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Climate change & high tech prehistory
Was planet Earth already a base for a technologically
advanced civilization in prehistoric times? If so, then
what made it disappear? Did climate change play a role in it?
Also, what caused climate changes in the past, and what
impacts did it have on life and human civilization?
Ancient heritage such as the Sumerian Clay Tablets,
the Mesoamerican Codices and the Vedas seems to suggest the presence
of an advanced civilization in ancient times. According to
this pre-historic heritage, our ancestors seemed to be able to
travel in space, engineer and manipulate life in laboratories
and create amazing cities. The technology described includes
electric vehicles, airplanes, space ships, wireless
communication systems, biomedical engineering, robots,
but unfortunately also powerful weapons of mass destruction.
Furthermore, some of these ancient records also seem to indicate a
profound understanding of the nature of reality and life. Are these
texts indeed referring to an advanced ancient civilization, or is
all of this just an interpretation developed from a contemporary
technological point of view?
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
The Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the so-called seven
wonders of the ancient world, is among the best-known
examples of ancient heritage that keeps on raising
challenging questions, for instance related to building
techniques and date of construction. Based on a
reference to fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Cheops,
most mainstream Egyptologists believe that the pyramid
was built over a 10 to 20-year period between around
2580 and 2560 BC. Though some alternative researchers
point to the particular location and orientation of the
pyramids at Giza to conclude that the construction should
be situated much earlier in time: around 10.000 BC.
According to these researchers, the alignment of the
three pyramids at Giza is a representation of the trio
of stars in Orion’s Belt matching the position of the
stars as they appeared in the sky 12.000 years ago, which
would indicate the date of construction. Furthermore,
the tombs of these pyramids, but also the north-south
and east-west axes of the pyramids itself, seem to have
been oriented quite accurately within up to a small
fraction of a degree.
As for techniques that would have allowed to build massive
constructions such as pyramids many thousands of years ago,
a recent (2014) study by a group of researchers led by Prof.
Daniel Bonn from the University of Amsterdam refers to a
wall painting in the tomb of governor Djehutihotep (1880 BC)
to suggest that ancient Egyptians transported colossal statues
and pyramid stones by sledge over moistened desert sand. The wall
painting got damaged and partly destroyed in 1890, but drawings
have been made, based on a photo taken by a certain major R. H.
Brown one year before the destruction. The oldest known record
about the construction of pyramids in Egypt has been written by
the Greek historian Herodotus in his book Histories, part II.
Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey)
and visited Egypt in the 5th century BC. According to him,
king Cheops compelled all Egyptians to work for him. Some had
to drag stones from the quarries in the Arabian mountains to
the shore of the Nile, from where they were shipped across the
river in boats. On arrival, the stones had to be dragged by
other labor slaves over a road that took 10 years to build.
The pyramid itself took 20 years to be constructed and,
according to Herodotus, was built up in stairs- or tiers-like
steps with the help of stone-lifting machines, made of short
wooden logs.
Signs of astronomical knowledge in prehistoric Egypt go
back to the stone circles at Nabta Playa in the Nubian Desert,
indicating the use of astronomical alignments, dating from the
5th millennium BC. Around 12.000 years ago, the Nubian Desert
began to receive more rainfall, filling a local lake, and
turning it into a savanna. As indicated by archeological
findings, there was human occupation in the region around
the same time. At some point, the people of Nabta Playa had
well-designed villages with deep wells, holding water
throughout the year. Research shows that, for that period
of time, they had a rather advanced knowledge of astronomy
and mathematics.
Floods and Climate Change
10.000 BC was also close to the end of the Younger Dryas,
a geological period of complex and abrupt climate change that
roughly took place from 13.000 to 11.700 years ago. In much
of the northern hemisphere, the change resulted in a decline
in temperatures of 2 to 6 degrees Celsius, while in much of
the southern hemisphere and some areas of the north such as
the southeast of North America there was a slight warming.
The Younger Dryas followed a period of sudden warming that
brought the last Ice Age to a close around 14.500 years ago.
It lasted for ca. 1300 years and ended as abruptly as it started.
What caused these abrupt climate changes remains puzzling so far.
After the Younger Dryas, sea levels rose due to massive meltwater
pulses. Maybe this is what many of the numerous flood myths are
referring to. One of the most remarkable myths is Plato’s legend
about the sunken continent of Atlantis. According to Plato,
Atlantis was washed away in a series of floods after its society
lost its social coherence through wars and moral decline. Although
there is no clear evidence of the historicity of Plato’s story,
he dated the destruction of Atlantis around 9650 BC, which is
about 50 years after the supposed end of the Younger Dryas. Those
days temperatures rose in just a decade by 10 degrees in Greenland,
for instance. Following the abrupt climate changes in the late
Pleistocene and at the end of the Younger Dryas many of the larger,
especially megafaunal, species disappeared in particular in
North America, Europe and Eurasia.
