It seems to many that all the most important archaeological finds in our world have long been made. However, sensations in the field of archeology still happen. One such sensation was the discovery of ancient Cyclopean structures on the seabed near the tiny island of Yonaguni, located next to the Japanese island of Okinawa. Talk about these buildings, in which researchers sometimes see fragments of the legendary Lemuria, have not subsided for at least a decade and a half.
Unexpected discovery
The discoverer of underwater megaliths back in 1985 was the Japanese diver Kihachiro Aratake, who got lost outside the standard security perimeter near the southern coast of Okinawa. The scuba diver was sliding along the unknown transparent blue waters of the ocean at a depth of 10-15 meters and suddenly stumbled upon a huge stone structure made of monolithic blocks. It was black and gloomy, and its design looked rather strange, perhaps it seemed so due to the fact that over the years spent under water, the structure was overgrown with corals, algae and shells. Having circled around an incomprehensible building, the scuba diver rose to the surface and, finally managing to determine the right direction, swam to the shore.
Somewhere in the depths of the ocean lies the ghostly land of Lemuria
The very next day, photographs of his findings appeared in all major newspapers in Japan. Megalith immediately sparked controversy and attracted crowds of archaeologists and underwater researchers, journalists and the curious. True, no one could give an intelligible explanation of where such an unusual structure appeared on the ocean floor.
The disputants were not even able to decide whether it was the work of human hands or a natural anomaly, not to mention the age of the find. Someone spoke in the sense that these are the remains of some kind of coastal defensive facility during the Second World War. Someone suggested that the structure was built in ancient times. They also talked about the sunken continent of Lemuria (Mu), which perished under water long before the "beginning of time." But there were also supporters of the hypothesis of the natural origin of the megalith.
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More finds
In the summer of next year, another piece of news came from the coast of Okinawa. Another diver saw under water a massive arch made of huge stone blocks, tightly fitted to each other with filigree precision. This is also true of the prehistoric megalithic masonry found across the Pacific Ocean - in Peru and Bolivia, where the Inca empire once existed. Fortunately, the arch was not overgrown with corals - there were strong underwater currents in that place. In clear water, it could be seen from a distance of over 30 meters. The arch was clearly built by people, and a long time ago.
This sensation was not the only one. Encouraged by the opportunity to find new submerged structures, entire teams of divers went underwater from the southern coast of Okinawa, setting off on pre-planned routes. Soon the efforts of the enthusiasts were rewarded with further discoveries: before the onset of autumn, at different depths, five more archaeological sites were discovered near three islets - Yonaguni, Kerama and Aguni, and the buildings, with all the variety of architectural details, had a stylistic unity. Under the water, at a distance of 560 kilometers, were found cobbled streets and crossroads, huge altars, a magnificent staircase leading to a wide square, as well as roads for religious processions, decorated with high pylons.
The largest structure towered at the bottom near the eastern shore of Yonaguni, at a depth of more than 30 meters. The structure was over 80 meters long, 30 meters wide and 15 meters high. Scientists consider it to be similar to Nakagusuku Castle in Okinawa, which was built for ceremonial purposes at the beginning of the first millennium BC. representatives of an unknown culture. The fenced area around Nakagusuku still arouses sacred awe among the people of Okinawa.
Megalithic structures at the bottom near Yonaguni Island
In addition, in the waters of the ocean, buildings were discovered, similar to rectangular crypts near the settlement of Noro on the same Okinawa. American explorer Frank Joseph draws attention to the fact that the inhabitants of this southernmost island belonging to Japan call the crypts "moai", just as the inhabitants of Easter Island call their famous statues.
Transoceanic parallels
Frank Joseph sees similarities between some of the flooded objects and the Hawaiian heiau - long rampart temples that lead to huge staircases with wide platforms at the top. There the Hawaiians place wooden tombs and carved idols. Many Heiau still exist and remain sacred to Hawaiians. However, the Okinawan underwater structures are made up of huge monolithic blocks, and the heiau are made up of a much larger number of significantly smaller stones. According to local legends, the Heiau were built by the Menehuns - a race of red-haired masons and sorcerers who appeared in Hawaii much earlier than the Polynesians and died in a terrible flood.
Megalithic structures at the bottom near Yonaguni Island
The ancient song "Camulipo", known to the Hawaiians from time immemorial, tells about a terrible flood that destroyed the whole world in ancient times: "Along with the roaring, approaching and receding waves, a rumbling sound appeared. An earthquake began. The sea flew into a rage, overflowed its shores, rose to populated areas, gradually flooding the entire land. The clan of the first leader from the foggy past, living in cold mountainous countries, ended. Lethal was the stream erupting from the navel of the Earth. It was a wave of waves. Many of those who disappeared died that night."
Okinawan-like structures can also be found in Peru, such as ancient Pachacamac, a city and religious center south of modern-day Lima. It flourished even in the days of the Incas, right up to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, but it was founded sometime in time immemorial, in the misty depth of millennia. Under the Incas, Pachacamac served as the seat of the chief oracle, and pilgrims flocked there from all parts of the vast empire. The city's sun-dried mud-brick ruins, with their wide staircases and spacious plazas still preserved, have much in common with the flooded structures around Okinawa.
Nature's play?
Oddly enough, but for the first 10 years after the discovery of underwater megaliths, the scientific community ignored their existence. Once again, no one wanted to rewrite history: after all, the Okinawan buildings are over 10 thousand years old - it was then that the ocean that rose as a result of the melting of glaciers could flood them. Therefore, apparently, historians preferred to consider the find a bizarre play of nature. Masaaki Kimura, a professor at Ryukyu University, a specialist in marine geology and seismology, managed to move this cart. He studied the Yonaguni complex for over 10 years, having made over a hundred dives. The professor decided to go against the opinion of the overwhelming majority of historians and put his reputation on the line, defending the artificial origin of the Yonaguni structures.
Pachacamac. Its ruins resemble the remains of underwater structures off the coast of Japan.
Scientific compromise
In 1997, Kimura managed to win over to his side of Boston University professor Robert M. Shoch, who has a degree in geology and geophysics and is fond of the problems of atlantology. Shoch argued that nature often creates terraces and stepped formations. But Kimura showed him his own photographs, which show neighboring architectural elements of completely different types. For example, sharp edges next to round holes, stepped descent, perfectly straight narrow trench. Blocks, however, separated from the "rock" are moved from it at a decent distance or collected in one place. In addition, it was clearly not nature that worked on symmetrical formations. All these are strong arguments in favor of the fact that the megaliths were built by man. After arguing for a while, the scientists came to a compromise: they decidedthat people have changed and modified the original natural "preparation". Such so-called terra formations were not rare in the ancient world.
Now in Japan, even academic science either adheres to such a compromise point of view, or even considers the underwater structures of Yonaguni to be uniquely man-made.
Author: A. Chinaev