[blam]

"What bothers me is the many third-world countries that brag about their indigenous cultures and then let their ancient monuments crumble into dust by exposure to the elements."

Yup....or blow them up like the stupid Taliban did on those 1600 year old (Worlds largest) Buddaha(sp) statues.

[sawsalimb]

Cool post-thanks for the effort. One point that comes to mind regarding the discovery of these places is that they probably aren't underwater so much as they're under a layer of mud,slime,plant life(such as reedbeds),and the like.