(Copenhagen, Denmark) — March 30, 2005. Undersea archaeologists revealed for the first time today that they have been studying the ruins of an ancient city under the waves of the North Sea. The Undersea Ancient Habitation Project, jointly funded by the Danish Geography Authority and the Swedish Institute of Undersea Studies, has been conducted in secret for the past two years.
“We were afraid that commercial interests would exploit this extraordinary find before it could be properly studied and mapped,” says Dr Stig Källén of the Swedish institute. “The site was first identified as a possible archaeological location in 2002 by a petroleum exploration vessel.” Dr. Källén refused to identify the vessel or its operating company, citing a confidentiality agreement between the company and the two research organizations.
The site reportedly covers an area of several dozen square kilometers, according to the 25-member research team. Two of the team members are from other European research organizations. “I was asked to participate in this project because of my experience with underground cities,” says Dr. Reinhard van Gelder, on loan from the Royal Museum of Antiquities in Amsterdam. Van Gelder, who headed up a research team in the Alps a few years ago, wrote a controversial paper about an underground complex his team discovered in late 2001.
“There is much data left to be collected,” van Gelder insists. “But I think it is fair to say that we have located an ancient city, perhaps more than 11,000 years old.” The underground complex would have been inhabited at a time when the North Sea did not exist, the archaeologists point out. “The glaciers which covered northern Europe drew back the sea levels,” explains Ingrid Haglund of the Swedish Paleoarchaeology Institute. She is co-author of several papers on the terrain and geography of the land bridge between what is now Great Britain and northern Europe. “This region appears to have suffered a catastrophic trauma,” she adds.
So far, eight deep-water dives have been conducted in the area under the strictest secrecy. Many clay and stone implements have been retrieved from various locations. “What is most surprising, however, is the discovery of iron,” Dr. Källén notes. “This may be the one of the first documented areas where iron is believed to have occurred naturally. An immense heat must have fused veins of iron ore to create the weapon-shaped objects.” None of the objects were made available for display, but pictures shown by the archaeologists appeared to depict melted objects of indeterminant shape.
“This summer, we will send a four-man team down to explore the vast cavernous structures,” Dr. Källén promises. “They will be equipped with special gear to facilitate underwater cavern exploration.” The caverns mapped by the team so far are interconnected by a series of tunnels. One tunnel, running from north to south under the midmost of three plateau-like mounds, seems larger than the others. “This may have been the main entrance to the complex,” Dr. Källén speculates.
The purpose of the underground complex, and the size of its population, have not been determined. “If it were not such an impossible idea, I would say the complex was home to thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people,” van Gelder suggests. “But how could they have sustained themselves? Not by hunting. And there is no evidence of ancient farms in the sea floor. They would have had to transport food from far, far away. Simply impossible.”
Not every corner of the scientific community is willing to accept the claims of the prestigious team, however. Noted paleoarchaeologist Richard Thomas of the North American School of Paleoarchaeology says, “This sounds a great deal like the Flores Man ‘Hobbit’.” He refers to the astounding discovery of half-sized human fossils on the island of Flores (http://www.nature.com/news/specials/flores/index.html). “The site will require a great deal more exploration,” Thomas insists. “And it should be opened to inspection by the entire scientific community.”
The Swedish-led team of archaeologists says that will indeed happen. “But first, we must finish documenting our initial exploration,” Dr. Källén asserts. “There is one vast chamber we have dubbed the Throne Room, where we believe a massive iron idol was maintained. We will determine about what is there later this year. Then we will publish our findings and allow the scientific community to evaluate the evidence for themselves.”
The discovery of animal fossils prompted the team to make a pre-emptive announcement regarding the project. “We have found what we believe may be a relative of the Alpine giant,” Dr. van Gelder adds, referring to his own (https://old-blog.xenite.org/2001/04/01/snow-angel-snow-demon-sno-way/) research several years ago on a fantastic creature of immense size whose remains were found in the Alps. “So far, we only have noted what may be fragments of bone jutting up from the cavernous floor,” he says. “They may have been covered by mud for millennia, and only recently came to light by the passing of our robotic survey vessels.”
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