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Underwater town unveiled
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FOLLOWING China's first underwater archaeological studies at Fuxian Lake in the southwestern province of Yunnan yesterday morning, experts said the lake may house an ancient city akin to Pompeii.
Archaeologists, using a special submarine and a robot, discovered a carved stone, a piece of earthenware, a 30-metre wall and a huge flat stone platform at the bottom of the lake after they began the expedition shortly after 8am.
The earthenware was brought to the surface. Judging from the relics brought from the lake, some experts said the site was the capital of the Dian State. But others said it is too early in the expedition to establish the site's history.
The shell unearthed from a ruined wall in the lake, experts said, suggested the underwater buildings could be dated back at least to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220).
They said an earthquake or subsidence could have caused the buildings to sink into the lake, which is now 157 metres deep.
Before yesterday's operation, some experts believed the lake contained ancient wharves. Others argued they were tombs, or platforms for sacrifice, or even a dam.
Yesterday's expedition was China's first underwater archaeological studies on any lake, the first use of robots in archaeological activities, and the first time to offer live TV reporting of underwater archaeological studies.
Located deep in Fuxian Lake, 56km southwest of Kunming, capital of Yunnan, the site is 1,200 metres by 2,000 metres in size, according to an estimate by experts using sonar devices.
The site first attracted people's attention in 1992 when an underwater explorer called Geng Wei discovered large pieces of bluestone. Eventually, pieces of stone were found with man-made markings.
The lake covers 212 square kilometres and there are about 100,000 residents living in areas surrounding the lake. (SD News)
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