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Two words: dust storms.

That dust gets on everything.

As for an ancient civilization, the answer is "not at all likely".

The "face" at Cydonia is a trick of the light. It looks NOTHING like a face unless the angle of the sun is just right.

Here are some links for you to peruse:

The Geology of Mars: Dust Storms -
http://aerospacescholars.jsc.nasa.gov/CAS/lessons/L9/18.HTM

Mars: Dust, Ice, and Wind
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/mineralogy/mars/Marshtml/2dustetc.html

(Among other things) Sand dunes on Mars
http://www.geology.uiuc.edu/~hsui/classes/geo116/lectures/mars2.html

Cydonia images from Mars Global Surveyor's "Mars Orbiter Camera"
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/4_6_98_face_release/index.html

Mars loses face
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/05/25/mars.faces/

This next link is FULL of information and links to all subjects Martian:

Life on Mars
http://www.resa.net/nasa/mars_life.htm

Last but not least, check out this website for help in understanding astronomy - it's a MUST-SEE for those who want to learn what's good astronomy and what's...
Bad Astronomy!
http://www.badastronomy.com/

Thanks for the links- you comment does not explain the boulders strewn (rather uniformly) over the surface- that would be a heck of a dust storm. I had considered that, but the boulders are all relatvely uncovered by dust.

I may be biased (very un-scientific of me, I know) but I wish we would find life or an old civilization up there.

I believe in UFO's too.. :)

This is satellite SOHO's LASCO camera view of the Sun - it updates regularly. Note the obscuring device over the sun. The white ring shows the size of the sun's disk.

As of right now, the comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) is in the field - what a sight!

The horizontal bar across the comet's head is pixel overflow - the image is too bright for the CCD camera.