
    Ceoth ( 1737 B595325-C S Lo Ni )                             circa 1116

    Defu on  Ceoth is one of  the great archaeological sites  of Gushemege.
    Lying underwater on the continental shelf in middle/high latitudes Defu
    conists of a  complex of some 250 multifaceted  towers. Analysis places
    their age at  6000 PI and suggests a TL6  culture. The towers appear to
    be  made  of  a  metallic  coral  hybrid,  and interior design suggests
    swimming  inhabitants of  about a  metre length.  The surrounding  area
    shows  signs of  vulcanism that  may have  buried other  traces of  the
    culture,  but   the  continuing  IISS/University   of  Sharim  research
    programme found  more modest ruins  about 2000 km  away in 996  and the
    excavations there are nearing completion.

    Referee: The  Defu culture was  a bony aquaform  native to Ceoth.  They
    developed a  fire-less technology through  harnessing a local  coral to
    produce artifacts, first of chalk  and later using metals and plastics.
    Their aquatic and unexpansive nature  kept them from detection by early
    human explorers and  settlers to the region. They  died out around 3000
    PI as  a result of a  climactic shift that destroyed  the food chain on
    which they  depended, the vulcanism  occured millennia later.  The Defu
    paid the price  for failing to expand and  explore, and being dependent
    on a few locations  and a fragile food chain. The Defu  way of using of
    coral is  only now becoming clear  in Gushemege's research laboratories
    and potentially has many spinoffs for nanotech research.

    David Burden (david@innocom.demon.co.uk)

