Evolutionists, where are all the bodies?

Even the most "primitive" communities are recorded burying their dead, often times with stone markers and artifacts. Not just rulers, but even common people would typically have some of their stone implements they used in life tossed into their grave... implements that would be preserved for a very long time and not decay... If you assume the Evolutionary timeline, then humans have been burying their dead since "Paleolithic" times, over 100,000 years ago... We are talking many billions of people living and dying and burying their dead over all that time... We should be tripping over their burial sites everywhere we step. Graves should be littering the earth... But there are few remains to be found.... which is instead what we would expect if people had only been around for a few thousand years as the Bible indicates... just as we would expect roughly the current world human population levels if we started with only 8 people stepping off the Ark 4,500 years ago.



Where are all of the bodies?

a reply to: itsallgonenow

out of curiosity...did you do ANY footwork at all before bringing this question to the forums?

We only recently found mounds with hundreds of graves.

Probably the oldest from what I read. They're there,we just haven't found them, and/or time, elements, scavengers, done away with the bodies.

Also to note funeral pyres, and burial by sea were more common practices.

how long does it take for a human bone to decompose?

My assumption is that bones do decay and that explains why we don't see that many bones.

According to a quick Google search my assumption seems correct.

Wet conditions lead to acidity which dissolves minerals faster, this process can take roughly a decade give or take. While dry conditions can extend the life of the bones.

Very old bones are usually discovered in ash or another medium which helped preserve the minerals.

a reply to: TzarChasm


This isn't relevant to this thread but I do the dirty work all myself. Flickr.com/youliveonarockbelieveit

a reply to: bitsforbytes

And the relics and billions of grave stones?

a reply to: itsallgonenow

well if the primitives used just plain rocks to bury their dead then how will you distinguish which ones were used for a burial?

Ok, so rocks were piled up over the body then the body decomposes completely after 50-80 years and then an earthquake happens moves all the rocks, the burial site is unrecognizable. More over, another set of people come move the rocks because look they are all piled up already conveniently enough. Remember even if we are dealing with just 6000 years, bodies do decompose faster then I assume you thought they did.

Look I am not saying that the earth is only 6000 years old nor am I saying it is 14235349053453490 years old, life on earth doesn't make a mess when it dies everything is transformed nothing lasts forever. Nothing new under the sun.

a reply to: itsallgonenow

which is instead what we would expect if people had only been around for a few thousand years as the Bible indicates

Nowhere does the bible indicate people have only been around a few thousand years.

smh

a reply to: Snarl

Hmm then someone has not read the bible.

a reply to: bitsforbytes

Thoughtful answer. Thanks.

a reply to: itsallgonenow

Are we writing a paper for school?

I'm not sure burial and evolution are exactly related. In fact, the most primitive civilizations did NOT bury their dead. Many times they were burned or sent aloft down the river. Even if the Earth is 6,000 years old and evolution is a farce, weather still has had plenty of time to change the landscape so much that even the most shallow grave could very well be so far underground now that we may never find it.

Not all bones survive the ages either.

Many populations also lived by rivers and coasts. With flooding and fluctuating water levels, their remains are largely in depths of the oceans.

Think about Pompeii. I'm sure there are many ancient civilizations and cities and whatnot that remain buried beneath what is now rock from solidified lava, unknown to archaeology.

What if everyone just booked it out of the Midwest during the dust bowl, or if everyone just left Arizona because of haboobs? Any remains would be buried beneath layers and layers of sand.

Do you think we are just going to level all the vegetation of the Earth to find everyone as well?

Why is the Earth not littered with the bones of all the other living creatures that throughout history have always vastly outnumbered the population of the human species?

a reply to: itsallgonenow

Okay, Archaeologist/Anthropologist stepping in here.

Number 1 reason why we don't find mass amounts of graves and bodies is due to poor preservation methods. The times we find bodies it is because very perfect conditions came together to make it possible. Otzi, the "Ice Man", is a perfect example of this. He died away from any known settlements on top of a mountain that quickly froze over. Not everyone dies in such a way to allow for such amazing preservation.

Number 2 reason why we don't find many bodies is because of the actual acid in soil. Particularly in the West, our soils are extra acidic compared to those found in other places which makes preservation very difficult to near impossible.

Number 3 reason why we don't find many bodies is because of natural geological and environmental changes. Shorelines and water levels have obscured, by some experts estimation, up to 70% of archaeological sites and have yet to be discovered because they are underwater and only in the past half century that we have had the technology to explore these areas. Even so, we won't be able to collect or find everything because of subduction zones or water quality.

Number 4 reason why we don't find many bodies is because, again, geological and environmental changes. Landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc etc. We even have modern evidence of these processes affecting real situations. Look at Hurricane Katrina and the displacement of people and bodies because of the waters. The tsunami in Thailand meant many people and their bodies were swept out to the ocean. Landslides and rock slides that have buried people and even with bulldozers and heavy machinery some of those bodies are never recovered.

You also naively assume that all cultures for all time buried their dead. This is far from the truth. There are cultures that cannibalize their dead, there are cultures that burn them, leave the bodies for the flora and fauna to thrive on, sent to sea or even used as kindling. Mummification was very popular in Egypt but they did not bury the bodies, instead using them as heat sources for their homes and stoves. 100,000 years ago it was most probable that when one of your fellow humans fell you kept going and left them where they had fallen.

