Posted on 07/24/2012 7:54:00 PM PDT by Sir Napsalot
For almost as long as we've had civilization, we've lost it. There are records going back hundreds of years of explorers discovering huge temples encrusted with jungle, or giant pits full of treasure that were once grand palaces. Why did people abandon these once-thriving cities, agricultural centers, and trade routes? Often, the answer is unknown. Here are ten great civilizations whose demise remains a mystery.
1. The Maya
The Maya are perhaps the classic example of a civilization that was completely lost, its great monuments, cities and roads swallowed up by the central American jungles, and its peoples scattered to small villages. Though the languages and traditions of the Maya still survive up to the present day, the civilization's peak was during the first millennium AD, when their greatest architectural feats and massive agricultural projects covered a vast region in the Yucatán — today, an area stretching from Mexico to Guatemala and Belize. One of the largest Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya made extensive use of writing, math, an elaborate calendar, and sophisticated engineering to build their pyramids and terraced farms. Though it's often said that the Maya civilization began a mysterious decline in roughly the year 900, a great deal of evidence points to climate change in the Yucatán combined with internecine warfare, which resulted in famine and abandonment of the city centers.
2. Indus Valley Civilization
One of the great civilizations of the ancient world is called simply the Indus or Harappan civilization. Thousands of years ago, it may have boasted up to 5 million people, almost 10 percent of the world's population, spread over a region that encompassed parts of today's India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at io9.com ...
Also in the comment section, there is another mention of the Hittites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittites
Every civilization has had its versions of Democrats and Obamas, and they die.
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My bet is in most cases, crop failure. Due to variable rainfall, variable temperatures and crop disease. Anyone involved in modern agriculture knows how much successful production depends on adapting methods.
What works for a time, simply stops working because of insect adaptation, fungus growth, competing crop appearance.
Only by constantly observing and changing to current conditions does agriculture succeed.
Bwahaahaahaha......
Wait a sec, that means us. Not so good. :-(
I’ve heard some archeologists who say that our ability to find solutions can sometimes create complex systems that fall apart because they were too complex to hold together.
It is a known fact that the climate of the earth varies from era to era and small differences in average temperatures and rainfall can devastate crops and populations. They can even trace the movements of prehistoric peoples into and out of Europe as a result of those temperature changes.
Only in recent years has there been some degree of ability to adapt to major changes and even that is limited.
Both those are not ancient. They postdate the printing press.
11. Flint, Michigan
too complex?
Yep, God reminding us who is actually in charge.
The Mayan collapse is no great mystery. Constant warfare between the city-states eventually took its toll. The treasure needed to maintain a vital civilization was pee’d into the winds of war. Even a short drought or period of intensified hurricanes (they’re periodic and devastating on that flat land that’s barely above sea-level) was probably enough to push the “tilt” button.
DEMOCRATS, next question
Bureaucracies stifle growth and adaptation.
They kill any civilization in time.
With apologies to Men In Black, "You're coming with me, it's a long trip, I'll need a snack".
Look at U.S. In the middle of a great drought this summer. And cities that are built in the desert (such as Las Vegas) are ultimately unsustainable.
Maybe it's just me but that whole human sacrifice thing would make me want to move to the burbs.
Maybe it's just me but that whole human sacrifice thing would make me want to move to the burbs.
Many hybrid seeds have to be produced year after year by hybrid seed farms. They yield great grain, but not seeds capable of reproduction.
People who trade around heirloom seeds do a great service in promoting genetic diversity. There just aren't enough of them.
If TSHTF and even one big hybrid seed producer goes out of business (Monsanto, for example), we are in a world of hurt.
TSHTF preppers, the heirloom seed traders, the Amish and maybe the Mormons survive. The rest of us better have something valuable to trade with them for food.
Civil Wars wrecked the Roman Empire. That and Bread and circuses. Small wars can bled a civilization.
For the last time, I didn’t do it!
Besides, nobody saw me and you can’t prove anything.
Part of the reason US agriculture has been so productive is vast irrigation works. Of course, when there is no rain they don’t work so good.
bttt for later reading—have to get to bed. :)
Bush’s Fault.
One thing I noticed was the term “Climate Change” was bandied about a few times...but that was in the good old days when it was still natural
I always thought so too- Any society evil enough to have human sacrifices like that was led by evil men.
Eventually they needed more ‘enemies’ to kill, and soon no one wants to stick around to find out if they have pissed off some government official for some imagined slight, or because they covetted your wife or goods...
My family has owned/farmed land in this county since 1889. We are in the planting seed business. I am fully aware of what you wrote about. And the licensing mine field associated with it.
We have had to change sources for our seed because of it. Feel very comfortable with the people we are associated with.
The same can be said for the breeding of livestock, especially chickens. Breed for conversion rate from feed, nothing else.
In the wheat industry it is the same, you sell pounds. I the bushel weight is 60+ lbs./bu it is all about lbs. per acre. Nothing for quality. (except some contracts for specialty milling)
I am not a prepper, but what they advocate is largely how we have always lived. We are pretty self-sufficient and if necessary could be totally.
Your mother wears army boots?
I’ve seen this dude cropping up regularly.
Just for fun, who in the heck is this crazy loon?
You'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't) about just how widespread ignorance is on these topics, even among Freepers and even among rural people, who should know better.
What you said about chickens especially holds true. We're fortunate to have access to Amish raised chickens here in this part of Pennsylvania, but most of what is sold has either the Purdue or Tyson label on it. It is not just the uniform tastelessness of the meat which bothers us, but also knowing the conditions under which it is raised and processed.
My Dad used to collect blood samples from poultry plants all over eastern North Dakota and NW Minnesota as part of his job. We raised free range chickens (back before the term was even popular) and would only send them to a Mennonite family owned plant which always exceeded the inspection requirements. Our chickens were a combination of hearty Asiatic breeds (cochins) and crested breeds (Polish) which were especially adapted to winters in that part of the country. We sold a lot of meat (at a premium) to people who appreciated the difference and a lot of breeding stock to hobbyists who wanted to get in on the action.
There still wasn't enough money in it back then to make it any more than a side income.
Most of farming is “side income” today. We have people here who work 12-15 sections in wheat. Some cotton farmers work 1,000-1,500 acres. Some peanut farmers work 600 or more acres in peanuts. All of it needs to be rotated, especially the peanuts.
Those boring with a big auger take huge risks and have huge bank notes. High risk with high potential rewards, sometimes mother nature surprises you and the crops fail. When they do it takes years to recover, if ever.
In my opinion the diversified low risk approach is more sane. And companies who practice that survive.
bfl
Giorgio A. Tsoukalos
(aka Hair Guy)
I recently visited Angkor. They say the capital was abandoned after the decline of the Khmer Empire as too vulnerable to the Thais.
The Mayan people still speaking Mayan and still making their traditional clothes in the traditional way would be surprised to know they disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Hey, Joe.
Yeah, yeah, and I suppose you were out of town when it happened.
Ring toss?
As they moved in, they sang “Angkor’s away”.
OMG! They were wiped out by Shrek?
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