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Ballard Finds Traces of Ancient Habitation Beneath Black Sea
IN SEARCH OF NOAH’S FLOOD
Last year, Ballard and his colleagues found proof that a catastrophic flood inundated the Black Sea in the region north of Turkey. The place and date of the flood—which may have occurred around 5,500 B.C.—correspond to the time and location of the Old Testament account of Noah.
Following a theory proposed by marine geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman, Ballard searched for evidence that the Black Sea, originally a freshwater lake, filled rapidly with salt water spilling from the Mediterranean Sea about 7,500 years ago through what is now the Bosporus. The flood, apparently the result of thousands of years of meltwater collecting in the Mediterranean following the end of the last ice age (about 12,000 years ago) would have spread over an area of land the size of Costa Rica. The flood may have buried coastal settlements as it engulfed the ancient landscape.
During the 1999 expedition, Ballard’s team discovered a submerged ancient shoreline with a flat beach area beneath about 550 feet(168 meters) of water—evidence supporting Ryan and Pittman’s theory.
Radiocarbon dating and paleontological evidence from a sample of shells and sediment collected from the site suggested that a massive flood occured about 7,500 years ago. However, carbon dating using marine life is notoriously vague. Dates can be off by several hundred years. Dating a sample of wood from the site would provide a much-needed confirmation for Pitman and Ryan’s proposed flood date.
Among the sediment samples was a piece of obsidian, which was used by people in the ancient Near East to shape blades and arrows. Hoping that the obsidian suggested the presence of humans, Ballard returned this year to search for signs of human occupation.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2000/12/122800blacksea.html