Human-built 5600-year-old submerged bridge found inside cave stuns scientists

[Judi Lynn]

Geologists discover an ancient bridge in a cave in Mallorca that shows that humans settled the island as early as 6,000 years ago.

Updated: Sep 03, 2024 02:13 AM EST

Maria Mocerino



A geology professor from the University of South Florida discovered a 5600-year-old stone bridge in an ancient cave that proves humans were present on the island of Mallorca much earlier than previously believed.

This discovery will change everything we thought and knew about early human history in the Western Mediterranean.

The question confounded archaeologists for decades. Logically, being so close to the mainland, the first signs of human settlement offshore should be on Mallorca. Instead, smaller islands farther out to sea suggest that humans skipped this island.

Building the massive lego like Fehmarnbelt Tunnel

The recent discovery of an ancient bridge off the coast of Mallorca provides the first piece of conclusive evidence in this puzzle from human history that locates our early ancestors further back in time on the island of Mallorca and reveals how sophisticated they were.

Going underwater to find the first humans on Mallorca

In 2000, the team behind the study recently published in Communications Earth & Environment dived through passages in the ancient Genovesa Cave. As sea levels rose over the past 6000 years, the cave, mostly underwater, boasts stunning and distinct decorations such as calcite sculptures, according to Sci News. Besides the majesty of nature and time intertwined, however, they discovered a 25-foot-long bridge.

. . .



Close-up view of the submerged stone bridge from Genovesa Cave, Mallorca. Credit: R. Landreth

More:
https://interestingengineering.com/culture/5600-year-old-mallorca-bridge

[Judi Lynn]

1. A Hidden Underwater Sea Bridge Just Changed Our Ideas About Ancient Human Settlement

Researchers made the discovery while diving in a Balearic cave.

By Mirjam Guesgen

August 30, 2024, 11:19am



View of the submerged stone bridge from Genovesa Cave, Mallorca, Spain. Photo by R. Landreth

A submerged bridge in a cave on Mallorca’s coast has revealed a new story of ancient settlement on the island—one that drastically alters our ideas about human history in that part of the world.

A study published today (Friday, August 30) has concluded that humans settled on the Spanish island much earlier than previously thought—at least 5600 and possibly even 6000  years ago (around 4000BC), making prior estimates at least 1000 years off the mark.

The study, which featured in the Communications Earth & Environment journal, helps resolve a longstanding paradox. It always puzzled researchers that the large Spanish islands close to the mainland appeared to have been colonized much later than the smaller islands further away in the Mediterranean. After all, why would you sail by leaving them untouched?

“It was kind of strange for me to think there was such a huge gap between [the colonization of] this group of islands and others,” the study’s lead author Bogdan Onac, a geology professor at the University of South Florida, told VICE.

The story begins with Onac and his team discovering a hidden limestone bridge in the Genovesa Cave while diving there in 2000. Most of the cave is now underwater because of rising sea levels, but it wasn’t always the case.

More:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-hidden-underwater-sea-bridge-just-changed-our-ideas-about-ancient-human-settlement/

[TommieMommy]

2. That's absolutely amazing 👍

[Judi Lynn]

5. First time I've seen anything like it, too! Thank you.

[japple]

3. Thank you for always posting these thought-provoking articles. Learning more about our

past will certainly unlock some of the keys to our future.

[Judi Lynn]

6. So much is popping up currently. No way could one get bored if he/she finds time to look for it!

Thank you, japple.

[jaxexpat]

4. The needle indicating our prehistoric knowledge seems to always hover between impossibility and certainty.

A moment to bask in the certainty spectrum in response to discovery of an actual fact is very satisfying. The hunt continues, reinvigorated. Science is cool.

[Judi Lynn]

7. So well expressed! Thank you, very much.

It's definitely a wonderful time to try to stay open to it.

Thank you.

[jaxexpat]

8. Sometimes words come to me like music. Usually happens when experience an impression of clarity.

Sometimes it plays out like Jazz. That's usually the case when my posts get removed. Music is hard sometimes.

And, no. Thank You, Judy Lynn.