If not a crock of horsehockey...
Very Interesting!
If we had had that World War Three that everyone half expected, I wonder what traces of us would still be around after a few million years?
Well, for one thing the evidence of a long-past nuclear cataclysm would be overwhelming. That aside from the fact that not everyone would be annihilated, and the survivors would almost certainly rebuild global civilization within a few tens of thousands of years. I imagine New Zealand would inherit the earth. ;^) As a species, we're pretty much here to stay short of an event that all but renders the entire world uninhabitable for non-microbial life as we know it.
Going with a more viable extinction event, let's say that the earth were bombarded by cosmic debris from a supernova in our immediate stellar neighborhood (within 26 light years). In such a case, the ruins of our civilization would still be quite self-evident a few million years from now. Manhattan, by example, would clearly appear very much like a big huge pile of industrial wreckage. Desert cities would fare even better. I imagine Las Vegas would be the archeological prize of the thirty second thousand eight hundred twenty fourth century.
Of one thing there is very little doubt: there would be far more evidence of our passing than a few random musket balls. Now, if they were golf balls...
Motel of the Mysteries. By: David McCauley I think... Illustrated. Cool book.