Mar 03, 2022 09:00:00

Is it possible that a super-ancient civilization actually existed?

When people say 'unknown civilization', it makes us want to think of the vast outer space, but it is said that a civilization with

extremely advanced science and technology may have existed on the prehistoric earth. The ' civilization ' theory is also a fascinating idea. Kurzgesagt, a science-based YouTube channel, explains in a colorful animation movie whether a super-ancient civilization may actually exist.

Are There Lost Alien Civilizations in Our Past? --YouTube


It is said that life was born on the earth about 4 billion years ago, but life has not evolved at a uniform speed in the last 4 billion years. It is believed that only unicellular organisms existed for about 3.5 billion years before the Cambrian explosion , which is said to have suddenly brought out the ' gates ' of animals seen today, 540 million years ago.

From an anatomical point of view, modern humans appeared about 300,000 years ago. It is thought that the very early modern humans ran a

hunter-gatherer society whose life was based on hunting and harvesting, and gradually expanded its distribution.

The human race in the hunting and harvesting society lacked diversity in life, and although there may have been some tribes with a uniquely high culture, it was only a comparison of acorns. However, about 10,000 years ago, humankind created an '

agricultural revolution ' such as crop rotation and enclosure , and has continued to make rapid progress to the present day.

We humans have burned down forests, built cities and temples, and reshaped the surface of the earth. The

Industrial Revolution , which occurred about 300 years ago, has created an exponential increase in population explosion and impact on the Earth, and modern human activities have reached a level that can be 'visible' when looking at the Earth from space. I am.

It can be said that the 300,000-year history of modern human beings can be classified into three categories: the hunting and harvesting era, the agricultural revolution era, and the industrial revolution era. These three eras are not evenly divided in time, and of the 300,000 years, the hunting and harvesting era accounts for about 97%, the agricultural revolution era 2.9%, and the industrial revolution era 0.1%.

Even during the Industrial Revolution, which is familiar to us, it is only 0.1% of human history. However, even the history of humankind is very small in the history of the earth.

In other words, the earth has a long history that we cannot even imagine. Considering these points again, it is tempting to think about 'what happened before the advent of humankind', but it is a rule that everything loses its shape with the passage of time. The oldest surface ever discovered is in the

Negev Desert in southern Israel, provided it has a certain size. The formations in the Negev Desert are only 1.8 million years old, and older surfaces have lost their shape due to weathering, have been buried deep in the ground, or have gone under ice or sea. It has been with.

Geologically, the formations that leave the mark

of our time, the Anthropocene, will be only a few centimeters thick in millions of years.

Here, suppose that there was a super-ancient civilization that had some kind of scientific civilization before modern human beings. If this ultra-ancient civilization also developed through the three eras of 'hunting and harvesting era,' 'agricultural revolution era,' and 'industrial revolution era,' what is left in the stratum?

Let's start with the hunting and harvesting era. Here, we consider the hunting and harvesting era of ultra-ancient civilizations, but when considering this, it is helpful to consider the '

Denisovans, ' ' Homo erectus, ' ' Neanderthals, ' etc. that existed before modern humans. It is a hominid family.

These hominids have unearthed not only skeletal fossils, but also the weapons, stone tools, and accessories they used, but the expected number of excavations is too small, and most of the relics are geological. It is natural to think that it disappeared in a typical process.

In any case, if the ultra-ancient civilization was an intelligent life form like human beings, it would have had a unique culture and art by talking, using tools and fire.

It can be said that almost all hominids, including modern humans, were in the hunting and harvesting era for most of the last 200,000 years, but there are only a few hunting and harvesting relics excavated from the ground. Similarly, even if the ultra-ancient civilization had a hunting and harvesting era, it is natural to think that its relics have succumbed to the passage of time and disappeared.

You might think that fossils will last longer ... but if you take a dinosaur as an example, if you carve the

geological age every 100,000 years, there are only a few fossils in the best condition for each age. Not excavated.

And even if the fossils of the ultra-ancient civilizations of the hunting and harvesting era were excavated, it is quite possible to think of them as some other creature.

