Underwater, Ancient Stonehenge Discovered Near Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea

First Posted: Aug 10, 2015 09:05 AM EDT

Stonehenge is one of the ancient wonders of the world--but imagine if it were underwater. Researchers have announced the discovery of an ancient, Stonehenge-like monolith that was found submerged in the waters off of the coast of Sicily, which could tell archaeologists a bit more about the ancient culture of the time period.

The monolith, which weighs about 15 tons, was broken in two parts, and has a regular shape with three holes of similar diameter within it. One of these holes can be found at its end, and crosses it completely from part to part. The others can be found at two sides of the massive stone.

The monolith was actually hewn from a single block of stone, and probably was created by the ancient inhabitants in the Sicilian channel region before the island where it was created was submerged about 9,500 years ago. It's possible the stone monolith could have served as a type of "lighthouse beacon" to seafarers near the island.

"This discovery reveals the technological innovation and development achieved by the Mesolithic inhabitants in the Sicilian Channel region," said Dr. Lodolo, one of the researchers, in an interview with Discovery News. "Such an effort undoubtedly reveals important technical skills and great engineering."

The new findings reveal a bit more about this ancient civilization. It seems that although this settlement sank beneath the waves, they were advanced enough to create ancient monoliths that may have signaled nearby nations for trading and fishing purposes.

The findings were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

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TagsArchaeology, Ancient Civilization, Human