The Oldest Under Water City in The World

Archaeologists studied the ruins of ancient cities submerged off the coast of Greece that the estimated age of 5,000 years, making it the oldest underwater city in the world today.

Project this summer is the first time from five years of cooperation between Greek and British researchers to investigate Pavlopetri, which has never since been found and studied and mapped by a British archaeologist in 1967-1968.

Dr. Jon Henderson, an archaeologist from the University of Nottingham, joined the research led by Elias Spondylis of Underwater Archaeological Objects Ephorate part of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture in Greece. Dr. Henderson was the first archaeologist in 40 years who received a letter from the Greek government official permission to work there.

"It is very exciting. I've read about this site when I was young and hard to believe that I am not just dive in there but also had the opportunity to do it. Then we found about 9,000 square meters of new building that was recently looking for movement in sand, was incredible, "said Dr.. Henderson.

Pavlopetri located at a depth of 3-4 meters under the water not far from the sandy beach of southern Laconia.

The city is still very incomplete. Building houses, roads, yards, buildings of worship, cemetery, everything is mapped using 3-D digital equipment of the most cutting-edge.

Pavlopetri was once thought to originate from the Mycenaean period (about 1680-1180 BC), from the Ancient Greek history is rich in literature and myth. From the Neolithic pottery objects recently found to exhibit this place may have been occupied since at least 2800 BC. By studying this important maritime place, researchers hope to better understand the heritage of the Greek Bronze Age.

Dr. Chrysanthi Gallou, a specialist in Aegean prehistory at the University of Nottingham, is responsible for studying many of the findings.

"The most findings that I like is the filter clay from the early Mycenaean period that may be used to produce a kind of beverage alcohol," he said. "The most surprising finding is the newly discovered monument to the great hall of the building megaron."

One of the main objectives in next year's project is to study the land and the surrounding area and learn how this site can be submerged under water, said Dr. Henderson.

"The water goes up and down for many reasons ... But, we know that in the Mediterranean sea has not changed much in 5,000 BP (about 50 cm per thousand years), mean we can not say the sea surface height as a causal factor terendamnya Pavlopetri , "he explained.

"Therefore we may see the influence of the effects of ground movement. Eastern Mediterranean is one of the most active earthquake regions in the world. For example, the area west of Crete has been up 6 meter while the Bay of Naples declined nearly 10 meters. Pavlopetri seems to have dropped to 4-5 meters after 1000 BC, judging from the evidence of pottery, "he continued.

"Is Pavlopetri submerged abandoned because we do not know. Maybe this town survived and become debris on the ground, slowly disappear down into the sand and the waves of the sea water drowning after a series of tectonic events or a major event." (Reuters / pls)

Source :  http://isi-bumi-kita.blogspot.com