E: Explorations and exoteric excavations: Finding the location of the supposed city of Jubylon

One of the key issues in my research objective of determining the facts behind the Free City of Jubylon has been the interpretation of the archaeological evidence (or lack thereof). What has always been lacking is the precise location. We have found coins with the symbol of a seagull on a rock between four swords (the City’s traditional symbol), some at least 300 years old. We have found them at various locations more or less all across the world. We have found images and even a few photographs of what is supposed to be the Free City of Jubylon. The older paintings have buildings imitating Baroque architecture with the later images being more and more dominated by Art Nouveau architecture.

One of the theories about the City of Jubylon is that it was simply an older name for a city that still exists today where it was simply forgotten. The documents we have are in various languages (English, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, Russian, Latin, Korean, Punjab and Afrikaner) and none of them appear to be from the city itself, with the exception of a few in Latin bearing the same seal with the seagull and the four swords. We also have clay pots, vases and cups with “Jubylon” stamped on the bottom, all of them glazed in the same dark ox blood red which suggests a distinct school or workshop. We have rifles with the city’s coat of arms stamped on the side with no serial numbers being identical. What we do not have are precise dates, clear directions, indications of neighbouring cities or, most crucially, maps.

Out of the literature, there have only been three serious suggestions from three major excavations. The rest have mostly been exposure of frauds. All three of them have issues however.
The first attempt was by the archaeologist Thomas Ivan Durkheim, who identified Jubylon as having located in the western part of North Africa, near where Carthage originally lay. While there were a lot of critique of his book, his dig were done in a through manner with a huge amount of historical artefacts being preserved and donated to local museums. He is also famous for his reputation as one of the most helpful and appreciated professor by his colleagues and co-workers.

The second attempt was done by Kaspar Graeber, whose very well-written treatise and short dig (cut short due to the outbreak of the Cypriot War of Independence) suggested a location on southern Cyprus. The dating of the various artifacts (on which Greaber’s central theis and argument rested on) were later proved wrong by more advanced carbon dating a few years after Greaber’s death from lung cancer in 1983.
The third and very interesting treatise is different from the other two, especially because it is much more cautious. It suggested that a fair amounts of descriptions and images of the local environment could match or be close to Concepción, the second largest city in Chile. Dr. Louise-Ulrika Rochler von Blücher’s work is much more based on literary sources and images rather than archaeology and as mentioned, it is far more cautious. The suggestion is merely that the Chilean city could have been an inspiration for the largest stories. As of yet, the data is inconclusive.

Of course, the whole idea of the Free City of Jubylon could simply be a fraud or pure fiction.