidence of an underwater city is from Fuxian Lake in Yunnan Province in China. It is a lake with an area of 212 square kilometers and a maximum depth of 155 meters. The area of the archaeological complex is at least 2.4 kilometers. In the first studies, 8 buildings were uncovered, among them a round building and two tall buildings, each with several floors. These buildings are reminiscent of the pyramids of the Mayan tribes. The large building is similar in its architecture to the Colosseum. Its base is 37 meters long, it was oriented northeast and a loophole was found in it. One of the two tall buildings has a base length of 60 meters and small stairs connecting the floors were found in it. The second building is higher. The length of its base is 37 meters, its height is 21 meters and it has 5 floors. It is believed that the origin of this complex is in an ancient culture from the time of the Qin and Han dynasties from 2000 years ago.
Another lake where archaeological remains have been found is Lake Titicaca which is in the Andes between Peru and Bolivia at an altitude of 3819 above sea level. Its area is 8300 km, its length is 190 km. Its width is 50 km and its depth is 140-180 meters and towards Bolivia its depth reaches 280 meters. The lake is fed by 25 rivers that flow into it. Remains of an ancient temple measuring 30 x 200 meters, a terrace for agricultural crops, a paved road and a wall 50 meters long were found at a depth of 800 meters. The researchers reached the temple while following the paved road. According to the estimate from these findings, they are 100-150 years before the appearance of the Incas in this place. Another place in the Americas where underwater structures were found is in Lake Wisconsin in the USA. The area of the lake is 2350 square kilometers and its depth is 13 meters. Stone monuments were found here, Konian walls and pyramids. The age of these findings is estimated to be 5000 years.
The obvious conclusion is that these are valleys that contained settlements and for whatever reason were flooded with water. Since these are relatively large areas, it is likely that the residents of these places had a stay to evacuate and save themselves. Where did the water come from? If we take Lake Titicaca, it is more likely than not that the origin of this water is the rapid melting of ice on the peaks of the Andes. The melting can be caused by climate warming. If this is what happened, the conclusion is drawn that this is what also happened in Wisconsin and China. Each such city deserves a study on its own, however, the very existence of the same phenomenon in different places thousands of kilometers apart gives room for the hypothesis that archaeological settlements can be found at the bottom of other lakes around the planet. The dating of these places can give an indication of the time or times when these places were flooded and in this way learn about acute climatic changes on a local and global scale alike. Comparative archeology can contribute a lot to understanding climatic changes on the entire planet.
Sources
* Ancient temple found under Lake Tititcaca
* Chinese find underwater `Lost City' in lake; 'An extensive series of structures'
* Mysterious Fuxian Lake's secrets told
4 תגובות
You should not confuse women, the earth is in an ice age
For about 35 million years mainly because of the closing of the basin in the North Pole and the "settling" of Antarctica in the South Pole.
In the ice age we are in, there are lulls that result from changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun - the Milankiewicz cycle,
We entered such a lull about 20.000 years ago,
In other words, for 20,000 years the general trend is warming.
And again, don't confuse this general trend with warming in recent decades.
In all cases, local tectonic subsidence or uplift should be checked. For example, in Tiberias near the Gali Kinneret Hotel, a stadium built by Herod was discovered. The stadium was discovered in a low water level in the Sea of Galilee. At normal sea level, the stadium is flooded. It is known from the reconstruction of the Sea of Galilee that 2000 years ago, when the stadium was built, the sea level of the Sea of Galilee was similar to today. Around the stadium and on it there are many evidences of earthquakes which caused subsidence in this area.
Indeed, archaeological findings are an unparalleled tool for examining the conditions on the globe thousands of years ago.
It is interesting to note that there are snowy mountains in Europe where the snow line has receded over the past 20 years. To our surprise, we find in these sites, pottery and even clothes (the fibers of which were preserved due to the snow that covered them). From this we come to the conclusion that in earlier times the place was inhabited (certainly not covered with snow). and conclude that, in fact, the ball is in one of its cold periods.
It is also interesting to note that we know that Nordic navigators (Vikings) reached the American continent in their travels and it is known that they settled in Greenland (long before Columbus). Until a few years ago, it was not clear how they made this journey in the Arctic Ocean. Today with the opening of the passage as a result of the mass, we understand that during the Viking period, this passage was open to sea voyages. And again from here, apparently, the ball in a relatively cold period.
Flooding can also be caused by other causes such as a strong earthquake or volcanic eruption. These possibilities must be ruled out if we come to discuss flooding as a result of warming.
Other than that, the article is interesting.
Sabdarmish Yehuda