I'm of the opinion that more than enough evidence has surfaced to piece together the true story of mankind's distant past, but the academic community being what it is, much (if not most) of that evidence has been suppressed or hidden from the public.
What we're left with, is the evidence in stone, staring us in the face, and defying us to simply look, and engage our God given powers of reason to explain it.
Like you, it's my personal belief that civilization has risen and fallen over and over on this planet. The ancient oral traditions of many cultures even speak of it, but of course it's all dismissed as myth by the academics.
I’m late to the thread and missed the fascinating discussion. Thanks for all the interesting information.
Something you both might find interesting are the books “Forbidden Archaeology”, and its condensed version “The Hidden History of the Human Race”, by Michael Cremo and Richard Thompson - https://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Archaeology-Michael-Cremo-ebook/dp/B004LE7OHI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488156347&sr=1-1&keywords=forbidden+archeology