These are just some of the most common examples of why it is we don't find everything in Archaeology.

Young Earth Creationists are silly people. The Bible says the sun rises and sets, so do believe the sun goes around the Earth? The lack of knowledge in Biblical times should not hamper modern people. a reply to: itsallgonenow

Dinosaurs were around unfathomably longer than anything resembling homo sapiens have been but it's rare to find their bones.

Oh wait, I just doubly argued your point. Is that allowed?

originally posted by: MonkeyFishFrog
a reply to: itsallgonenow

Okay, Archaeologist/Anthropologist stepping in here.

Number 1 reason why we don't find mass amounts of graves and bodies is due to poor preservation methods. The times we find bodies it is because very perfect conditions came together to make it possible. Otzi, the "Ice Man", is a perfect example of this. He died away from any known settlements on top of a mountain that quickly froze over. Not everyone dies in such a way to allow for such amazing preservation.

Number 2 reason why we don't find many bodies is because of the actual acid in soil. Particularly in the West, our soils are extra acidic compared to those found in other places which makes preservation very difficult to near impossible.

Number 3 reason why we don't find many bodies is because of natural geological and environmental changes. Shorelines and water levels have obscured by some experts estimation up to 70% of archaeological sites are yet to be discovered because they are underwater and only in the past half century that we have had the technology to explore these areas. Even so, we won't be able to collect or find everything because of subduction zones or water quality.

Number 4 reason why we don't find many bodies is because, again, geological and environmental changes. Landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc etc. We even have modern evidence of these processes affecting real situations. Look at Hurricane Katrina and the displacement of people and bodies because of the waters. The tsunami in Thailand meant many people and their bodies were swept out to the ocean. Landslides and rock slides that have buried people and even with bulldozers and heavy machinery some of those bodies are never recovered.

You also naively assume that all cultures for all time buried their dead. This is far from the truth. There are cultures that cannibalize their dead, there are cultures that burn them, leave the bodies for the flora and fauna to thrive on, sent to sea or even used as kindling. Mummification was very popular in Egypt but they did not bury the bodies, instead using them as heat sources for their homes and stoves. 100,000 years ago it was most probable that when one of your fellow humans fell you kept going and left them where they had fallen.

These are just some of the most common examples of why it is we don't find everything in Archaeology.

All of your points rely on an earth that is older than he believes... therefore your argument is invalid to him.

See how well this young earth crap works? It's a self-validating belief.

originally posted by: Aperture


Why is the Earth not littered with the bones of all the other living creatures that throughout history have always vastly outnumbered the population of the human species?

Because God and Jesus.

When someone's heart stops pumping blood around their body, the tissues and cells are deprived of oxygen and rapidly begin to die.

But different cells die at different rates. So, for example, brain cells die within three to seven minutes, while skin cells can be taken from a dead body for up to 24 hours after death and still grow normally in a laboratory culture.

But contrary to folklore, this doesn't mean that hair and nails continue to grow after death, although shrinkage of the skin can make it seem this way.

From this point on, nature is very efficient at breaking down human corpses. Decomposition is well under way by the time burial or cremation occurs. However, the exact rate of decomposition depends to some extent on environmental conditions.

Decomposition in the air is twice as fast as when the body is under water and four times as fast as underground. Corpses are preserved longer when buried deeper, as long as the ground isn't waterlogged.

The intestines are packed with millions of micro-organisms that don't die with the person. These organisms start to break down the dead cells of the intestines, while some, especially bacteria called clostridia and coliforms, start to invade other parts of the body.

At the same time the body undergoes its own intrinsic breakdown under the action of enzymes and other chemicals which have been released by the dead cells. The pancreas, for example, is usually packed with digestive enzymes, and so rapidly digests itself
The decomposing tissues release green substances and gas, which make the skin green/blue and blistered, starting on the abdomen. The front of the body swells, the tongue may protrude, and fluid from the lungs oozes out of the mouth and nostrils.

This unpleasant sight is added to by a terrible smell as gases such as hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg smell), methane and traces of mercaptans are released. This stage is reached in temperate countries after about four to six days, much faster in the tropics and slower in cold or dry conditions.

oh and alsoA corpse left above ground is then rapidly broken down by insects and animals, including bluebottles and carrion fly maggots, followed by beetles, ants and wasps.

In the tropics, a corpse can become a moving mass of maggots within 24 hours.

If there are no animals to destroy the body, hair, nails and teeth become detached within a few weeks, and after a month or so the tissues become liquefied and the main body cavities burst open.

Burial in a coffin slows the process

The whole process is generally slower in a coffin, and the body may remain identifiable for many months. Some tissues, such as tendons and ligaments, are more resistant to decomposition, while the uterus and prostate glands may last several months.

But within a year all that is usually left is the skeleton and teeth, with traces of the tissues on them - it takes 40 to 50 years for the bones to become dry and brittle in a coffin. In soil of neutral acidity, bones may last for hundreds of years, while acid peaty soil gradually dissolves the bones.

We hid them because they showed we were descended from skunks, not apes.

There are 7 billion people on earth now yet how often do you see cemetaries? There used to be far, far fewer people so it makes sense that their skeletons aren't all over the place.