A 75,000-year-old human settlement may lurk beneath the Persian Gulf

[Swede]

Evidence is mounting that the first human civilization outside of Africa probably evolved in what is now the Persian Gulf. Recent discoveries suggest that we're about to find a fairly advanced civilization sunk beneath the waters of the Gulf.

Archaeologist Jeffrey Rose has published a paper in Current Anthropology where he argues that we'll find some of the earliest human civilizations on Earth in what was once a fertile basin fed by clear streams and lush with greenery.

http://io9.com/5710957/a-75000+year+old-human-settlement-may-lurk-beneath-the-persian-gulf?skyline=true&s=i

[dgibby]

1. Cool!

I love this stuff. Wish I'd majored on Archeology.

[aquart]

2. Doesn't look like dressed stone to me. Sorry.

I'm pretty big on finding old and early, but geologists are going to eat his ass.

[laconicsax]

3. Eww... n/t

[TheMadMonk]

6. Definitely not dressed stone. 2 traverse vertical faults, another...

vertical fault intersecting at about a 60 degree angle, and 2 horizontal faults. All very clearly aligned.

[14thColony]

10. To be fair...

The picture is unlabeled and Jeffrey Rose isn't quoted making any references to anything that sounds like it's what's in the picture. In all probability the author or the editor just augmented the article with a pic that appeared kind-sorta related ("get one of those file photos from Yonaguni..."). Rose is talking about paleolithic sites; I'm pretty sure if he thought he had cut stone walls we wouldn't think he had a paleolithic site.

[Orsino]

4. How the fuck does the article get "75,000-year-old" settlement?

The claim would be less hyperbolically presented as "at least eight thousand."

[laconicsax]

5. Like this:

The Gulf Oasis would have been a shallow inland basin exposed from about 75,000 years ago until 8,000 years ago, forming the southern tip of the Fertile Crescent, according to historical sea-level records.

Someone could have lived there 75k years ago.

[aquart]

7. I'm sure they did. Just not in stone palaces.

But the date for large urban settlements is getting pushed farther and farther back. The digs in Eastern Europe are turning up astonishing things.

[Orsino]

8. That's why I said "at least 8k." n/t

[laconicsax]

9. You were being reasonable. The author of the article was not. n/t

[semillama]

11. wow, talk about taking what the source was saying out of context

Jeffrey Rose wasn't saying anything like what the author of the article was implying. But I don't know any archaeologist that doesn't get grossly misquoted by the media (myself included).