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An ancient civilization under the Caribbean Sea?

Michael A. Dingwall (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)

When we hear about the origins of civilizations in the Americas, we normally think about the Maya, Aztec, or Inca empires. These civilizations began many centuries ago, long before the Americas were “discovered” by Christopher Columbus. It has been conventional knowledge that the civilizations in the Americas started after those of Africa and Eurasia. However, what if this was not the case? What if the Americas did produce a civilization before Egypt?

This may very well have been the case. Recently, a team of explorers working for the Cuban government in search of sunken Spanish ships found what appeared to be the remains of a city off the island’s Guanahacabibes Peninsula. The ruins were submerged under some 2000 feet, below sea level. The explorers found symmetrically organized stone structures. Some of the buildings were shaped like pyramids and others like cylinders. It has been theorized that the city could have been built around 6,000 years ago. Photographs from the ancient site showed some form of writing, which have not yet been translated.

Map of Cuba

The remains of the civilization were found off Cuba's West Coast

If this is indeed a 6,000 year-old civilization, then the find would truly be historic. The wheel is thought to have been invented around 5,500 years ago, in Sumeria, Asia. The ancient pyramids of Egypt were built around 4,200 to 4,900 years ago. The earliest American civilization, the Maya, did not get fully off the ground until about 1,600 years ago. The Aztecs, Incas and other American civilizations began after the Maya. However, could this submerged civilization have been in existence long before Egypt?

In 1966, Cuban archeologists dug up a land-based megalithic structure that they figured was 6,000 years old. The structure was found very near the site of this submerged city. Also, geologists have reasons to believe that Cuba was connected to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsular many thousands of years ago. It is being suggested that this, and possibly other ancient communities may have sunk to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico when this connecting land mass sank. This submerged city may very well be only one of these cities that went under thousands of years ago.

Scientists are still investigating and are searching for more details about the find. Exactly how did these people lived, who they traded with, what their writings mean and a host of other questions may be answered in time. However, we should not be too surprised if it does indeed turn out to be an ancient city much older than ancient Egypt. There is still a lot about our past that we still don’t know much about. Finding sunken cities is not all that uncommon – the recent finding of an ancient city of India’s southern coasts in 2002 that is thought to be about 5,000 years old shows that there could most likely be others.

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