Mankind: Have We Been Here Before?

[cam875]

someone told me today about a theory of how we might have been here before and wiped out and came about again. I haven't delved into it too much yet but I am wondering what some of the users here think about this.

 

[DaveC426913]

someone told me today about a theory of how we might have been here before and wiped out and came about again. I haven't delved into it too much yet but I am wondering what some of the users here think about this.

If it's a theory, there's got to be evidence.

Any evidence? That's what users will address.

 

[cam875]

well i just borrowed a book called finger prints of the god's and its supposed to be about that. So I am going to be reading that to see if there is any good evidence within it. But i was wondering about what other people on the board here thought about this theory, meaning that they had already heard and saw evidence for themselves. Maybe someone here has already read that book or something.

 

[mgb_phys]

As a rule of thumb anything with "... of the Gods" is a pile of pooh

 

[Danger]

As a rule of thumb anything with "... of the Gods" is a pile of pooh

Oh, man... you are so right. 'Chariots of the Gods' was one of the biggest piles that I've ever read.
And you can add anything that addresses pyramids or crystals as something special.

 

[cam875]

lol that's what I have been thinking, according to the net this book has a lot of pseudoscience, i thought it was an actual science/history book but I guess not. It also says it uses the Earth crustal displacement theory to back itself up which is against the main theory of plate tectonics. Is it really a bad theory?

 

[mgb_phys]

The Earth is around 4.5Gyr old but the oldest rocks were around 1Gyr younger than this because the crust remelted soon after the Earth formed due to the heat of radioactive decay.
Since life was found in these earliest rocks there was a legitimate theory that if life appeared so quickly, perhaps it had also appeared before and traces of it had been wiped out by the remelt. This wasn't really testable and was more a philosophical discussion.

The oldest rocks have now been pushed back a lot further, which suggests that the remelt wasn't as complete as thought or happened sooner and that life took a bit longer to get going. Either way this would have been very simple blue-green algae type life.

 

[baywax]

someone told me today about a theory of how we might have been here before and wiped out and came about again. I haven't delved into it too much yet but I am wondering what some of the users here think about this.

What this may refer to is the idea that civilization has reached a point of "higher" technological prowess at some point, then natural disasters and climate changes have beaten it back to levels of somewhat lower standards. There is a city in the bay of Cambay that is in 120 feet of water and is 2 miles deep and 5 miles wide. It has the markings of a higher civilization such as Mesopotamian cities are noted for. However, it is about 3-4 thousand years older than Mesopotamia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1768109.stm

 

[Danger]

It has the markings of a higher civilization such as Mesopotamian cities are noted for. However, it is about 3-4 thousand years older than Mesopotamia.

But did they have space shuttles and internet porn (the true markers of an advanced civilization)?

 

[baywax]

But did they have space shuttles and internet porn (the true markers of an advanced civilization)?

That is up for interpretation which is something a lot of websites have done regarding the level of sophistication of the "ancients". If you look at some of the myths that have passed down from those times, we can assume they were well versed in genetic engineering when we read about Pegasus, Minotars, Medusa, Centars, etc...

 

[Danger]

 

[Cincinnatus]

People often point to the various "Atlantis myths" as an example of a more advanced civilization that was wiped out.

When last I talked to anyone about this I was told that the academic consensus was that Atlantis was probably Minoan Crete. They were much more advanced than the early Greeks in the area at the time. They lived on an Island (like Atlantis). There's supposedly a fair bit of archaeological evidence that their economy was destroyed by natural disasters. So it seems fitting with most Atlantis myths. The location doesn't fit with what Plato said though... but he was writing hundreds of years later anyway so it's not so clear where he got that information...

 

[baywax]

People often point to the various "Atlantis myths" as an example of a more advanced civilization that was wiped out.

When last I talked to anyone about this I was told that the academic consensus was that Atlantis was probably Minoan Crete. They were much more advanced than the early Greeks in the area at the time. They lived on an Island (like Atlantis). There's supposedly a fair bit of archaeological evidence that their economy was destroyed by natural disasters. So it seems fitting with most Atlantis myths. The location doesn't fit with what Plato said though... but he was writing hundreds of years later anyway so it's not so clear where he got that information...

Atlantis may be an analogy for a high level of civilization that was reached and shared by many different nations around the world... but mostly in the areas you're talking about. Santorini is the island you're thinking of rather than Minoan Crete. Santorini was almost completely obliterated by the volcano at the centre of the island.

The various imported objects found in the buildings indicate the wide network of its external relations. Akrotiri was in contact with Crete but also communicated with the Greek Mainland, the Dodecanese, Cyprus, Syria and Egypt.

The town's life came to an abrupt end in the last quarter of the 17th century BC when the inhabitants were obliged to abandon it as a result of severe earthquakes. The eruption followed. The volcanic materials covered the entire island and the town itself. These materials, however, have protected up to date the buildings and their contents, similar to Pompeii.

http://www.santorini.com/archaeology/akrotiri.htm

Check out the incredibly detailed frescos and other artwork and architecture of this "pre-historic" civilization.

Many do associate Santorini with "Atlantis"

However, it was Plato in ~400 BC that started the story of the "Lost Continent of Atlantis". Atlantis was described as larger than Asia Minor and Libya combined. It was supposed to have been at its height 10,000 years BC, and was a culture that had conquered all Mediterranean people except, of course, the Greeks and their fore bearers. The lost island was supposed to have been in the middle of a great ocean - the name of the Atlantic Ocean has its origin in Atlantic. Then, a huge catastrophic wiped out Atlantis.

Is Santorini Atlantis? It is the closest match we know of.

http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~g111/Volcanoes/Thera/thera_santorini.htm