How Do Historical Sites Become Mysteries Despite Continuous Habitation?

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Historical sites like the pyramids and Stonehenge often become mysteries despite continuous habitation due to factors such as population displacement, loss of oral traditions, and the concentration of knowledge within small groups. Over time, events like famine, plagues, or invasions can disrupt the transmission of cultural knowledge, leading to gaps in understanding. Additionally, the role of religion and the rewriting of history can further obscure the true origins and purposes of these structures. Even when information is documented, it may not be preserved or passed down effectively, as seen in various cultures. Ultimately, the combination of these factors contributes to the enduring mysteries surrounding these iconic historical sites.
  • #51
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  • #52
I personally don't see the death of languages as a problem. Yes, it's nice to have records of them so we can still translate them. But I just see translation as a costly expense.

Look at Welsh, they force us to learn it in school to "keep it alive", but all it does is waste a number of hours that could be used for other more valuable (and useful) subjects. I honestly have never found a need for welsh in 21 years, and I live in Wales. Unless I suddenly decide to go to extreme west / north, it really is a non-issue.
 
  • #53
jarednjames said:
Stone henge is something of a one off affair, so once you've done it there's really no need to maintain the knowledge.

Hmmm - isn't the point that Stonehenge was most likely built to serve some purpose over a fairly long timescale (and not just for the purpose of amusing future archeologists!), therefore the question is not so much "how was it built" but "how it was used". Considering some of the much simpler solstice-marking devices that were built at different locations within Britain, Occam's razor would suggests it was for more than just looking at the sunrise on one or two days each year. But we don't have the user manual any more.

Now, we can keep knowledge easily. Store it away for future reference. Back then, if it wasn't taught it wasn't remembered. So if there's no need to remember it (we're not planning another stone henge) there's no need to waste time teaching it. The mythical stories cover that area.

Actually, the reverse is not true. Stone inscriptions and paper records have survived for centuries and even millenia. Much information about the 20th century history of computing is already irretrievably lost, either because it was only stored on materials with a short life, or because there is no longer any technology to read it, or even to read the instructions for re-creating the technology.

The fact is that in 2011, we have a far more complete knowledge of the thought processes of Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Newton, etc, from their surviving writings, than we do about the early pioneers of electronic computing. This does not necessarily seem like "progress" to me.
 
  • #54
AlephZero said:
Hmmm - isn't the point that Stonehenge was most likely built to serve some purpose over a fairly long timescale (and not just for the purpose of amusing future archeologists!), therefore the question is not so much "how was it built" but "how it was used". Considering some of the much simpler solstice-marking devices that were built at different locations within Britain, Occam's razor would suggests it was for more than just looking at the sunrise on one or two days each year. But we don't have the user manual any more.

Like I said, once you've built it (whether for long or short term use) you don't need that specific knowledge again unless you plan on repeating it. The use of something has little to do with the knowledge required to build it, if any.

The 'architect' and constructors of stone henge may have been the only ones with the knowledge how to do so. Once they die, that knowledge is gone. Many people may have known about it's use so it remains. However, uses evolve over time and so information is subject to change with it.
Actually, the reverse is not true. Stone inscriptions and paper records have survived for centuries and even millenia. Much information about the 20th century history of computing is already irretrievably lost, either because it was only stored on materials with a short life, or because there is no longer any technology to read it, or even to read the instructions for re-creating the technology.

The fact is that in 2011, we have a far more complete knowledge of the thought processes of Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Newton, etc, from their surviving writings, than we do about the early pioneers of electronic computing. This does not necessarily seem like "progress" to me.

Well that all comes down to what you consider the progress to be. You pick a very specific example, but the fact is we only have records from the past of very specific people. There is little recorded about joe blogs down the road and his random experiments in his garden shed. But now, you only have to be in the internet and you could find all about it.

My point being, we have a lot of information stored now about a multitude of things, where as previously there was only a few records from rather specific subjects.
 
  • #55
I imagine records about the pyramids could have been lost when the ancient library of Alexandria burned down. Then there were things like book burnings and buried (or burned) scholars, for example by ancient Chinese dynasties, to ensure that history before the current dynasty had been erased, at least officially.

http://history.cultural-china.com/en/34History2954.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_burning?wasRedirected=true

Another instance of libraricide is record-burning by the conquerors, as in the burning of Mayan records:
examiner.com said:
The infamous Maya “book burning” of July 12, 1652 marks a very sad date in the history of the Yucatan Maya under Spanish rule. The Catholic*Friar Diego de Landa ordered the burning of some reported 5,000 idols and 27 hieroglyphic scrolls, stating that they contained the work of the devil and prevented them from learning/accepting Christianity. Landa could not read the scrolls, but he assumed that they were full of witchcraft and evil knowledge. Landa*might*not known what was in the scrolls, but he did notice the reaction of the Maya while they burned:

"We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which were not to be seen as superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they (the Maya) regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction."
http://www.examiner.com/ancient-may...vent-of-july-12-1652?do_not_mobile_redirect=1
 
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  • #56
EnumaElish said:
I imagine records about the pyramids could have been lost when the ancient library of Alexandria burned down. Then there were things like book burnings and buried (or burned) scholars, for example by ancient Chinese dynasties, to ensure that history before the current dynasty had been erased, at least officially.

http://history.cultural-china.com/en/34History2954.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_burning?wasRedirected=true

Another instance of libraricide is record-burning by the conquerors, as in the burning of Mayan records:
http://www.examiner.com/ancient-may...vent-of-july-12-1652?do_not_mobile_redirect=1
This is such an atrocity, the stupidty is beyone belief. This has always upset me. Destroying knowledge, some rulers hoped to make people think all knowledge started under their rule. The religious wanted no knowledge that was not published by them.
 

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