Lost civilisations

[Heraclitus]

Do you belive that in the (distant) past there existed civilisations that we know nothing about? Do you think this is possible?







I can imagine a civ existing before the last ice age, and reaching something like the Sumerian level.


Or perhaps a civ in an "exotic" location existing as a contemporary of ancient Egypt.

[Ecthy]

Sure, definitely possible. I've never seen any updates on the theory about a pre-ancient civ in the area that is now covered by the Black Sea. Then again, many theories like this are just plain bull****, think Atlantis.

[Zkribbler]

I heard one theory that the Sphinx is 10,000 years old. That would pre-date the Egyptian civilization.

Then there's that buried city at the south end of the Arabian Penninsula. Was it's name Urdu??

In the Western Pacific, divers have found sunken stone structures, which IIRC, date back thousands of years.

And there's that Stonehenge thingie in Britain. The good faerie didn't bring that.

So yeah. There are civilization that have been lost, forgotten and covered in the sands of time.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
I heard one theory that the Sphinx is 10,000 years old. That would pre-date the Egyptian civilization.

Then there's that buried city at the south end of the Arabian Penninsula. Was it's name Urdu??

In the Western Pacific, divers have found sunken stone structures, which IIRC, date back thousands of years.

And there's that Stonehenge thingie in Britain. The good faerie didn't bring that.

So yeah. There are civilization that have been lost, forgotten and covered in the sands of time.

The existance of aliens explains all of those things.

[Ecthy]

Zkrib, shouldn't you be at an age where people normally have so much time that they spend all of it reading? How about reading good books not some trash?

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Then there's that buried city at the south end of the Arabian Penninsula. Was it's name Urdu??

You're thinking of Iram of the Pillars, which is really interesting but not pre-ancient or anything like that. It does demonstrate that it's possible for a real "lost city" to exist in a place we would never expect because of environmental change; it's not inconceivable that other examples could exist.

As for pre-ancient civilization, anything is possible but I have never heard of any evidence suggesting it.

[Andemagne]

Re: Lost civilisations

Originally posted by Heraclitus
Do you belive that in the (distant) past there existed civilisations that we know nothing about? Do you think this is possible?

I'm not sure. and yes, I do believe its possible.

I can imagine a civ existing before the last ice age, and reaching something like the Sumerian level.

yes, more importantly, they didn't have anything that would/could have lasted to our days, so we don't know anything about them.

Or perhaps a civ in an "exotic" location existing as a contemporary of ancient Egypt.

notbody knows what the seas and oceans might have taken.

[Proteus_MST]

There are even civilizations from the medieval ages we know almost nothing about.

Just think of Great Zimbabwe that was a great political and commercial center in Africa till maybe 1450 AD.
Although it is "only" 600 years ago we know almost nothing about this civilization. Only the ruins are witnesses about it.

But there are lots of possible mechanisms that might cause a civilization to remain even totally undiscovered till today.
For example desertification, which results in the ruins being buried under tons of sand (after all much of the deserts nowadays were fertile landscapes thousands of years ago (and often humans helped to turn them into desert, by chopping wood needed to build structures or ships).

Or a civilization that was either located on a sunken island (as some people in this thread mentioned) or even a volcanic island (being buried under tons of Lava when the volcano erupted)
(the pasific islands spring into mind, where AFAIK there were even ruins found under water some years ago)

Another possibility would be conquest by another civilization that then removed the traces of this civilization, for example by turning the b uildings into buildings of their own culture, so that 1000s of years later only very detailed examinations might reveal that the buildings might stem from another culture
(just think of the south american cultures which often waged wars against each others)

Lots of ways how a culture might vanish over time.

[molly bloom]

Re: Lost civilisations

Originally posted by Heraclitus
Do you belive that in the (distant) past there existed civilisations that we know nothing about? Do you think this is possible?

Changes in sea levels mean that there are areas under the North Sea which were once dry land and inhabited- but of the inhabitants we know little.

Other areas subject to desertification such as the Sahara once contained many different kinds of animals (and peoples) who died out (due to habitat/climate change) to who migrated- to the Nile Valley.

Some historians think that the Tuaregs are the descendants of the people that the Romans fought near Ghadames:

http://www.caravanserai-tours.com/ghadames.htm

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by Cyclotron


You're thinking of Iram of the Pillars, which is really interesting but not pre-ancient or anything like that. It does demonstrate that it's possible for a real "lost city" to exist in a place we would never expect because of environmental change; it's not inconceivable that other examples could exist.

That is very interesting, lost untill the 1980's that is very recent indeed.

[One_more_turn]

There are plenty of "lost" civilizations:
Teotihuacan
Tihuanacu
Nazca Plateau
Anasazi
Angkor Wat
China's Xia Dynasty
Shu/Ba Culture in modern China's Sichuan province
Many buried cities along the ancient Silk Road

[DanQ]

Re: Lost civilisations

Originally posted by Heraclitus
Do you belive that in the (distant) past there existed civilisations that we know nothing about? Do you think this is possible?

I believe it's not only possible, but probable.

[McLaine]

Atlantis?

I suppose that would fit...

[LordShiva]

Civ II

[Wernazuma III]

Re: Lost civilisations

Originally posted by Heraclitus
Do you belive that in the (distant) past there existed civilisations that we know nothing about? Do you think this is possible?

I can imagine a civ existing before the last ice age, and reaching something like the Sumerian level.


Or perhaps a civ in an "exotic" location existing as a contemporary of ancient Egypt.

There are many we know very little about, as One_more_turn mentioned, and we probably have a quite distorted view of them. And there's still plenty of cities/countries mentioned in ancient texts of which we have no corresponding facts. The Iram-story is pretty telling in this regard: a few Egyptian texts, a distant fuzzy recollection through the Quran and a Persian fairytale, and now an archaelogical reality.

And there are probably remains of civs we have not yet given a proper identity, misinterpreting findings to be from a distinct one.
And one doesn't have to be very daring to predict a yet unknown important archaeological site to be found in the future that can result in the "creation" of a new ancient civilization (after all, this is our modern concept).

However, a pre ice-age civilization is absolutely unimaginable without dumping basically all theory about the development of humanity. Thus, I would only consider it if there were a good number of very serious proofs and contradictions of current theory, not just those kinky ZOMFG anomalities mentioned by Zkribbler.