For almost as long as we ’ve had civilization , we ’ve lost it . There are records going back hundreds of years of explorers discover Brobdingnagian temples encrusted with jungle , or giant cavity full of treasure that were once expansive palace . Why did people abandon these once - thriving city , agrarian centers , and deal itinerary ? Often , the answer is unknown . Here are ten large civilization whose demise remains a secret .
1 . The Maya
https://gizmodo.com/what-really-destroyed-the-maya-civilization-5886796
2 . Indus Valley Civilization
One of the great civilizations of the ancient cosmos is called only the Indus or Harappan civilization . M of years ago , it may have boasted up to 5 million multitude , almost 10 pct of the world ’s population , diffuse over a region that comprehend parts of today ’s India , Pakistan , Iran and Afghanistan . But its grand walkways ( with sophisticated wayside drain ) , metallurgy shops , and monumental , multistoried , brick hives of houses were abandoned over 3,000 years ago . It ’s likely that this ancient civilization , like the Maya , suffered from gradual changes in rainfall patternsthat made it difficult for its people to raise enough food for their massive population .
https://gizmodo.com/climate-change-ended-one-of-the-great-ancient-civilizat-5914091
3 . Easter Island
The people of Eastern Island present another classic “ lost ” civilisation , famed in part for its oracular , tremendous Isidor Feinstein Stone statues of human forefront ( called Moai ) line up along the island ’s coastline . How did this thriving Polynesian civilization disappear after centuries of repository - building and navigate hundreds of mile of ocean water to go from island to island ? Jared Diamond sums up what many scientists now think in his book Collapse , which is that the Easter Islanders were incredibly sophisticated , but their methods were n’t sustainable . During the prison term they settled Easter Island , possibly between 700 - 1200 AD , they used up all the island ’s trees and farming resources , and then had to move on .
4 . Catalhöyük
Often ring the world ’s erstwhile city , Catalhöyük was part of a large city - building and agricultural civilization thriving between 9,000 - 7,000 years ago in what is today south - central Turkey . What ’s interesting about Catalhöyük is its body structure , which is quite unlike most other city since . It contain no roads as we hump them , and was instead built sort of like a beehive , with houses built next to each other and enroll through holes in the roof . It ’s believed that hoi polloi farmed everything from pale yellow to Prunus dulcis outside the city wall , and start out to their homes via ladders and pavement that traversed their roofs . Often , these citizenry decorated the entrances to their home with strapper skull , andburied the osseous tissue of their prestigious deadbeneath the packed turd of their floors . The civilization was pre - cast-iron Age and pre - literate , but they nevertheless leave behind rich grounds of a sophisticated society , full of graphics and and public ritual , that was possibly 10,000 strong at many points in its 2,000 year existence . Why did masses eventually abandon the city ? It is unsung .
https://gizmodo.com/ancient-graves-suggest-that-family-didnt-really-matter-5816839
5 . Cahokia
Long before Europeans made it to North America , the so - call Mississippians had build up a great metropolis surrounded by huge earthen pyramids and a Stonehenge - like body structure made of wood to track the movements of the stars . phone Cahokia today , you’re able to still see its remainsin Illinois . At its tiptop between 600 - 1400 AD , the urban center sprawled across 6 square miles , and arrest almost a hundred earthen mounds as well as an tremendous grand mall at its inwardness . Its population might have been as much as 40,000 people , some of whom would have live in outlying villages . The people of this great city , the biggest so far northward in Mesoamerica , were vivid creative person , architects , and farmers , creating unbelievable art with shells , copper , and stone . They even divert a subdivision of the local Mississippi and Illinois river to accommodate their penury for irrigation . It ’s not only certain what led people to vacate the urban center starting in the 1200s , butsome archaeologists saythe city had always had problems with disease and famine ( it had no sanitary system to talk of ) , and that people left for light-green ( and healthier ) pastures elsewhere on the Mississippi River .
6 . Göbekli Tepe
One of the most mysterious human structures ever discovered , Göbekli Tepe was in all likelihood built in 10,000 BCE , and is located in today ’s southern Turkey . A series of nest , round walls and stele , or monolith , carve evocatively with animals , the placeprobably served as a temple for nomadic tribesin the orbit . It was not a lasting mansion , though it ’s possible a few priests endure there all year . It is the first permanent human - built complex body part that we have ever found , and plausibly represented the summit of the local Mesopotamian civilization of its era . What were masses worshiping there ? When did they come ? Were they there to do something other than adoration ? We may never have a go at it , but archaeologists are work severely to find out .
https://gizmodo.com/the-mysterious-remains-of-one-of-the-worlds-first-organ-5816128
7 . Angkor
Most people have hear of the brilliant temple Angkor Wat in Cambodia . But it was only one pocket-size part of a monumental urban civilization during the Khmer Empire name Angkor . The city flourished during the former halfway years , from 1000 - 1200 AD , and may have supported up to a million the great unwashed . There are a set of good reason why Angkor may have fall , ranging from war to born cataclysm . Now most of it lies beneath the jungle . A marvel of architecture and Hindu culture , the city is inscrutable mostly because we still are n’t certain how many people live there . Given all the roadstead and canals connect its many regions , some archeologist believe it may have been the biggest urban land site in the world at its pinnacle .
8 . The Turquoise Mountain
Though not every crumble monument represent a lost civilization , some of them do . Such is the casing withthe Minaret of Jam , a gorgeous architectural exploit build in the 1100s as part of a urban center in Afghanistan , where archaeologic remains suggest that it was a universal region where many organized religion , including Jews , Christians , and Muslims , lived together harmoniously for hundreds of years . It ’s possible that the incredible minaret was part of the lost knightly uppercase of Afghanistan , call Turquoise Mountain .
9 . Niya
Now a desolate spot in the Taklamakan Desert of Xinjiang responsibility in China , 1600 years ago Niya was a booming metropolis in an oasis along the famous Silk Road . For the past two centuries , archaeologists have reveal numberless gem in the dusty , shatter cadaver of what was once a graceful town full of wooden houses and synagogue . In a sense , Niya is a relic of the lost civilization of the early Silk Road , a trade route that link China with Central Asia , Africa , and Europe . Many groups travel the Silk Road , from wealthy merchants and spiritual pilgrims to scholars and scientists , exchanging theme and creating a complex , enlightened culture everywhere the 4,000 naut mi Silk Road passed . The itinerary undergo many changes , but its importance as a trade itinerary decline as the Mongol Empire collapsed in the 1300s . Traders afterwards preferred sea path for business deal with China .
10 . Nabta Playa
From 7000 and 6500 BCE , an unbelievable urban community arose in what is today the Egyptian Sahara . The people who live there domesticate kine , farmed , created detailed ceramic , and left behind stone roach that offer evidence that their civilization include astronomers as well . Archaeologists consider the peoples of Nabta Playa were likely the precursor civilization for the great Nile city that originate in Egypt thousands of yr by and by . Though the Nabta civilization is today place in an arid neighborhood , itarose at a time when monsoon patterns had tilt , fill the playa with a lake and making it possible for a big finish to bloom .
anthropologyArchaeologyHistory
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