A recent debate on the popular podcast Joe Rogan Experience reignited interest in the mysterious Yonaguni Monument, a massive underwater structure lying approximately 25 meters below sea level near the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. Writer and researcher of lost civilizations Graham Hancock and archaeologist Flint Dibble engaged in a discussion about the origins of this enigmatic formation, often referred to as Japan's Atlantis.
The Yonaguni Monument puzzled and fascinated researchers since its discovery in 1986. The structure is a colossal stone formation, approximately 27 meters high, featuring sharp, regular steps and flat terraces. These characteristics led many to believe it was man-made, perhaps evidence of a forgotten civilization that predates the rise of agriculture.
Hancock pointed to what he said are clear signs of intelligent design in the monument, including what appears to be carved steps, megaliths, arches, and even a face-like engraving etched into stone. "It's astonishing to me that you see this as pure nature, Flint, but it seems we just have completely different eyes," Hancock remarked during the podcast, according to a report by the Daily Mail.
If the Yonaguni Monument was indeed constructed by a civilization over 10,000 years ago, it would challenge current understandings of human history. Such an ancient origin would place it thousands of years earlier than Egypt's pyramids and England's Stonehenge, potentially rewriting what we thought we knew about the ancient world.
Skeptics, however, continued to dispute the theory that the monument is the work of humans. Dr. Robert Schoch from Boston University argued that geological evidence indicates the Yonaguni Monument is a natural rock formation. In a past interview with National Geographic, Schoch explained, "[The sandstones] tend to break along planes and give you these very straight edges, particularly in an area with lots of faults and tectonic activity." He noted that the monument shares characteristics with other nearby geological formations and is located in a seismically active zone, meaning cracks and flat surfaces are the result of natural weathering of sandstone.
Dibble echoed this sentiment during the podcast debate, stating, "I see nothing that suggests human construction," and refused to concede that any of the structures found by divers could have been made by humans.
Despite the skepticism, Japanese geologist Dr. Masaaki Kimura backed the theory that the Yonaguni Monument is man-made. Kimura tested sandstone samples, determining that the rocks date from a period older than 10,000 years, when the area was still land. According to the Daily Mail, he believes the structure could potentially be part of a lost continent.
Studies show that at the peak of the last Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago, sea levels were approximately 120 meters lower than they are today. This means that the Yonaguni Monument would have been on dry land before the melting of massive ice sheets caused global sea levels to rise. If a civilization built the monument by hand, it would have taken place before the region sank underwater—more than 12,000 years ago.
The monument's timeline, if proven accurate, would place it further back in history than most known ancient structures. Built around the same time period, the Yonaguni Monument could potentially join the man-made ancient structure of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey as evidence of lost civilizations. Göbekli Tepe is believed to have been inhabited from around 9500 BCE to at least 8000 BCE, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Era, making it over 5,000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids and roughly 6,000 years older than Stonehenge.
"If an advanced civilization was already building huge stepped pyramids over 12,000 years ago, it could forever change history and indicate the existence of another lost human civilization—like the myth of Atlantis," Hancock suggested.
Skeptics argue that, although the sandstone slabs of the Yonaguni Monument have convinced some researchers that a civilization built the pyramid before the end of the last Ice Age, they maintain that the formation is a natural occurrence. Schoch admitted in his paper that "when viewing photographs of the Yonaguni Monument, many people immediately have the impression, due to the regularity of the stone faces of the steps and the sharp angles made by the rock, that this is an artificial structure."
"I think this structure should be considered predominantly natural until new evidence appears that indicates otherwise. But, in no case do I consider the case closed," he noted.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.