Also during the 10th millennium BC human settlements arose, in
particular along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea,
which are now considered by many scientists to be the cradles
of modern civilization. Though, could it be that these sites
where abodes built up by those who survived the floods or whatever
other cataclysm during those days? If so, then what happened with
their allegedly very advanced knowledge and technology, referred
to in the myths?
During the Holocene, which is the current geological epoch that
began approximately 11.700 years ago, several other major events
of rapid climate change took place:
• According to climatologist and author of ‘Climate, History and
the Modern World’, Hubert Horace Lamb, the most rapid phases of sea
level rise were between 8000 and 5000 BC. The rise of the oceans
ultimately led to the flooding of the Mediterranean Sea, followed
by the flooding of the Black Sea.
• Around 6200 BC or ca. 8200 years ago a sudden decrease in global
temperatures occurred which is called the 8.2 kiloyear event and
lasted for ca. 200 to 400 years. During this cold snap, methane
emissions shrunk by 15%. The effects were most notable in changed
sea levels.
• Roughly 6000 years ago, during the so-called mid-Holocene,
there was a period of natural warming, caused by orbital climate
forcing. In the Northern Hemisphere, summers were generally warmer
than today, while in some locations winters could be warmer as well.
• Around 3900 BC the 5.9 kiloyear event occurred, a period of
intense aridification, triggering a rapid desertification of the
Sahara, five centuries of colder climate in more northerly latitudes,
as well as human migration to river valleys such as the Nile. Recovery
was at best only partial, with accelerated desiccation during the
following millennium.
• About 2200 BC, was the start of the 4.2 kiloyear event, another
period of severe aridification that probably lasted for the next 100
years and affected North Africa, the Middle East, the Red Sea, the
Arabian peninsula, the Indian subcontinent, northern China and
mid-continental North America. According to archaeological evidence,
there was a massive abandonment of the agricultural plains of northern
Mesopotamia, followed by dramatic influxes of refugees into southern
Mesopotamia around 2170 BC, while the drastic climate change also led
to mass migration from the affected northern China area.
• The collapse of the Late Bronze Age civilizations shortly after
1200 BC may have been triggered by climate change, droughts, famine
and earthquakes, and have been further accelerated by invasions and
internal rebellion.
• Mainly in the northern hemisphere, a Medieval Warm Period occurred
from about 950 to 1250. While in some regions temperatures matched
or exceeded recent temperatures, global temperatures remained cooler
than today though. Possible causes of the medieval warming include
increased solar activity, decreased volcanic activity, and changes in
ocean circulation. Starting from around 1500, temperatures declined
again.
• The period of cooling that began in the 16th century is called
the Little Ice Age and is, according to the NASA Earth Observatory,
characterized by three particularly cold intervals: one beginning
around 1650, another around 1770, and the last in 1850, all separated
by periods of slight warming. Causes proposed to explain these
intervals of modest cooling in mainly the northern hemisphere include:
orbital cycles, decreased solar activity, heightened volcanic activity,
changes in the ocean circulation, and reforestation following major
population declines in Eurasia and the Americas.
• The present global warming and climate change include the
century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate
system and all related effects. The scientific community almost
unanimously agrees that human influence, and in particular the increased
emission of greenhouse gases, is extremely likely (> 95% probability)
the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.
To describe the present epoch of significant human impact on the
Earth’s geology, environment and ecosystems, the term ‘Anthropocene’
has been proposed. Although the time of the Industrial Revolution is
usually considered to be the start of the Anthropocene, paleoclimatologist
William Ruddiman proposed in 2003 the Early Anthropocene Hypothesis,
stating that the Anthropocene already began 7000 – 5000 years ago, when
direct anthropogenic emissions, caused by intense farming activities and
deforestation, began to play a substantial role in the slow rise of
atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.
Is there a link between rapid climate change and social change? Although
this matter is complex, at least some of the archeological and
environmental evidence points in that direction. In different cases
(for instance during the 4th millennium BC), rapid climate change provides
a plausible explanation for social / cultural change or appears to have
played a substantial role in it. The frequent coincidence of abrupt
climate events with periods of migration, cultural transitions and
disruptions, including societal collapse, is obvious. According to
research, the human-climate interaction often led to successful long-term
adaptations, but the degree of adaptation and resilience differs and can be
limited depending on the severity of climate changes and environmental
consequences.
Some remarkable archaeological and mytho-historical records:
Jericho, West Bank
Between 9500 and 9000 BC a site of permanent settlement was developed
in Tell es-Sultan, near Jericho in the West Bank. This site is often
called ‘the oldest town in the world’.
