Theory Points to Civilization Under Persian Gulf

 

 

Dec. 11) -- The waters of the Persian Gulf may be hiding a lost civilization that could change our understanding of human history, according to new research.

This huge fertile stretch of land may have been home to humans from about 74,000 years ago until about 8,000 years ago, according to http://news.discovery.com/earth/ancient-desert-oasis-echoes-of-eden.html - Discovery News.

When the waters around them began to rise, these early humans may have migrated to what is now the gulf shoreline, founding new settlements there, according to a paper published in the December issue of http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/657397 - Current Anthropology.

Over the past several years, archaeologists have uncovered new evidence of those shoreline settlements.

"Where before there had been but a handful of scattered hunting camps, suddenly, over 60 new archaeological sites appear virtually overnight," Jeffrey Rose of the University of Birmingham said, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40605372/ns/technology_and_science-science/ - according to LiveScience.

"These settlements boast well-built, permanent stone houses, long-distance trade networks, elaborately decorated pottery, domesticated animals, and even evidence for one of the oldest boats in the world," Rose said.

Rose says such sophisticated settlements couldn't have developed so quickly, which is why he believes even older settlements lie beneath gulf waters. If true, Rose's hypothesis could offer a clue as to how and when human beings first departed Africa and settled in the Middle East.

This has long been a topic for debate, with some scientists saying that humans made the migration 125,000 years ago, while others put it closer to 60,000 years ago, LiveScience said.

The now-submerged slice of land would have been about the size of Great Britain, Rose said.

Since it would have received water from the rivers Tigris, Euphrates, Karun and Wadi Baton, it would have offered a fertile refuge from the nearby harsh deserts.

"I think Jeff's theory is bold and imaginative, and hopefully will shake things up," Oxford Brookes University's Robert Carter told LiveScience.

"It would completely rewrite our understanding of the out-of-Africa migration. It is far from proven, but Jeff and others will be developing research programs to test the theory," Carter said.

Rose admits that much work remains be done. So far, he has focused on archaeological sites on dry land and studies of geological history.

Finding some physical evidence beneath the waves of the ocean would be a major advance in proving that his theory is correct.

"We would need to find a submerged site, and excavate it underwater," Rose said, according to LiveScience. "This would likely only happen as the culmination of years of survey in carefully selected areas."

The waters of the Persian Gulf rose 8,000 years ago, perhaps because of the collapse of a huge glacial dam in http://www.aolnews.com/tag/canada - Canada , http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Massive+Canadian+melt+have+triggered+flood+biblical+proportions/3954124/story.html - according to Postmedia News.

This event caused water levels to rise across the world. This catastrophic event may have forced humans out of the Gulf basin and given rise to ancient stories such as that of Noah's Ark.

"Certainly, I think there is compelling evidence to suggest that both the flood and Eden myths may be rooted in these events around the Gulf basin," Rose said, according to Discovery News

 

 

 

http://www.aolnews.com/science/article/new-theory-points-to-submerged-civilization-in-middle-east/19756748 - http://www.aolnews.com/science/article/new-theory-points-to-submerged-civilization-in-middle-east/19756748

 

http://www.allempires.com/forum/new_topic_form.asp?FID=9 -  

Evidence is mounting that the first human civilization outside of Africa probably evolved in what is now the Persian Gulf. Recent discoveries suggest that we're about to find a fairly advanced civilization sunk beneath the waters of the Gulf.

Archaeologist Jeffrey Rose has published a paper in Current Anthropology where he argues that we'll find some of the earliest human civilizations on Earth in what was once a fertile basin fed by clear streams and lush with greenery.

According to Live Science:

The Gulf Oasis would have been a shallow inland basin exposed from about 75,000 years ago until 8,000 years ago, forming the southern tip of the Fertile Crescent, according to historical sea-level records.

And it would have been an ideal refuge from the harsh deserts surrounding it, with fresh water supplied by the Tigris, Euphrates, Karun and Wadi Baton Rivers, as well as by upwelling springs, Rose said. And during the last ice age when conditions were at their driest, this basin would've been at its largest.

Then, about 8,000 years ago, melting ice sheets eventually led to a wetter climate that flooded the Persian Gulf basin. That is also the time when we begin to find incredibly well-developed civilizations on the Gulf shoreline - civilizations that seem to have sprung fully-formed, with advanced seafaring technologies, out of nowhere. Unless, of course, they came from sunken cities hidden beneath the Gulf waters.

Live Science continues:

The most definitive evidence of these human camps in the Gulf comes from a new archaeological site called Jebel Faya 1 within the Gulf basin that was discovered four years ago. There, Hans-Peter Uerpmann of the University of Tubingen in Germany found three different Paleolithic settlements occurring from about 125,000 to 25,000 years ago. That and other archaeological sites, Rose said, indicate "that early human groups were living around the Gulf basin throughout the Late Pleistocene."

 

 

 

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This is extremely interesting! Could this be the origin of the Biblical flood myth?

Wow, and I thought there was not much interesting history behind this little corner of the world! I have heard of that theory but didn't think much of it, but after these new findings I'm starting to change my mind!

please do have a read, nny further insights or more information would be greatly appreciated.  It is advert free and will remain that way, my only goal is to draw attention to the sophistication and technological advances in industry, trade, and defense as displayed by megalithic constructions.   

We have to think of the island as a trading outpost.  For the rest of it, look to South America.  The evidence of an older civ. is there.  Plato describes buildings composed of red and black stone. There are several sites on the South Amer. coast with ruins made from red and black stones.  To find the civilization that built the Island trading post known as Atlantis, look to S America, most of what your looking for is there.

 

BTW, quite a few folks believe that the burning of the Library of Alexandria is the main cause of the information gap that exist today.  Thus making it the most damaging act of vandalism known.

 

Also, some plastics have a life of some 20,000 years.  Right now it's estimated that approx. 40% of the beach sand found at the oceans edge is............plastics.  Source- New Jersey DEP.

 

 

Consider this, Russian scientists doing sea floor analysis in prep. for the Gibralter Bridge, discovered that the coasts of Spain and North Africa were aqbove the water line out about 600 miles from where they are now, around 10,000 bce.  The SA coast was 100 miles to the East of where it is now.  Throw that into the mix and a cross atlantic trip isn't so overwhelming.

 

Also, with 20 million sq miles of what was once dry land now submerged, there's no telling what's under it.

Just happened across this lovely article.

http://www.nature.com/news/satellites-expose-8-000-years-of-civilization-1.10257 - http://www.nature.com/news/satellites-expose-8-000-years-of-civilization-1.10257

 I have loads more on my face book page if you want to have a peek.  My real name is actually teresa drusin.

 

The Egyptians were influenced by the Sumerians - in the aspects of momumental architecture, the idea of writing /not their in chosen form, the hierogliphics/, Osiris and Isis /they being Dumizi and Inanna/ - there were plenty of Sumerian-like artefacts in the layers of Naqada II. I don't think we need Atlantis to explain the rise of the Egyptian civilization.

Very interesting article, thank you.

 

Here's a link to the info about the exhibit. It really does highlight how sophisticated these nomads were.  There was plenty of gold and bronze, how they acquired this is surely a fascinating tale