One of the greatest discoveries in the history of archaeology
was made off Japan. There, spread over an amazing 311 miles on
the ocean floor, are the well-preserved remains of an ancient
city. Or at the very least, a number of closely related sites. A
structure thought to be the world’s oldest building, nearly
twice the age of the great pyramids of Egypt, has been
discovered. The rectangular stone ziggurat under the sea off the
coast of Japan could be the first evidence of a previously
unknown Stone Age civilization, say archeologists. The monument
is 600ft wide and 90ft high and has been dated to at least
8000BC. which is remarkably early for the kind of technology
that has been used for carving it. The oldest pyramid in Egypt,
the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, was constructed more than 5,000
years later. The structure off Yonaguni, a small island
southwest of Okinawa, was first discovered 75ft underwater by
scuba divers 10 years ago and locals believed it was a natural
phenomenon. While some say these ruins are