12-meter-long man made monolith discovered off Italian coast

[Ichingcarpenter]

A massive monolith over 10,000 years old has been found in the Mediterranean Sea near Italy, scientists say. The block, which was apparently constructed by humans, bears traces of prehistoric civilization.
The 12-meter-long monolith “resting on the sea-floor” was located at a depth of 40 meters, in a shallow bank of the Sicilian Channel, says the report by ocean scientists from Italy and Israel published in July.

“It is broken into two parts, and has three regular holes: one at its end which passes through from part to part, the others in two of its sides.”

According to the study, the site was abandoned at about 9,350 ± 200 years BP (Before Present) and the morphological evidence, underwater observations and results of petrographic analysis suggest that the monolith was made by humans.

“This discovery provides evidence for a significant Mesolithic human activity in the Sicilian Channel region.”

The scientists say the block was “cut and extracted as a single stone from the outer rectilinear ridge” which was about 300 meters to the south, “and then transported and possibly erected.

“From the size of the monolith, we may presume that it weighs about 15 tons,” the study says, adding that its function hasn’t been specified yet.






http://www.rt.com/news/311675-mediterranean-human-made-monolith/


Science Abstract from another source.

Abstract
The ancient geography of the Mediterranean Basin was profoundly changed by the increase in sea level following the Last Glacial Maximum. This global event has led to the retreat of the coastlines, especially in lowland areas and shallow shelves, such as the Sicilian Channel.

The NW sector of this shelf, known as Adventure Plateau, is studded by isolated shoals mostly composed of Late Miocene carbonate rocks and by some volcanic edifices. These shoals, until at least the Early Holocene, formed an archipelago of several islands separated by stretches of extremely shallow sea. One of these submerged features – the Pantelleria Vecchia Bank – located 60 km south of Sicily, has been extensively surveyed using geophysical and geological methods.

It is composed of two main shoals, connected seaward by a rectilinear ridge which encloses an embayment. Here we present morphological evidence, underwater observations, and results of petrographic analysis of a man-made, 12 m long monolith resting on the sea-floor of the embayment at a water depth of 40 m. It is broken into two parts, and has three regular holes: one at its end which passes through from part to part, the others in two of its sides.

The monolith is composed of calcirudites of Late Pleistocene age, as determined from radiocarbon measurements conducted on several shell fragments extracted from the rock samples. The same age and composition characterize the metre-size blocks forming the rectilinear ridge. The rest of the rocks composing the shoals are mostly Tortonian limestones–sandstones, as revealed by their fossil content.

Extrapolating ages from the local sea level curve, we infer that seawater inundated the inner lands at 9350 ± 200 year B.P., the upper limit which can be reasonably taken for the site abandonment. This discovery provides evidence for a significant Mesolithic human activity in the Sicilian Channel region.


http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X15300535


So really what it says is that the object is at least 11 thousand years old and could be older, this is the dating of when the area was flooded not when it was constructed. Also interesting is that the Ancient stone structures of Malta lies in this area too.






posted in Anthropology forum also; http://www.democraticunderground.com/12292233

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

1. Wow, 12-meter-long man! That's a long man. And he made a monolith?

Lol. I see now you meant man-made monolith, but at first I read it as above and thought they'd found a giant.

This guy thinks the dating is probably wrong. Interesting theory about it being related to the Megalithic Temples of Malta. Which I'd never heard of before, being woefully ignorant in the anthropological realm. The titan in your title piqued my interest, though, and I learned something new!

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. '' this guy'' is not even reading the data that proves it is much older

now if we read what the scientist found


The scientists say the block was “cut and extracted as a single stone from the outer rectilinear ridge” which was about 300 meters to the south, “and then transported and possibly erected.


Now if you look at the map......... there is no islands or land 300 meters from the discovery.... it was underwater too. As far as giant sinking of the area caused by earthquakes the data doesn't support that either but it does support pre glacial shorelines and habitual areas before the melting.





Ħaġar Qim, one of the Megalithic Temples of Malta. Its largest stone weighs 57 tons and measures approximately 19 feet (5.8 m) long by 9 feet (2.7 m) tall by 2 feet (0.61 m) thick. Hagar Qim is the most impressive of all Maltese monuments. The finesse that was used to join the stones can be compared with the precision employed in the Valley Temple, next to the Sphinx, at Gizeh (Egypt), where the builders equally carved out massive stones and placed them together as if it was the easiest job in the world.

Hagar Qim photograph of the temple

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

4. As I said, I don't know much about the subject, but...

The monolith was found at a depth of 131 feet, on what was once an island in the Sicilian Channel. Called Pantelleria Vecchia Bank, the island was located some 24 miles north of the volcanic island of Pantelleria and was submerged during a massive flood about 9,500 years ago.

http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/10000-year-old-monolith-discovered-off-italian-coast/#sthash.n7ADDMyg.dpuf

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. Ancient Monolith Suggests Humans Lived on Now-Underwater Archipelago

What's more, the monolith doesn't match the roughly 10-million-year-old rocks on the ocean floor; rather it has a composition similar to rocks from a ridge that are found in shallow marine area, the researchers wrote.

"This is one of the most important details in supporting the idea that the monolith is not made by nature or phenomena, but is man-made," Lodolo said.

Ancient archipelago

The researchers dated the stone in the monolith to the Late Pleistocene, about 40,000 years ago during the last ice age, by extracting several shell fragments from the rock and doing radiocarbon dating tests on it. It's unclear when people made the stone into a monolith, but the researchers say that varying sea levels offer a clue.


The Last Glacial Maximum began about 19,000 years ago, the researchers said. At that time, Europe was about 40 percent larger than it is now, but as the glaciers melted, sea levels rose about 410 feet (125 m) from then until present day, Lodolo told Live Science.

"This global event has led to the retreat of the coastlines, especially in lowland areas and shallow shelves, such as the Sicilian Channel," the researchers wrote in the study.

Before the sea level in the Mediterranean rose, an archipelago existed between Sicily and modern-day Tunisia. Perhaps people lived on these islands and constructed the monolith, Lodolo said.

" was like a bridge between the European world and the African world," Lodolo said. "It's quite reasonable to think it was inhabited by some settlers."



snip out of the article


http://www.livescience.com/51848-monolith-sicilian-channel.html?cmpid=514645_20150813_50791826&adbid=631971045029756928&adbpl=tw&adbpr=15428397

[longship]

2. It has been reported previously.

[lastlib]

5. A monolith? A hole? Dare I say it?

"My God--it's full of stars!!"

(Yes )