A map dating back to 120 million years ago may change our understanding of the history of mankind
by Stepan Krivosheyev, Dmitry Plenkin 02.04.2002, 17:23
A 120-million-year-old stone slab found by scientists in Bashkiria features a map showing an area of the Urals. This conflicts with what we know about the history of mankind.
It might seem incredible that scientists at Bashkiria State University have found conclusive evidence of the existence of a highly developed civilization millions of years ago. Scientists found a large stone slab in 1999 that features an relief map of terrain like those that the military has. The map shows canals stretching for 12,000 kilometers and enormous dams. There are rhombs close to the canals, but what they mean is unclear. And there are also many inscriptions looking like hieroglyphs. At first it was thought they represented an ancient Chinese language, but it was established later that was not the case. Scientists cannot yet decipher the meaning of the hieroglyphs.
The first expedition flew over the places where they expected the slabs to be, but none were found. Chuvyrov began to think that those slabs were merely a legend.
"The more I learn, the more I realize that I don't know anything," confesses Bashkiria State University Professor Alexander Chuvyrov, who found the stone slab. Back in 1995, he and a Chinese post-graduate student decided to find out whether the ancient Chinese settled down in what is now Siberia and the Urals. During one of the expeditions in Bashkiria, they found several rock inscriptions in old Chinese, confirming their theory. When the inscriptions were deciphered, it became clear that most of them were about trade deals and the registration of births and deaths.
The two scientists also discovered notes dating from the late 18th century in the archives of Ufa's governor-general. They spoke of two hundred strange-looking white stone slabs located just outside the village of Chandar. The archives also mentioned the fact that Russian scientists exploring the Urals in the 17th and 18th centuries left a note saying they had examined 200 white stone slabs carrying signs and ornaments. It appears that a Russian archeologist by the name of Schmidt saw six white slabs in Bashkiria in the early 20th century. All that suggested that the slabs might have had something to do with the Chinese settlers. In 1998, Chuvyrov got down to work by knocking together a crew consisting of college students and other acquaintances. The first expedition flew over the places where they expected the slabs to be, but none were found. Chuvyrov began to think that those slabs were merely a legend.
Success came when it was least expected. When Chuvyrov was on one of his visits to the village of Chandar, a local man approached him and said, "I take it you are looking for some slabs here. There's a strange one lying in my courtyard." "At first I didn't take his words seriously," Chuvyrov says, "but then decided to take a look. I remember that day - it was July 21, 1999. I saw a stone slab with dents on it lying under the porch. It was obvious that the two of us wouldn't be able to move it, and I rushed to Ufa for help."
Work was in full swing in Chandar a week later. When Chuvyrov's team dug up the slab, they marveled at its size - it was 148 centimeters long, 106 wide and 16 thick. The man who had invited Chuvyrov to see the slab made wooden wheels, which were used to lift it from the hole it was lying in. The find was called "Dasha's Stone" in honor of Chuvyrov's granddaughter, who had been born a short time before. It was then moved to the university. Once the slab was clean enough to reveal what had been hidden under a layer of dirt, the group couldn't believe their eyes. "As soon as I looked at it," Chuvyrov recalls, "I realized that it was not a mere chunk of stone but a map, and not just a simple map, but a relief map."
"At first we did not even imagine that the map could have been that old. Fortunately, the changes that the Bashkirian terrain has undergone over millions of years have not been all that great. The height of Ufa is easily identifiable on the map." Chuvyrov says geological hunting has revealed a trace of the Ufa Canyon in keeping with the map. That is the main piece of evidence demonstrating that the map is, in fact, a map of the area. Since then the canyon has shifted under pressure from tectonic plates moving from the east. A group of Russian and Chinese cartographers, physicists, mathematicians, geologists, geographers, chemists and specialists in ancient Chinese languages have established beyond doubt that the map shows an area of the Urals complete with three rivers - the Belaya, the Ufimka and the Sutolka. The map also shows the Ufa Canyon, a rupture in the earth's crust stretching from Ufa to Sterlitamak. Today the Urshak River flows there.
As a physicist, Chuvyrov believes only in facts coming from research, and here are the facts. The slab consists of three layers. Solid dolomite forms its 14 cm base. The second layer is the most interesting - it is "made" of diopside glass. That is where the map is actually situated. A 2 mm layer consists of calcium porcelain protects the map from damage. Dr. Chuvyrov notes that the map was not carved by hand. X-rays show that high-precision mechanisms were used to work the stone.
In the beginning, scientists suggested that the ancient stone slab might have been of Chinese origin. They came to this conclusion based on the vertical inscriptions on the map, although the inscriptions did not match any variant of ancient Chinese script. But a meeting with scientists from a Chinese university finally buried "the China theory." Chinese scientists insisted that kind of porcelain had never been used in China. Attempts to decipher the inscriptions produced no results, and establishing the slab's approximate age proved to be quite a problem. Radiological and chemical methods were used, but they produced no conclusive result. Two shells were found on the slab's surface. The age of one of them - a Navicopsina munitus of the Gyrodeidae family - is 50 million years. The other (Ecculiomphalus princeps of the Ecculiomphalinae family) is 120 million years old. Scientists assume the second is the correct age. Dr. Chuvyrov says the map might have been created at the time when the earth's magnetic pole was in what is now Franz-Joseph Land, which means roughly 120 million years ago. Original estimates put the slab's age at 3,000 years, but when the shells encrusted into the map were found, it was assumed that the slab was much, much older.
Original estimates put the slab's age at 3,000 years, but when the shells encrusted into the map were found, it was assumed that the slab was much, much older.
The most intriguing part of it all is why the map was created in the first place. When the center of historical cartography in Wisconsin looked at the map, the Americans pronounced their verdict: a three-dimensional map could only be used for navigational purposes. It could only be made using of aerospace photography. As a matter of fact, work is under way in the United States to create a three-dimensional map of the world; the project is expected to be completed only in 2010, given that the Americans will have to process an enormous mass of numbers.
Who was the map's creator? Chuvyrov does not believe in aliens, extra-terrestrials or things like that. "Why not call whoever made the map the creator - as simple as that," he muses.
The latest studies of "the creator's map" have brought quite a number of sensations. Scientists have no doubt that the stone slab found in Chandar is only a small fragment of a large map of the Earth. Some believe there are a total of 348 fragments, and they say other fragments might be found near Chandar. Judging by the more than 400 earth samples taken near the village, the entire map could have been located in a gorge near Mount Sokolinaya before it was torn apart during the Ice Age. If the fragments are found, scientists expect the resultant stone map to measure about 340 by 340 meters.
The find in Bashkiria has no parallel anywhere in the world with one exception. At one point during the study of the map, Dr. Chuvyrov spotted a small stone on his desk. It showed the same configuration of terrain as was on the map. Somebody might have made a copy of it, but who did it and when is a mystery.
