Thread: Early Civilizations which left no trace?

I was watching a show the other night about the history of earth.
Human history occupy s such a small portion,
and all of our history is mostly in the last 10,000 years.
Could up to a 10th century culture have existed in the last warm period ?
Between 140,000 and 120,000 years ago, the conditions were like they are now.
A culture that built with stone and wood ,used wrought iron tools and had a written language
What would be left for us to find? The later 90,000 years of glacier
activity would erase just about everything.
Imagine, present day New York city after a 1000' high glacier advances and then retreats,
five times.
This is just an idea, I would like to get some feedback on. Thanks

I'm sure the possibilities are endless - the earth is billions of years old. We've had advanced forms of life on the planet for millions. I have no doubt that in 100,000 years there won't be a single trace of us left at all. Time is the great eraser.

most evidence we have today is from structures and artifacts from stone and metals that withstand time.most of what we know is from what we find,there is plenty of evidence that small tribes had formed long before cities were built,but seeing how society rises and falls throughout history it would not surprise me if written language would go back that far.

also i do believe any civilization that would have existed then would have been crushed by the weight of the the glaciers,making it near impossible to prove such a society existed.

Originally Posted by beerftw

most evidence we have today is from structures and artifacts from stone and metals that withstand time.most of what we know is from what we find,there is plenty of evidence that small tribes had formed long before cities were built,but seeing how society rises and falls throughout history it would not surprise me if written language would go back that far.

also i do believe any civilization that would have existed then would have been crushed by the weight of the the glaciers,making it near impossible to prove such a society existed.

absolutely - wiped out by volcanism, earthquake and other natural disasters.

poof - gone.

rather depressing to know that it'll happe nto us to at some point - poof, that's that.

Originally Posted by longview

I was watching a show the other night about the history of earth.
Human history occupy s such a small portion,
and all of our history is mostly in the last 10,000 years.
Could up to a 10th century culture have existed in the last warm period ?
Between 140,000 and 120,000 years ago, the conditions were like they are now.
A culture that built with stone and wood ,used wrought iron tools and had a written language
What would be left for us to find? The later 90,000 years of glacier
activity would erase just about everything.
Imagine, present day New York city after a 1000' high glacier advances and then retreats,
five times.
This is just an idea, I would like to get some feedback on. Thanks

We have dinosaur bones as old as 225 million years of age. If those can survive, why wouldn't evidence of civilization 120,000-140,000 years ago?

Originally Posted by Krhazy

We have dinosaur bones as old as 225 million years of age. If those can survive, why wouldn't evidence of civilization 120,000-140,000 years ago?

bones are more likely to survive than wooden structures and clay or animal skin methods of recorded writing.history is based off of what was made like how the romans did it,clay wood copper and iron generally dont last that long without breaking down,so it would be impossible for such evidence to survive unless it was perhaps sealed in a cave or somewhere not exposed to elements and natural disasters.

Originally Posted by Aunt Spiker

I'm sure the possibilities are endless - the earth is billions of years old. We've had advanced forms of life on the planet for millions. I have no doubt that in 100,000 years there won't be a single trace of us left at all. Time is the great eraser.

I think you're not giving mankind enough credit. Suppose every human disappeared off the face of the earth tomorrow, leaving nothing but our creations behind, I bet if an alien spacecraft visited the planet a hundred thousand years later they'd be able to find something left over from mankind.

Originally Posted by beerftw

bones are more likely to survive than wooden structures and clay or animal skin methods of recorded writing.history is based off of what was made like how the romans did it,clay wood copper and iron generally dont last that long without breaking down,so it would be impossible for such evidence to survive unless it was perhaps sealed in a cave or somewhere not exposed to elements and natural disasters.

Even if I accept that bones are more likely to survive then clay, wood, etc., where are all the bones of the intelligent species that comprised this civilization?

Originally Posted by Wiseone

I think you're not giving mankind enough credit. Suppose every human disappeared off the face of the earth tomorrow, leaving nothing but our creations behind, I bet if an alien spacecraft visited the planet a hundred thousand years later they'd be able to find something left over from mankind.

I don't think so - rust, decay - all things come to an end.

Originally Posted by Krhazy

Even if I accept that bones are more likely to survive then clay, wood, etc., where are all the bones of the intelligent species that comprised this civilization?

why have we found almost no bones of anything?just look at dinosaurs,we can barely find any intact remains and we still have fossil record gaps,if we have difficulty with other remains why should human remains be an exception?