my views on ancient civilizations, if anyone cares?

[tomdownie]

I have taken courses in anthropology/archaeology at university and was always annoyed by the prevailing attitudes of academics. Our professor who taught field work would only allow excavation down to the level of glacial till (a layer of gravel deposited at the end of the last ice age). I asked why don't we excavate below that level and was told that their was no human occupation in N.A. prior to that period, which made little sense to me. How do we know if humans were here or not if we don't look, isn't exploration part of the scientific process. Throughout my studies in this field I was amazed at the complexity exhibited by supposed early and primitive N.A. civilizations. There were large urban complexes (cities up to 100,000 people or more), extensive trade networks, and complex communication strategies for communication over long distances. Large west coast indian canoes lost in storms were often washed up on the shores of Hawaii and were then used by the local natives. By 1000 a.d. China had sailing ships of five stories and hundreds of feet long plying the oceans to the Horn of Africa, and beyond, and were trading extensively. Prior to this period, before the last ice age, people lived along the coast of asia and expanded along the coast lines and island hopped using ocean going canoes and boats. Would a mere 40-60 miles of ocean between asia and north america of the bering sea have stopped the settlement of america prior to the last ice age, I doubt it. Thanks to a few "radical" archaeologists some N.A. sites have been discovered that date ten of thousands years before present. Though still not fully accepted by the acedemics I believe over time additional sites will be discovered that will prove that man has inhabited america longer than currently accepted and that these people traded extensively with large portions of the world prior to "the re-discovery of america" in 1492. It is too bad that the "saving" of the savages of america by the "advanced" european cultures resulted in such a mindless loss of knowledge of our past to the world. It is to bad that the victors get to (re) write history.

 

[Poi]

A cultural diffusionist! Good on ya, TomD. Good post.

 

[Kieran]

Of course tomdownie it is foolish to think that no other people ever knew that a large mass of land existed in the atlantic sea .I watched a documentary long time back that was dealing with ancient egyptian burials and how they were buried. In one such Tomb they found after an excavation cocaine that was used within the mummification process and coffee was found also how strange is that.They could not explain how it ended up in this tomb They had one archelogist however who wasnt part of the team he declared the only why it could have got here and ended up in this tomb was by South America it might be on the web somewhere havent seen it in years it was a discovery programme that i remember it being

 

[ironlung]

Hello Irish , I too saw the program about the cocaine mummies . If I remember right they found the coke by analyzing the hair . The D.E.A. stepped in and the mummies are now doing five to ten for possession .

 

[Kieran]

Hello Irish , I too saw the program about the cocaine mummies . If I remember right they found the coke by analyzing the hair . The D.E.A. stepped in and the mummies are now doing five to ten for possession .

Great joke i must keep that one for myself. You dont have copyright do you.

 

[mike]

This site was inspired from a discussion concerning the Horizon Documentary "The Cocaine Mummies", which sought to verify tests on mummies containing traces of Nicotine & Cocaine, unavailable in Egypt or Europe at the time of the Pharaohs. Conservatively, it is considered impossible for Ancient Cultures to have had contact or trade with each other across the waters in antiquity, but a growing body of evidence may prove that isolation was not the norm after all.



http://members.ozemail.com.au/~classblu/egypt/article.htm

 

[TClaeys]

Thanks to a few "radical" archaeologists some N.A. sites have been discovered that date ten of thousands years before present.

Who are these archeologists?? And can there work be found online??