December 9, 2001
3:48 AM Subscribe
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]
[sigh] The 'highly skeptical' link somehow got munged. Let's try again.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 3:56 AM on December 9, 2001
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
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
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
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 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
posted by y2karl at 8:17 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
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
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
posted by rodii at 9:46 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
Fleenering aside, you are speaking of another thread, right?
posted by y2karl at 11:39 AM 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
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
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
posted by rodii at 5:52 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
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
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
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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