LSLGuy
December 14, 2022, 4:18pm
28
Here are some thoughtful discussions on the question of the evidence that would be left behind by any such putative civilization. As you can see, this is a recurring question around here.
Nov 2008:
Let’s say every man, woman and child on Earth dies of whatever reason you fancy. How long before evidence of human habitation is gone? Will it ever?
Would a city abandoned for 1000 years look much different from one after 100? 10?
Will reinforced concrete eventually disappear? Glass? How about big chunks of radioactive material, nuclear waste, etc? Fancy mechanical parts and medical prosthetics made of exotic and durable metals, ceramics or polymers?
I am thinking that changes to the landscap…
Feb 2016:
Some disaster, disease, an asteroid, more likely a nuclear exchange and subsequent nuclear winter, wipes out most of humanity. The few humans remaining are obviously reduced to a stone age type existence. How long before traces of our civilization disappear? Cement, asphalt, other artifacts, etc. reduced to dust which, only when civilization and science re-emerge after thousand and thousands of years, are investigated with all kinds of wild theories about past civilizations then being propagate…
May 2022:
It’s probably fair to say that we, collectively as humans, have discovered all ancient ruins of significant scale (i.e Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, Angkor Wat, etc…), and that there are probably innumerous ancient smaller structures languishing in deserts and jungles which have been weathered and decayed such that they are barely worth discovering.
But, could there be a middle-ground of structures - small pyramids or temples, say… - which have maintained enough structural integrity to still be i…
Dec 2016:
I gather it’s some sort of young earth/flat earth woo, but I don’t feel like sitting through 90-minute YouTube videos to satisfy five minutes’ worth of curiosity.