Originally posted by miniatus
The Antikytheria mechanism survived a thousand years in very poor condition, but enough that it could be mostly "reconstructed" in 3d and understood, that's a fair statement to make but part of what helped preserve the metals helped destroy the rest of it.. it really has a lot to do with surroundings and construction.

Look at the titanic, it's metal and is mostly deteriorated away now.. they don't think it will last.. and that was only 1912

The Antikytheria mechanism is more the exception than the rule.

of course some objects will be found preserved under the right conditions,but most of what was has been crushed,eroded,blown up and washed away forever

Excellent thread.

I think the ancients had a very good grasp of the bigger cycles that our planet goes through. Some of the structures that they built were DELIBERATELY built to stand the test of time.

What have we built today that will stand the test of time?

The Three gorges dam comes to mind, anything else?

Originally posted by LS650
I believe it's very possible there were past civilizations that were maybe as advanced as say the Roman Empire, but no more. I see claims all the time that plastics will last for literally thousands of years in landfills - so if there have been technically advanced societies, where is all the plastic? They just didn't make plastic? I doubt it.

Why would you doubt they made plastic? that's a silly assertion to make, no offense. .. plastic is a synthetic, why would you assume a previous advanced society must have mastered plastic?

They have developed plastics now that are plant based that biodegrade just fine and relatively fast ... maybe they were smart enough to skip the synthetic plastics..

And I tend to think that civilizations could have evolved technologically different.. they could be advanced while having entirely different technology.

Originally posted by blocula

Originally posted by miniatus
The Antikytheria mechanism survived a thousand years in very poor condition, but enough that it could be mostly "reconstructed" in 3d and understood, that's a fair statement to make but part of what helped preserve the metals helped destroy the rest of it.. it really has a lot to do with surroundings and construction.

Look at the titanic, it's metal and is mostly deteriorated away now.. they don't think it will last.. and that was only 1912

The Antikytheria mechanism is more the exception than the rule.

of course some objects will be found preserved under the right conditions,but most of what was has been crushed,eroded,blown up and washed away forever

Well someone had said that there would be remnants of our past left over and used that as an example that our construction would last thousands of years, I was just suggesting that the Antikytheria mechanism was an exception to the rule.. it's not normal to find things like that, obviously.. Things just don't normally last thousands of years unless they are stone structures usually.. Stone tends to last since it's not a consumable material, it's only enemy is erosion really.. metals are actually a consumable material to some organisms... it just won't last

Originally posted by blocula

Originally posted by LS650
I believe it's very possible there were past civilizations that were maybe as advanced as say the Roman Empire, but no more. I see claims all the time that plastics will last for literally thousands of years in landfills - so if there have been technically advanced societies, where is all the plastic? They just didn't make plastic? I doubt it.

as i said before, maybe they were not a paper/metal/plastic based society like we are...

our civilization that exists right now has only been able to rise up to the level that its at because we were able to advance in-between ice ages...in the link i posted on page one,click onto the return at the bottom of the first article and there are many many examples of evidence of past societies that have all but been erased and faded into myths and legends... just like our society right now will someday be the basis for another future civilizations myths and legends and their archeologists will excavate the ruins of paris and new york and wonder just what we were all about...

Cavemen are actually mentioned in the Bible. The OP is right. Cavemen were actually once men who came from great civilizations, but since they pushed the Law of God aside, He took away their earthly treasures.

Job 12:23-25(KJV)
23He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
24He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

Job 30:3-8(KJV)
3For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
4Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
5They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief
6To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
7Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
8They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

Originally posted by metaldemon2000

Atlantis was what the previous civilization was called.

According to Plato, Atlantis was an early bronze age culture as advanced as Athens in Plato's time. Are you saying he was lying? And if he was lying then Atantis obviously didn't exist

As for 'cavemen' - there is no evidence for any prior advanced culture. There is plenty of evidence for cavemen around for hundreds of thousands of years. Before that was Home Erectus ..... and so on back.

When did this prior advanced civilisation exist? Why did they leave no trace? Why after the 'disaster' did no-one rebuild civilisation?

Our civilisation will be visible in the geological data for millions of years .....

Originally posted by metaldemon2000
Antarctica was not always in the south pole and free of ice and snow.

True, it's only been at the south pole for the past few hundred million years. And 40 million years ago it wasn't even snow covered!

Originally posted by SirMike
Sorry, but I cannot buy it. Any truly advanced civilization will leave fingerprints on the land that will unmistakable. Although buildings facades may crumble, stone masonry work, foundations, metal implements, radioactive, and synthetics will survive in some recognizable matter for 10,000’s of years.

Well if that were the case, would modern science and historians release that knowledge? I say no. If what you say were true, then history would have to be re-written, and the establishment is not ready for that. Ever find it odd that discoveries that confilct with history books is often ignored, and not brought into the eye of the public? You act like transparency is common with governments.

