Bahamas

Atlantis Mystery Stirred by Undersea Discovery
By Howard Van Smith, 8/25/68 Sunday, Miami, Florida

Has an outpost of Atlantis been discovered just 80 miles east by slightly south of Ft. Lauderdale? A Yale professor of archaeology says this could very possibly be true. A spokesman in the same department at Florida Atlantic University, asking his name not be used as a matter of political consideration, says absolutely no - that there never has been scientific verity to the "myth" of Atlantis. What started this - and excited a lot of prominent people Friday - was announcement of discovery of the top of a large stone building off the coast of an unannounced Bahamas Island. It was also said there was another building a half mile away. It was further said this probably was part of an ancient city.

Dr. Manson Valentine, former archaeology and zoology was one of three people who flew out after the outline was spotted in the water by an airline pilot. He said: "Whether or not we have here an Atlantean or post-cataclysmic artifact or upwards of 10,000 years is too early to even conjure upon. But what seems certain is that the ruin is surely pre-Columbian as established by its position relative to present water level. Also, it might conceivably be as ancient as the days before the last cataclysm, some 11,500 years ago, which destroyed the remnants of the legendary land of Atlantis."

Valentine, whose connection with the find came because he is a member of the faculty of the Rebikoff Institute of Underwater Technology in Ft. Lauderdale which coincidentally graduated its first three members Friday, is listed as a member of the Explorers' Club and discoverer of many important Mayan relics in the Yucatan Peninsula. He also linked the find to the Yucatan area: "In plan, both as to orientation and size, it bears reasonable resemblance to the Temple of the Turtles, a famous ceremonial complex in the Puuc (Grecian-like) style to be seen in the archaeological complex at Uxmal, Yucatan." Both structures are partitioned off with one or more elongated chambers at the east end; both exhibit one or more cubical-like rooms incorporated in the west corners. ...

The mystery building - and no one seems to argue whether there is a building under sea water - was first discovered by Robert Brush, 25, a Miami cargo pilot, who reported it to Demetri Rebikoff, president of the Rebikoff Underwater Products of this city and also head of the new oceanographic institute. Dr. Rebikoff, Dr. Valentine and Dr. Richard Evans, chief scientist of the institute, flew to the site - which in one photograph appears less than a half mile from one of the Bahamas islands. The trip was made last week. Dr. Rebikoff said the reason for the delay was due to finances and other complications.

The three scientists dove around the walls, which, they reported, were only two feet from the surface at low tide.But uncovered by sand are only another two feet. They said the overall dimension of the walls was 50 by 90 feet. Shape and sizing of the stone indicate plainly it was man-made, they said. They also said there were designs on the stones. A second building, somewhat smaller, was reported about a half mile away. Reason for the exposure and not being seen by a pilot before, as have many of the treasure wrecks, was some shifting of the sand by hurricane or other force had disclosed it.

Negotiations with the Bahamian government are now under way to excavate the entire building and perhaps more of the area, Rebikoff. Vacuum pumping of the sand is being considered. Dr. Valentine said preliminary observations of pieces of the stones places it possibly between 500 and 1000 years of age. There is also evidence of some kind of plaster being used and this will be subject to the conventional carbon tests to ascertain age. Still, it could be much older and part of the Atlantis legend, Dr. Valentine said. "A five hundred year upper limit is not unconservative but a possible extension into remote antiquity might well multiply such a figure several times."

On this is based the possibility that it might be an outpost of Atlantis, the continent and civilization that, according to as venerable a source as Plato, slipped below the sea. Valentine says the structure could have been built when the land was 500 feet higher - it might have been a temple on a hill.