YONAGUNI TURTLES

Below is a collection from various websites of images of features on the monument that are usually decribed as "turtles". Though one may have a little bit of doubt about this attribution for any single one, the combination of them leaves practically (i.e. in any practical sense) none. The turtle depicted in pictures 1 and 4 is the one usually seen pictures of the monument. Symbolic images are generally considered as the definite proof of artificiality.
 

1	2	3
4
This is the first picture found that shows the whole feature called the turtle. Usually one photographs it from the front as shown above. Here it becomes clear why: it is the only part that looks like a turtle. However, this picture makes the feature even more interesting, because the author thinks it needs little imagination to see in the part to the right of the trutels head the image of a lions head. The depression in the leading edge depicts the mouth, while features like nose and eye are also visible. It is probable that the part left of the turtles head also is an image, but this is not clear from this photograph.
This picture was originally seen as that of another turtle, while the picture directly above makes clear it is an upgraded version of the large turtle.
This a bigger picture of the feature depicted in the lower quarter of picture 3.