I believe that we would tear our own technologies apart to make tools and other materials after there is no fuel, electricity, or means to rebuild them. The same with plastics; we would burn every burnable material on the surface of earth for heating/cooking--even without an ice age. One family would likely consume 7-8 houses of materials for heating one winter. What little that was not burned in the initial riot fires, would be completely ripped to shreds in just a few years. Even a durable metal like stainless would be ground to bits from sharpening after using it to made knives and other tools for a thousand years. After 2000-3000 years there would be very few out of place artifacts left.

There is a book called A Canticle for Leibowitz that kind of is along these lines, although a fiction/sci-fi novel it is based on the destruction of mankind and recovering bits and pieces thousands of years later and rebuilding the true history of mankind, and how religion developed from the information they were finding. It suggested a cycle of destruction and rebuilding.

It was a very good read although it made me feel very dusty and thirsty

The book was written in the 60's.

Sorry, the thread just reminded me of the book lol

We are only really now getting to grips with just how much change our planet is capable of. We do know that land can rise up or drop 2 miles at a time, no problem and shift so its not surprising that add this to our normal weather and deteriorating signs of humanity could easily disappear, especially when thousands of years of time are involved. We are only taught to go back such a tiny amount of time in our historical ideas, but when one thinks of thousands and thousands of years, stretching 200,000 years etc a lot of civilisations could arise and fall. If you look at South America we are still only scratching the surface yet that is comparatively recent inhabitation.

There is always a chance we don't see previous civilisations simply because they are buried far too deep. It only needs vulcanic action, land slides, floods etc which we know have been heavier in the past to cover a good few feet. There has also probably been a deliberate effort on the part of the god botherers to hide and destroy as much as they thought threatened their cherished beliefs. We also have odd artifacts that pop up in levels of mining that they should not be found in.

I don't doubt we have had previous civilisations. The Indian mythology and writings tell of a huge battle with vimana and all sorts of light weapons.

I do think that in the past a different technology to our oil based chug-chug mechanics was probably used and I still wonder why we have huge brains we seem to utilize less and less of.

What I do suspect is that our 'real' leaders today are the descendants of those who ruled past civilisations and who have not only managed to protect themselves from previous destructions eg in bunkers, even maybe on the moon etc, but managed to hide their knowledge maybe even having destroyed their own original civilisations; because we appear to be going the same way. I don't believe in any destructive human hating god, just an earth goddess with formidable powers of regenerative destruction once the earth becomes over laden.

Originally posted by Lynda101
We are only really now getting to grips with just how much change our planet is capable of. We do know that land can rise up or drop 2 miles at a time, no problem and shift so its not surprising that add this to our normal weather and deteriorating signs of humanity could easily disappear, especially when thousands of years of time are involved. We are only taught to go back such a tiny amount of time in our historical ideas, but when one thinks of thousands and thousands of years, stretching 200,000 years etc a lot of civilisations could arise and fall. If you look at South America we are still only scratching the surface yet that is comparatively recent inhabitation.

There is always a chance we don't see previous civilisations simply because they are buried far too deep. It only needs vulcanic action, land slides, floods etc which we know have been heavier in the past to cover a good few feet. There has also probably been a deliberate effort on the part of the god botherers to hide and destroy as much as they thought threatened their cherished beliefs. We also have odd artifacts that pop up in levels of mining that they should not be found in.

I don't doubt we have had previous civilisations. The Indian mythology and writings tell of a huge battle with vimana and all sorts of light weapons.

I do think that in the past a different technology to our oil based chug-chug mechanics was probably used and I still wonder why we have huge brains we seem to utilize less and less of.

What I do suspect is that our 'real' leaders today are the descendants of those who ruled past civilisations and who have not only managed to protect themselves from previous destructions eg in bunkers, even maybe on the moon etc, but managed to hide their knowledge maybe even having destroyed their own original civilisations; because we appear to be going the same way. I don't believe in any destructive human hating god, just an earth goddess with formidable powers of regenerative destruction once the earth becomes over laden.

thanx for your comment,very true and well said ^^^...we never learn from our past mistakes and we are led astray from the truth by those in control who dont want their blind sheep to open their eyes and see what the past is really all about. we most likely have risen and fallen again and again for at least 100,000 years...10,000 years from now some future archeologist will dig up the remains of a shattered and rusted car or airplane that just happened to be partly preserved under the right conditions and the evidence will be snuffed out by whatever people are in control then,because they will not want the truth to undermine their supreme authority.no disruption of their evil blood line will be tolerated,contradictory evidence will be ridiculed and erased...just like now...

Originally posted by SirMike
Sorry, but I cannot buy it. Any truly advanced civilization will leave fingerprints on the land that will unmistakable. Although buildings facades may crumble, stone masonry work, foundations, metal implements, radioactive, and synthetics will survive in some recognizable matter for 10,000’s of years.

Ok How about we say even a million years, the earth has been around for about 4.5 BILLION YEARS. That means there could be even TEN MILLION years in between each civilization. I don't think there will be anything left after that number of years.

Humans have spread across the entire planet, colonizing every corner. But humans have really been on the planet for a fraction of the lifetime of the Earth. Archeologists estimate that modern humans have been on the Earth for about 200,000 years. That is a tiny second of time compared to 4.5 BILLION.