Fisherman Raiders of the Island of Gold?While the lost city of gold, El Dorado , remains firmly hidden in Colombia, the chief site of the Srivijaya Empire may finally have been found. Not, however, by a team of intrepid archaeologists, but rather by local night-diving fishermen on the Musi River. Illegal treasure hauls made over the last few years have included countless jewels and a rare 8th century life-sized Buddhist statue studded with precious gems, estimated to be worth millions of dollars.

Dr. Sean Kingsley is a British maritime archaeologist and his new research about this submerged site is scheduled to be published in  Wreckwatch Magazine . The researcher told the press that the treasures being recovered are the sorts of things that “you might read about in Sinbad the Sailor… but they’re actually real.” If this is indeed the Island of Gold, Kingsley told The Guardian , it must have been a “waterworld.” The archaeologist also said the people must have lived on the river like modern boat people.

Intricate, Rare, Historically Priceless, and Gone: Artifacts of the Island of GoldThe forthcoming Srivijaya study is going to be featured within a 180-page publication focusing on the history of China and the Maritime Silk Road . Kingsley said the maritime Srivijaya Empire “controlled the arteries of the Maritime Silk Road,” which were colossal 8th century markets in which local, Chinese and Arab goods were traded.

For over 300 years, the rulers of Srivijaya controlled the valuable trade routes between the Middle East and Imperial China, leading to what Kingsley described as a “colossal wealth.”

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Looking closer at the purposed Island of Gold artifacts being recovered from the river, among the gold and jewels were “everything from tools of trade and weapons of war to relics of religion.” Kingsley listed bronze and gold sword handles, mirrors, Buddhist figurines , bronze temple door-knockers, figures from Buddhist mythology and monks’ bells, as artifacts that have been recovered from the river.

Hoards of gold rings with elaborate symbols were encrusted with rubies, while many of the golden ceremonial rings were detailed with 4-pronged vajra sceptres, the Hindu thunderbolt symbol, representing a favored weapon of the gods.