The Yonaguni Monument

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Sunken structures
The Yonaguni Monument is a massive underwater rock structure off the coast of Yonaguni, the southernmost of the Ryukyu Islands, in Japan. While many archaeologists and geologists believe that the structure is a natural formation,[1][2] some hold the view that some of its features are man-made.[3]

[edit] Discovery
The sea off Yonaguni is a popular diving location in winter due to its large population of hammerhead sharks. In 1987, while looking for a good place to observe the sharks, Kihachiro Aratake, a director of the Yonaguni-Cho Tourism Association, noticed some singular seabed formations resembling architectonic structures.[1] Shortly thereafter, a group of scientists directed by Masaaki Kimura of the University of the Ryūkyūs visited the formations. Kimura is a strong advocate of the view that the structures are artificial.
The structure has since become a relatively popular attraction for divers, in spite of the strong currents.[1] In 1997, Japanese industrialist Yasuo Watanabe sponsored an informal expedition comprising writers John Anthony West and Graham Hancock, photographer Santha Faiia, geologist Robert Schoch, a few sport divers and instructors, and a shooting crew for British Channel 4 and Discovery Channel. Another notable visitor was freediver Jacques Mayol, who wrote a book on his dives at Yonaguni.[4] A plaque in his honor was fixed to the undersea structures after his suicide in 2001.

[edit] Main features
The Monument consists of medium to very fine sandstones and mudstones of the Lower Miocene Yaeyama Group, deposited about 20 million years ago.[2] Most of the significant structures are connected to the underlying rock mass (as opposed to being assembled out of freestanding rocks).

The structure called "The Turtle"
The main feature (the "Monument" proper) is a rectangular formation measuring about 100 m by 40 m, and about 20 m tall; the top is about 5 m below sea level.[5] [6] [7] Most of its top surface consists of a complex series of terraces and broad steps, mostly rectangular, bounded by near vertical walls.
Some of its peculiar details include
Two closely spaced pillars which rise to within eight feet of the surface;
The "Loop Road", a 5 m wide ledge that encircles the base of the structure on three sides;
The "Totem", a stone column about 7 m tall;
The "Dividing Wall", a straight wall 10 m long;
The "Gosintai", an isolated boulder resting on a low platform;
The "Turtle", a low star-shaped platform;
The "Triangle Pool", a triangular depression with two large holes dug at its edge;
The "Stage", an L-shaped rock.
Kimura claims to have identified at least 15 analogous structures off Yonaguni and Okinawa, including a castle, linked by submerged roads and water channels.

[edit] Interpretations

[edit] Artificial structures
The flat parallel faces, sharp edges, and mostly right angles of the formation have led many people, including some scholars, to the opinion that those features are man-made.[3][8] Even some of those who see the structures as being largely natural admit that it may have been modified by human hands.[2] The semi-regular terraces of the Monument have been compared to other examples of megalithic architecture, such as the rock-hewn terraces seen at Sacsayhuaman.[9] The structures have also been compared to the Okinawa Tomb, a rock-hewn structure of uncertain age.
Other evidence presented by those who favor an artificial origin include the two round holes (about 2 feet wide, according to photographs) on the edge of the Triangle Pool feature, and a straight row of smaller holes which have been interpreted as an abandoned attempt to split off a section of the rock by means of wedges, as in ancient quarries. Kimura believes that he has identified traces of drawings of animals and people engraved on the rocks, including a horse-like sign that he believes resembles a character from the Kaida script. Some have also interpreted a structure on the side of one of the monuments as a crude moai-like "face".
Supporters of artificial origin also argue that, while many of the features seen at Yonaguni are also seen in natural sandstone formations throughout the world, the concentration of so many peculiar formations in such a small area is highly unlikely. They also point out to the relative absence of loose blocks on the flat areas of the structure, which would be expected if they were formed solely by natural erosion and fracturing.
If any part of the Monument was deliberately constructed or modified, that must have happened during the last Ice Age, when the sea level was much lower than it is today (e.g. 39 m at 10,000 years BCE). During the Ice Age, the East China Sea was a narrow bay opening to the ocean at today's Tokara Gap.[10] The Sea of Japan was an inland sea and there was no Yellow Sea; people and animals could walk into the Ryukyu peninsula from the continent. Therefore, Yonaguni was the southern end of a land bridge that connected it to Taiwan, Ryūkyū, Japan and Asia. This fact is underscored by a rock pillar in a now-submerged cave that has been interpreted as a fused stalactite-stalagmite pair, which could only form above water.
According to Kimura, the remains of marine organisms attached to some parts of the Monument have been carbon-dated 6,000 years old, so that would be an upper limit to the date of its construction.[11] Human presence in the Ryukyu Islands is believed to date from over 16,000 years ago, as attested for example by the Yamashita-cho bones (carbon-14-dated 32,000 years ago) and the Minatogawa Man skeletons (dated 16,000 years ago).[10] [12]
The existence of an ancient stoneworking tradition at Yonaguni and other Ryukyu islands is demonstrated by some old tombs and several stone vessels of uncertain age.[2]

