Posted by Michael Arbuthnot on October 16, 1998 at 18:23:46:
In Reply to: Re: Mineral Samples posted by Alastair Vaan on October 13, 1998 at 02:40:38:
: : I would like to start off by saying these pictures are very interesting. I am not familar with acrhelogical techniques but is it possible to drill not into the structures but at the bases to determine if soil/rock/mineral composition ever supported land based vegetation? If this was possible I'm sure you already thought of it but it would provide support in favor of the possiblity of this site being man made. I hope you guys have stumbled onto somthing!
: Unfortunately that wouldn't prove a thing. The land surrounding the monument can already be said to have been exposed through standard palaeoclimatology. We already know that the sea levels were much reduced during the Last Glacial Maximum (~pre. 10kyr BP).
: It would be nice for them to have stumbled upon something, but the numerous critiscms of the teams methods has not been answered well.
Gentlemen. You seem to think we can haul out the drills and jackhammers and blast away. I'm sorry, but that simply is not the case. Our expedition was a survey of the Yonaguni Monument. We took small samples of rock and coral, but we were not allowed to remove large blocks or destroy the marine life that makes the monument its home. Please remember, determining whether or not the monument is artificial is not as easy as it seems. There are no associated artifacts. There are no visible glyphic marks or evidence of tooling (without destroying its organic veneer). Sure, with permission from the Japanese government to do what we pleased and with a gigantic grant from Nat. Geo., we could have done alot more. We have neither of these blessings. However, be aware, I never felt the need to tell or prove anything. I wanted to document the monument so the public could make up its own mind. This we successfully accomplished. I'll be the first to admit there's much more to be done.
Wow. Tough crowd.