Next, let us consider the agricultural revolution era of ultra-ancient civilization. Looking at the human race to be compared, many relics have been excavated during this period, as the agricultural society used advanced tools made of sturdy materials.

Also, in this era, various technologies such as letters, navigation, architecture, and political science have blossomed due to the surplus of food ...

It is also characterized by the fact that there was a civilization that prospered for nearly thousands of years and expanded the prints.

Many of the large buildings and monuments built during this period are still in shape, and even if they lose their shape, the traces themselves are expected to remain for thousands of years.

The Great Wall of China may only be contoured thousands of years later, but it is still sufficient for future archaeologists to determine that something has happened. Pyramids may also lose their shape, but the traces themselves will remain for hundreds of thousands of years.

In addition, since the population explosion occurred during the agricultural revolution, the number of fossils and relics left in the ground has increased dramatically. These fossils and relics will disappear after millions of years, but until then they could be archaeological material.

However, no traces of ultra-ancient civilizations similar to these have been found. With this in mind, I can confidently say that 'at least there has been no ultra-ancient civilization in the last few million years', and humankind was born from the Cambrian explosion 540 million years ago when biodiversity arose. We cannot confidently say that 'there was no ultra-ancient civilization' during the huge blank period of more than 500 million years.

Even if there was a civilization that was as prosperous as ancient Rome at this time, there would be no trace left ...

Even if there is a tool made of unknown metal, it will rot and disappear.

Even if you dig a canal, open a forest, and build a city, it must have returned to its original nature over time.

So even if the octopus-type ancients have built an unimaginable civilization on the bottom of the water, we today do not know.

With the wings of your imagination flapping, the octopus-shaped ancients blossom the art of drawing various colors in the water ...

It's okay if it's a meteorite or a virus, or even if it's destroyed by a large-scale cold phenomenon ...

In any case, things before millions of years are not transmitted to us human beings.

However, it may be a different story if the ultra-ancient civilization had reached the Industrial Revolution era. In order to think about the Industrial Revolution era of the ultra-ancient civilization, let us consider the case where we human beings who have already enjoyed the Industrial Revolution era are now destroyed by a virus or something.

The impact we have on the planet in the Industrial Revolution era is distinct from the hunting and harvesting era and the agricultural revolution era. If future archaeologists analyzed the fossils of this era, they would report the mass extinction of wildlife and the mass slaughter of rats, cattle, pigs and chickens.

Most buildings and goods, such as roads and hard disks, will be gone after thousands of years. However, some of the impact of modern humanity will continue for hundreds of millions of years.

One of them is 'artificial fertilizer'. We use a large amount of artificial fertilizer for agriculture, and the nitrogen contained in this artificial fertilizer flows out from the soil to the natural environment such as rivers and lakes.

In addition, the mining of metal ores and

rare earths leaves deep scratches such as soil pollution and depletes natural resources.

Studies have shown that the plastics we dump in the ocean may remain for hundreds of millions of years.

Radioactive elements accumulated in laboratories and weapons will not dissipate for a long time even if human beings die.

And above all, the carbon dioxide that humankind has continued to emit since the Industrial Revolution can be evidence for future archaeologists that 'some civilization existed.'

So, if a future man born before we perished examines the strata, our traces should be clearly visible. On the other hand, when we look at the strata, there are layers of strange chemicals and altered elements, layers of radioactive materials that seem to have caused a nuclear war, and layers that indicate that there was a genocide of certain creatures. At least it is unlikely that ultra-ancient civilizations have followed the same history of industrial revolution as humankind.

However, it is possible that the ultra-ancient civilization has reached the Industrial Revolution in a completely different way from humankind. If we pursue a sustainable method to the limit, even if it suddenly becomes extinct, no trace will be left.

And in any case, after hundreds of millions of years, the traces of all events should disappear. So, even if a super-ancient civilization with overwhelming scientific power prospered for 3 million years, if it was 200 million years ago, there is no way to know it anymore.

Thinking in this way, there is no guarantee that we human beings will survive forever. Just as a mysterious ultra-ancient civilization may have disappeared without our knowledge, in the future our civilization may disappear without a trace. And there may not be much that we humans can do in case of this.