Explorers using a miniature submarine to probe the sea floor off the coast of Cuba said today they had confirmed the discovery of stone structures deep below the ocean surface that may have been built by an unknown human civilization thousands of years ago.
Researchers with Canadian exploration company ADC said they filmed over the summer ruins of a possible submerged lost city off the Guanahacabibes Peninsula on the Caribbean island's western tip.
The researchers plan to return next month for further analysis.
They said they believed the mysterious structures, discovered at the astounding depth of around 2,100 feet and laid out like an urban area, could have been built at least 6,000 years ago. That would be about 1,500 years earlier than the great Giza pyramids of Egypt.
An ADC spokeswoman said the structures may have been built by unknown people when the current seafloor actually was above the surface. She said volcanic activity may explain how the site ended up at great depths below the Caribbean Sea.
The rush of interest in Cuba's seas in recent years is due in part to the Castro government's recognition that it does not have the money or technology to carry out systematic exploration by itself, although it does have excellent divers.
American companies are prohibited from operating in Cuba by the long-running US embargo on the island.