Submerged Ancient Bridge Discovered in a Spanish Cave Changes Timeline

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Submerged Ancient Bridge Discovered in a Spanish ***** Changes Timeline

By

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, University of South Florida

A new study led by the University of South Florida has shed light on the human colonization of the western Mediterranean, revealing that humans settled there much earlier than previously believed. This research, detailed in a recent issue of the journal, Communications Earth & Environment, challenges long-held assumptions and narrows the gap between the settlement timelines of islands throughout the Mediterranean region.

Rare Evidence of Human Settlement

Reconstructing early human colonization on Mediterranean islands is challenging due to limited archaeological evidence. By studying a 25-foot (7.6 meter) submerged bridge, an interdisciplinary research team – led by USF 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

 Professor 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

 – was able to provide compelling evidence of earlier human activity inside Genovesa *****, located in the Spanish island of Mallorca.

Onac said:

“The presence of this submerged bridge and other artifacts indicates a sophisticated level of activity, implying that early settlers recognized the *****’s water resources and strategically built infrastructure to navigate it.”

The *****, located near Mallorca’s coast, has passages now flooded due to rising sea levels, with distinct calcite encrustations forming during periods of high sea level. These formations, along with a light-******** band on the submerged bridge, serve as proxies for precisely tracking historical sea-level changes and dating the bridge’s construction.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Close-up view of the submerged stone bridge from Genovesa *****, Mallorca, Spain (R. Landreth/

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

)

Human Colonization of the Mediterranean

Mallorca, despite being the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean, was among the last to be colonized.

Previous research suggested human presence as far back as 9,000 years, but inconsistencies and poor preservation of the radiocarbon dated material, such as nearby bones and pottery, led to doubts about these findings.

Newer studies have used charcoal, ash and bones found on the island to create a timeline of human settlement about 4,400 years ago. This aligns the timeline of human presence with significant environmental events, such as the extinction of the goat-antelope genus 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

By analyzing overgrowths of minerals on the bridge and the elevation of a coloration band on the bridge, Onac and the team discovered the bridge was constructed nearly 6,000 years ago, more than two-thousand years older than the previous estimation – narrowing the timeline gap between eastern and western Mediterranean settlements.

“This research underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in uncovering historical truths and advancing our understanding of human history,” Onac said.

This study was supported by several National Science Foundation grants and involved extensive fieldwork, including underwater exploration and precise dating techniques. Onac will continue exploring ***** systems, some of which have deposits that formed millions of years ago, so he can identify preindustrial sea levels and examine the impact of modern greenhouse warming on sea-level rise.

This research was done in collaboration with Harvard University, the University of New Mexico and the University of Balearic Islands.

The article, originally titled ‘

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

was first published by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Top image: Diver at the Genovesa *****, Mallorca.          Source: M.À. Perelló/

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

References

Onac, B.P., Polyak, V.J., Mitrovica, J.X.  et al. Submerged bridge constructed at least 5600 years ago indicates early human arrival in Mallorca, Spain.  Commun Earth Environ 5, 457 (2024).

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Submerged #Ancient #Bridge #Discovered #Spanish #***** #Timeline

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up