I hear a hitman for the evolution lobby is in town. Thought you might need to know. 
Posted on 11/26/2002 7:57:18 AM PST by blam
Archaeologists announce discovery of underwater man-made wall
2002/11/26
The China Post staff
Underwater archaeologists yesterday announced the discovery of a man-made wall submerged under the waters of the Pescadores Islands that could be at least six and seven thousand years old.
Steve Shieh, the head of the planning committee for the Taiwan Underwater Archaeology Institute, said the wall was discovered to the northwest of Tong-chi Island in the Pescadores towards the end of September.
The stone wall, with an average height of one meter and a width of 50 centimeters, covers a distance of over 100 meters, Hsieh said.
The wall ran along the ocean floor at depths of between 25 and 30 meters, he added.
Shieh said that divers found several places along the wall where holes were apparently filled up with pebbles, possibly in an attempt to block winds.(Maybe to keep out the rising water?)
The wall was located by a team of divers working in cooperation with the National Museum of History and the Department of Environmental Sciences at the National Sun Yat-sen University.
In August, researchers scanning waters in the area with sonar discovered what appeared to be the remnants of four to five man-made walls running along the bottom of the sea.
Please see WALL on page(I could not find a map, if you can, please post it.)
Despite difficult diving conditions, Shieh said that a team of more than ten specialists was able to ascertain the positions of at least three of the wall sections.
The proximity of the wall to a similar structure found in 1976 suggests that it may be further evidence of a pre-historical civilization.
A three meter high underwater wall was discovered by amateur divers in waters off the nearby Hu-ching (Tiger Well) Island.
British archaeologists examined the find and proclaimed that the wall was probably made between 7,000 and 12,000 years ago.
The current find stands a mere 100 meters from the site of that discovery.
Six years ago, evidence of a sunken city in the area was found when amateur divers found the remains of what appear to be city walls taking the shape of a cross on the ocean floor.
Further examination suggested the ruins were made between seven and ten thousand years ago as well, although Japanese researchers put the walls construction at between 10,000 and 80,000 years ago.
Taken together, the discoveries have helped to overturn the established notion that Taiwan's earliest aboriginal inhabitants made their way here from mainland China some 6,000 years ago.(There goes the giant hynea theory, huh?)
The underwater finds are part of a growing body of evidence suggesting the existence of civilizations older than anything previously imagined.(suprise, suprise, suprise--Gomer Pyle voice)
On this theory, entire cities ended up underwater after sea levels rose towards the end of the last Ice Age, a date cited by Plato as being some 9,600 years ago.
One of the most dramatic examples of evidence of civilizations found on ocean beds has been megalithic structures off the coast of Yonaguni-jima in Japan that have been interpreted in some circles as being built for sacrificial rites. According to Shieh, a similar structure has been located off of the shores of Taiwan's Pingtung County .
Shieh said that he and his association have plans to explore that location as well as what appears to be a man-made path on the ocean floor off of Taitung County sometime next year.
To each his own. Truth and accuracy require no justification regardless what toes they may step on.
>Your comments don't really have any direct relevance to what I posted.
But I beg to differ. They are in direct response to it.
>You seem to have a gripe about the word 'science' itself.
I have no such gripe, as long as the word "science" is not coopted by non-scientific agendas such as "global warming". However, 'science' is not the bastion of purity and objective honesty that some would like to believe. It is intensely political.
>For lots of reasons (egos, budgets, political correctness) 'discoveries' in archaeology have not been subjected to the same kind of rigorous peer review one finds in physics, say.
We certainly agree on that. Of course 'peer review' is too often another political joke. Peer review is not the bastion of purity and objective honesty that some would like to believe. It is intensely political. That is the way the world works.
>Your comments about history are true.
Thank you. I was only expressing admiration for your wording of the thought:
...Most tenured American archaeologists were blindered by the 'religion' of certain prevailing belief models that prevented them from considering any evidence that went counter to their credo.
and expanding it to apply more generally. I suspect your uneasyness with my long time academic interest and research into the Lost Tribes of Israel is blindered by the 'religion' of certain prevailing belief models that prevent you from considering any evidence that goes counter to your credo.
I saw those (the post holes) and decided that they could be anything. I was impressed with the large carved human faces on the face of some of the structures though. There are natural structures on land just like these nearby, humans may have carved or altered these structures before they went underwater.
There definately is interesting 'stuff' out there to be found. (some of it may be in your back yard.)
On the other hand, if a civilization were developed during the last inter-glacial period, it probably grew up in the "best spots" and was simply covered over during the following glaciation.
Archaeologists would have found both types of civilization generally inaccessible until just about now.
I am not holding my breath waiting on someone to find a flying saucer or transistor radio, but some stacked stones would seem to be a feasible discovery.
No, it has more to do with boredom, although your statement is clever. I'm not the least bit uneasy about your work: whatever floats your boat. I've encountered so many conflicting legends about the Lost Tribes I confess to tuning such discussions out for the most part, although I've read a few things recently about possible Lost Tribe connections in India and South Africa that appear to be more scientifically based than most. But I promise to read your material as objectively as possible.
As for your comment: However, 'science' is not the bastion of purity and objective honesty that some would like to believe. It is intensely political, that was the precise point of my post. While politics always plays a major role in human affairs, I believe the political games of the past 50 years have been extraordinary (but certainly not unique). The East/West polarization since about 1941 has been intense, and the post-war impact of Marxism on academic thought has been frightening. They've both had a huge negative impact on archaeology, and have led to a continuing emphasis on archaeology of the Mediterranean instead of worldwide considerations, which was the point I was originally responding to.
Now why the hell would the author cite Plato, a Greek philosopher who shuffled off this mortal coil centuries B.C. as an authority on when the end of the Ice Age occured?
It was printed in The China Post, probably written by Chinese writers with English as a second language. This is actually good compared to some I've seen.
It was printed in The China Post, probably written by Chinese writers with English as a second language. This is actually good compared to some I've seen.
He was trying to make an Atlantis connection, underwater cities and all.
I hear a hitman for the evolution lobby is in town. Thought you might need to know.
No one could ask for more than that. {ggg}.
>... the post-war impact of Marxism on academic thought has been frightening ... had a huge negative impact on archaeology ...and led to a continuing emphasis on archaeology of the Mediterranean instead of worldwide considerations.
An interesting point. I believe Blam and others would share your apparent enthusiasm for a more global perspective.
I marvel at the academic (religious) interest of only 200 years causing intense focus on the Mediterranean. Without that religious yearning for truth, not only would Americas great educational institutions (of virtually every founding denomination) not exist, but such other assets as the Oriental Institute would not exist either. (That many have subsequently become diverted is another matter...)
It is unfortunate so few appreciate the true roots of that science we call Archeology, it's genesis being intense interest in the Israelites, and that interest almost entirely by those who did not realize (initially or publicly at least) that they were Israelites as well; the presumeably "Lost" Israelites.
Hmmm, I'm not sure which sided of this you're taking, but if you run into him will you have him Freepmail me a fee schedule?
Indeed.
On another subject: I'm reading Brian Fagan's book Floods, Famines and Emperors, he says that the world's human population in 13,000BC was 8.5 million. (I know you like population numbers)
That's as far as I'll explain. If you can't take it from there, well, that's OK.
Thanks for that number! Well-considered numbers that far back are hard to come by. Does he give his source or any supporting rationale for it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.