Gilgal I is another archaeological site in the Jordan Valley,
located at walking distance of Jericho and Tell es-Sultan. In its
ruins archaeologists discovered remains of figs that according to
them could be the earliest known cultivated fruit crop and maybe
the first evidence of domesticated food production. The carbonized
figs were found in an 11.400 year-old house and appear to be a mutant
variety, bred for human consumption. The finding suggests that the
fig plantation was maintained through artificial vegetative cloning
by planting branches every year again.
Göbekli Tepe, Turkey
In 1994, archaeologist Claus Schmidt discovered Göbekli Tepe,
an astonishing Temple complex situated in South Turkey, dated
to the 10th millennium BC (ca. 9500 BC). The site contains
sculptural pieces that show a great craftsmanship, and should
have been the fruits of a complex society. Within sight of the
Göbekli Tepe site an original type of wheat has been discovered
which today is still growing there in wild just like it did ca.
12.000 years ago. That wild type of wheat just needed one gen to
be modified in its genetic make up to introduce the dawn of
domesticated wheat and farming.
Varna Necropolis, Bulgaria
In 1972, researchers discovered the Varna Necropolis, a burial
site on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, pointing to a
well-developed prehistoric civilization. The what is said to be
the oldest golden treasure in the world, dating back almost
7000 years, has been found at this site. These golden objects
belong to a civilization that should have had the necessary
technical and creative skills.
Written language and astronomy in ancient Peru
According to a recent study by archaeologists of San Marcos, Peru,
there is increasing evidence that in ancient Peruvian societies
around 5000 years ago a written language had already begun to
develop as a way to communicate, similar to what happened with
the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians around that same period of
time. Long before this San Marcos study, historicians Fernando
de Montesinos (17th century) and Charles-Etienne De Bourbourg
(19th century), also had stated that the ancient Peruvians had
an accurate knowledge of the art of writing and how to measure
the solar year. They wrote on the leaves of plantain trees at
least as early as 1800 BC.
In 2006, Robert Benfer and his team discovered the ‘Temple of the Fox’,
a 4200 year-old observatory, at Buena Vista, Peru. Several astronomical
alignments at the site suggest that the Andeans used astronomical
markers and constellations to compose their agricultural calendar.
Furthermore, the observatory is characterized by sophisticated carvings
and a 3D sculpture of a musician, unique for that period of time in
that particular region.
Sumerian Clay tablets and pre-Colombian Meso-American
codices
4000 years old Sumerian Clay tablets and pre-Colombian Mesoamerican
codices seem to refer to processes of life creation in laboratories, including
amazing genetic and biological information which according to
mainstream history is not supposed to be known by the Sumerians
and Mesoamericans in those times.
The Popol Vuh of the Quiché Maya, Guatemala
The Popol Vuh, a mytho-historical text of the Quiché Maya suggests
that sensorial capacities of humans have been lowered on purpose
in ancient times.
The Vedas and the Bhagavatam, India
Ancient Indian writings such as the Vedas state that the physical
and phenomenal ‘reality’ we experience is nothing more than
imaginary perception, an illusion and projection, conditioned
and limited by the capacities of our sensory system, veiling the
infinity of pure consciousness. Furthermore, the Vedic literature
includes a cosmology corresponding to modern science, knowledge
about ocean and maritime activity, significant mathematical
concepts such as zero, infinity and the binary number system,
descriptions of satellites and weapons of mass destruction, etc…
Weapons of mass destruction are described the Puranas, and in the two
major Sanskrit epics of ancient India: Mahabharata and Ramayana.
The Mahabharata is a narrative of the Kurukshetra War which would
have taken place in the current state of Haryana. The date of the
war is still debatable and has been put by historians between 6000
BC and 500 BC, depending on various interpretations of astronomical
and other information in the writings. According to some researchers,
the Mahabharata was a war fought with technologically advanced weapons.
Some of these war tools, such as the Brahmastra, seemed to have
outcomes similar to current day nuclear bombs and could cause severe
environmental damage. The land where the Brahmastra was used became
barren for centuries, all life in and around the affected area ceased
to exist, both humans and animals suffered from infertility, greenery
vanished and rainfall seriously decreased, leading to aridification.
In the Puranas, the Brahmanda Astra is described as a weapon that can
cause oceans to boil, earth and mountains to float on air, and everything
to burn without ever leaving ashes.
In ‘The decision to drop the bomb’, an NBC documentary from 1965 with
personal interviews of the men involved in the decision-making to drop
the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was one of the
‘fathers’ of that atomic bomb, quoted the following line from the
Bhagavad Gita (part of the Mahabharata): “Now I am become death, the
destroyer of worlds”, adding ”I suppose we all thought that, one way or
another” while watching the great fireball of the first artificial nuclear
explosion test in Los Alamos (16 July 1945).
The Bhagavatam, another Indian manuscript referring to the prehistoric
past, seems to describe aeronautics and spacecraft engineering
in ancient times.
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