[edit] Natural formation
Some of those who have studied the structure, such as geologist Robert Schoch of Boston University, state that it is most likely a natural formation. Schoch observes that the sandstones that make up the Yonaguni formation "contain numerous well-defined, parallel bedding planes along which the layers easily separate. The rocks of this group are also criss-crossed by numerous sets of parallel and vertical (relative to the horizontal bedding planes of the rocks) joints and fractures. Yonaguni lies in an earthquake-prone region; such earthquakes tend to fracture the rocks in a regular manner."[2] [13] He also observes that on the northeast coast of Yonaguni there are regular formations similar to those seen at the Monument.[2][14] Schoch also believes that the "drawings" identified by Kimura are natural scratches on the rocks.[13]. This is also the view of John Anthony West.[1]
Other examples of natural formations with flat faces and sharp straight edges are the basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway and the natural staircase structures on Old Rag Mountain.[15]

[edit] See also
Bimini road
Atlantis
Dwarka

[edit] References
^ a b c d John Anthony West (1998). "Diving for Lemuria". http://www.robertschoch.net/Diving%20For%20Lemuria%20John%20West%20Colette%20Dowell%20CT.htm.
^ a b c d e f Robert M. Schoch (1999). "Yonaguni Enigmatic Underwater Monuments". http://www.robertschoch.net/Enigmatic%20Yonaguni%20Underwater%20RMS%20CT.htm.
^ a b Masaaki Kimura (1991). Mu tairiku wa Ryukyu ni atta (The Continent of Mu was in Ryukyu). Tokuma Shoten.
^ Jacques Mayol. Heritage des Peuples de la Mer.
^ "Skematic drawing of the Monument at the Ishigaki, Okinawa city site". http://www.city.ishigaki.okinawa.jp/en/engnews/ishigakitimes/yonaguni.jpg.
^ "Schematic maps of the Monument at the Alternative Archaeology site". http://www.altarcheologie.nl/index.html?underwater_ruins/yonaguni/overview.htm.
^ Doremon360. "3D model of the Monument". http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1007/575738157_c0a242bbd5.jpg?v=0.
^ "Umi ni shizunda chō-kodai bunmei (The Submerged Ancient Civilizations)". Quark (Kōdansha). 2002.
^ "Finely chiseled rock steps at the ruins of Sacsayhuaman outside of Cuzco". http://travel.mongabay.com/pix/peru/cuzco-Cuzco_1021_1387.html. Retrieved on November 16, 2008.
^ a b "The Ryukyuanist - A Newsletter on Ryukyuan/Okinawan Studies, Number 57" (DOC). Autumn 2002. http://www.well.com/~sjs/The%20Ryukyuanist%20-%20Number%2057%20FINAL.doc. Retrieved on November 2008.
^ Wolf Wichmann (March 2001). "Confronting Yonaguni - Chapter Twenty Seven". http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_ruinas_yonaguni_4.htm. Retrieved on November 2008.
^ Hisashi Suzuki; Kazuro Hanthara et al. (1982). "The Minatogawa Man - The Upper Pleistocene Man from the Island of Okinawa". Bullettin of the University Museum (University of Tokyo) 19. http://www.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/publish_db/Bulletin/no19/no19002.html.
^ a b "Japan's Ancient Underwater "Pyramid" Mystifies Scholars". http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070919-sunken-city.html.
^ "National Geographic News Photo Gallery: Asian "Atlantis" Shows Strange Structure". http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/photogalleries/japan-pictures/.
^ "Hiker's Guide to the Geology of Old Rag Mountain". http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2000/of00-263/of00-263.pdf.

[edit] External links