Dashka stone: the 120 million year old three-dimensional map of the Urals
A widespread theory hypothesizes that cataclysms on a global scale cyclically strike our planet, destroying from time to time flourishing human civilizations that have appeared on Earth. Surprisingly, a number of artefacts seem to confirm this puzzling hypothesis. Perhaps one of the most striking is the Dashka Stone, also known as the Creator's Map.
Is it possible that advanced civilizations existed in humanity's past, then mysteriously disappeared in the folds of history? Scientists at Bashkir State University are convinced that the answer to this question is definitely affirmative and the evidence is found on a large stone slab discovered in 1999, on which a three-dimensional map made with an unknown technology is imprinted.
The discovery was made in the Ural Mountains of Siberia by Professor Alexandr Chuvyrov, professor of physics and mathematics at Bashkir State University, on the recommendation of Vladimir Krainov, while he was looking for about 200 stone slabs reported in the reports of some archaeologists of the 18th century and which would have provided evidence of Chinese immigration to the Urals.
After excavating the slab indicated by Krainov, the stone was transported to the university, and once cleaned of the residual earth, the researchers could not believe what they had in front of them. “At first glance, I realized that it was not a simple piece of stone, but a real map, and not a simple map, but a three-dimensional map, as you can see for yourself,” Chuvyrov recounts in the Pravdaarticle which announced its discovery.
The Dashka Stone (so named in honor of the discoverer's grandson) measures 1.48 m long, 1.06 m wide, has a thickness of 16 cm and weighs at least one ton.
The stone slab appears to represent three topographic levels, remarkably similar to the unique geography of a specific area of the Ural Mountains. The most superficial layer consists of a layer of porcelain calcium, apparently intended to protect the underlying layers from wear.
The base of the map is made of dolomite, while the map is made of diopside, a material so hard that it would be impossible to carve without the help of modern carving techniques. In fact, radiographic investigations confirm that the incisions were made artificially with high precision instruments.
At first, researchers thought that the ancient map might have been made by the ancient Chinese, due to the vertical inscriptions on the map. As is known, vertical writing is typical of the Chinese language before the 3rd century. However, after detailed examination of the characters, efforts to decipher the inscriptions proved fruitless, thus abandoning the Chinese trail. “The more I learn, the more I realize that I know nothing,” Chuvyrov admitted. The hieroglyphic signs have not yet been deciphered.
Perhaps the most surprising feature of this mysterious relief map is that the tests used to date the rock revealed an antiquity of 120 million years. “It was difficult to determine even an approximate age of the slab. At first, radiocarbon dating returned different results, leaving the antiquity of the rock unclear,” Chuvyrov explains to journalists.
“However, during the examination we found two shells on the surface. The age of one was equal to 500 million years, while the second (Ecculiomphalus princeps) was approximately 120 million years", the era in which, according to Chuvyrov, the map was created".
Several geologists agree that the map represents the Ural region known as Bashkiria, which has remained geologically unchanged for several million years. The specific geographical area identified on the rock mainly represents the Ufa region, describing in detail the hydrographic richness of the area between the Sutolka and Ufimka rivers.
“How did we manage to identify the locations? At first, we couldn't imagine that the map was so old. Fortunately, the territory of Bashkiria has not changed much over the last few million years,” Chuvyrov continues. “The Ufa canyon is the main point of our tests: we conducted geological studies and found that its morphology corresponds to the one traced on the map.”
However, although the map reveals great similarity to the area it supposedly depicts, it also shows notable differences. According to experts, some features shown on the map seem to indicate mammoth civil engineering works: a canal system that extends for approximately 12 thousand km, with locks and 12 powerful dams. Not far from the canals, diamond-shaped patterns are engraved whose meaning is unknown. According to the map, the Belaya River looks like a feat of engineering, rather than a natural formation.
Some of Chuvyrov's colleagues believe the map may be just a fragment of a larger map. Others even think that this plate is just the tip of the iceberg of an entire map of the Earth made to scale.
So, who created such an accurate three-dimensional map over 100 million years ago? And what other information is contained in the hieroglyphics carved along its side? Speaking about these unknown ancient cartographers, Chuvyrov is very cautious: “I don't like to talk about extraterrestrials. We simply call the author of the map 'Creator'.”
It seems clear that whoever lived and created the map had aerial technology to map the entire territory. Indeed, the creation of three-dimensional topographies requires the use of computers with high computing power and satellite-type aerospace investigations. So who could have created such an advanced artifact?
Even if there are many questions that cannot be answered, according to Professor Chuvyrov the Dashka stone forces us to "see beyond the traditional perception of mankind, we need a long time to get used to it".
