December 9, 2001

3:48 AM

A sunken megalithic city, perhaps 6,000 years old, has been sonar-photographed with an underwater sub, off the coast of Cuba, 2100 feet down. Well, at least they didn't describe it as 'cyclopean'. Nor is there any word on whether its architectural angles are non-Euclidean. [More inside]
posted by Slithy_Tove (23 comments total)

There seem to have been a number of reported sunken city finds in the last few years, first in Japan, which is probably natural rock formations colored by a lot of romantic thinking, then in Lebanon, which seems to be real. Earthfiles, a UFO/crop circle true-believer kind of place, did some interviews related to the project earlier this year. I can't tell whether the only images are from 'side-scan' sonar, which from the example in the Earthfiles article seems to be very difficult to read, or whether there are actual photos. The story refers to videotape and still photos, and speaks of "symbols and inscriptions", but frustratingly, I can't find these photos on the web. The Globe and Mail also interviewed a marine archeologist and a geologist, who are highly skeptical that this is a city, and not a natural limestone formation. I agree, it seems unlikely that the ocean has risen (or that the land bridge between Cuba and Yucatan has fallen) 2100 feet in only 6000 years, but dammit, I wanna believe! Unless, of course, those inscriptions read something like "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhlan." No! Don't open that door! Aiiiiiiiiii! [horrid sucking and gobbling sounds]

BTW, this is a first FPP for me, so here is a cute kitty, an eerie kitty, and a shaved pussy. Enjoy!
posted by Slithy_Tove at 3:51 AM on December 9, 2001

[sigh] The 'highly skeptical' link somehow got munged. Let's try again.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 3:56 AM on December 9, 2001

Here's my crack at getting that "highly skeptical" link happening.

I'd be highly skeptical of such a find too unless the dating turns out to be much more recent. No one was building megalithic structures in 4000BC. Earth Files looks to be just the place you wouldn't go for a level headed assessment (typical Atlantis nuts).

Nevertheless, real underwater cities are being found all the time.

Slightly off topic but here's another link on doing Underwater Archaeology.
posted by lagado at 4:41 AM on December 9, 2001

Dammit, neither of the links to the Toronto Globe and Mail are working, including the main one. Oh, the shame.

administrator!!! please hope me!

In the meantime, try this this story from Reuters, which is almost the same, but doesn't mention the supposed "symbols and inscriptions". For the stories I wanted to link, go to the Globe and Mail site and search on 'cuba'. The stories are near the top of the search results, as of 12/9/01. I can't find durable links to them, though, sorry.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 4:57 AM on December 9, 2001

Don't panic. Try the printer-friendly version, which seems to provide a more stable day-to-day link. (Props to todd for showing me the way.)
posted by mcwetboy at 5:08 AM on December 9, 2001

Heh. My imaginary Mulder is tapping me on the shoulder. He seems particularly excited by legado's mention of "typical Atlantis nuts". Guess I'll hafta look into this - my imaginary Mulder can be a real pest...

And isn't it strange how all of the links keep evaporating...coming, Mulder?
posted by Opus Dark at 5:15 AM on December 9, 2001

And since this is something the extremely credible and trustworthy source Art Bell--I only listened for for the ads, honest! --had been yammering about six months ago, one should feel the ol' Vulcan eyebrow head north over the top of one's head...
posted by y2karl at 8:17 AM on December 9, 2001

first hit, Google image search
posted by y2karl at 8:39 AM on December 9, 2001

and web
posted by y2karl at 8:41 AM on December 9, 2001

y2karl: yep, the Atlantis crowd are all over it. No real pictures yet, though. That Google image search thing looks to be from a movie or something.

It's funny that the Cubans are saying it looked like 'granite'. When granite outcroppings weather in air, they often come to look like square blocks, somewhat rounded at the edges, piled on top of each other. For anyone who drives through northern Arizona, on I-40, there are extensive examples of this within sight of the road, between Kingman and Williams. Very weird-looking. You'd swear they had been dressed and piled up by human intervention. Very much like the description of the 'megaliths' in the news articles. But my 'Roadside Geology' book says that that's just the way granite weathers. Wonder if the sub is looking at the same kind of thing?

I'd really like to see pictures of those "symbols and inscriptions," though. Just worm and snail trails?

BTW, buried in the Earthfiles stuff is the explanation for the '6000 years old' figure: there are apparently some ruins on the western end of Cuba that are believed, at least by Cuban scholars, to be around 6000 years old, and this current group believes there is a connection to their undersea discovery.

But all the talk of Atlantis is ridiculous. These are clearly the work of the Great Old Ones. Atlantis! Sheesh. Some people are so gullible.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 9:09 AM on December 9, 2001

More rubbish. This is another "maybe, could be, might be" story devoid of virtually any facts.
posted by fleener at 9:31 AM on December 9, 2001

Hey fleener, do you know some people use your name as a verb, as in "Another decent thread fleenered"?
posted by rodii at 9:46 AM on December 9, 2001

original link not working. try this
posted by signal at 11:35 AM on December 9, 2001

Another decent thread?

Fleenering aside, you are speaking of another thread, right?
posted by y2karl at 11:39 AM on December 9, 2001

Obviously this is the fault of global warming.
posted by kindall at 2:23 PM on December 9, 2001

BTW, buried in the Earthfiles stuff is the explanation for the '6000 years old' figure: there are apparently some ruins on the western end of Cuba that are believed, at least by Cuban scholars, to be around 6000 years old, and this current group believes there is a connection to their undersea discovery.

Check the source. This is a pretty big claim and one that would generate a lot more interest if it had any credibility.

Peru Holds Oldest New World City circa 2000 B.C.
posted by lagado at 3:03 PM on December 9, 2001

The researchers cautioned that they did not fully understand the nature of their find and planned to return in January for further analysis, the expedition leader said on Thursday.

No one is making the claim that this is an ancient civilization from 6000 years ago, these are exciting yet preliminary findings.
posted by skallas at 4:08 PM on December 9, 2001

Here's the Cuba=Atlantis link from an earlier MeFi thread, if anyone's interested.
posted by rodii at 5:52 PM on December 9, 2001

Now that's Metahistory gold!
posted by y2karl at 6:52 PM on December 9, 2001

This reminds me of the Bimini underwater road, which I remember from my weehood in the 70s.
posted by tranquileye at 7:04 PM on December 9, 2001

Quoting the enduring wisdom of rodii from that earlier thread:

skallas, I agree that skepticism is a pretty blunt instrument. But there are more arguments here than just "I'm skeptical." Like, any advanced civilization tends to leave evidence of material culture behind, so where are all the Atlantean artifacts? Are they *all* submerged under the rising oceans? That would mean that all the artifacts of a culture were confined to a narrow coastal strip and never got traded outside that area?

On the other hand, we've recently been discivering previously unknown civilizations in Central Asia, so it's possible. But there too there are special circumstances that have kept thise civilizations from being discovered (desertification). We might find similar things in the Sahara too. But that's not Atlantis.

A recent example
posted by lagado at 10:57 PM on December 9, 2001

Cubans dismiss underwater city
posted by lagado at 3:12 AM on December 16, 2001

Myth of Atlantis all took place in Plato's mind
posted by lagado at 2:54 AM on December 18, 2001