Civilization, from which almost nothing left.
Many of us in school times agitated the historian stories about the peoples and civilizations that inhabited our planet tens of centuries ago.
Hard to imagine, but people loved, had children, fought, killed, and all that was left of them — a few bricks and a couple of ceramic shards.
Maya
A classic example of civilization, a large part of the heritage of which irretrievably lost. Amazingly beautiful palaces and entire cities of once powerful people who inhabited the Yucatan Peninsula (present-day Mexico, Belize and Guatemala), now almost destroyed or absorbed by the jungle. The heyday of the Mayan civilization occurred in the first Millennium of our era: they created a complex calendar, invented the alphabet and mathematical formulas, developed the engineering design, allowing them to build huge pyramids and multi-level systems of irrigation of agricultural land. Gradual extinction of civilization began about 900 year, that is, long before the visit of Christopher Columbus to the Americas. Historians still don’t know exactly what caused the loss of its former power and the death of Maya, however, according to some versions, blame, civil wars and a deteriorating climate, which resulted in the famine, and the Maya were forced to leave their city.
India civilization
One of the greatest civilizations of antiquity is also called the Harappan (Harappa was one of its centers). The number of inhabitants of the Indus valley in the heyday of civilization attained 5 million people — about 10% of the total world population at the time. Harappa could boast of a developed metallurgy, monumental architecture, sculpture, painting and unique script which, by the way, is still not deciphered. India people actively traded with Mesopotamia, Sumer, Arabia and Central Asian States. A high level of culture and industry did not save the Harappan civilization from destruction: approximately 3.5 thousand years ago most of the population of the valley moved Southeast, leaving a huge city with wide avenues, tall buildings and water system. The most likely reason for the departure of Harappa from their homes is considered to be the deterioration of natural conditions. For several centuries, the settlers have lost almost all the achievements of their ancestors, and the last native speakers of the Harappan culture was destroyed by invading Aryans.
Easter Island
The colonization of the Islands began, according to some data, about 300-th year of our era, the first inhabitants came from Eastern Polynesia on huge boats that allowed you to overcome great distances. Before coming to Rapa Nui (the local name for the Islands) Europeans, there lived two tribes: “long-eared”, which created the famous statues, the moai, and “short-eared”, which was actually in the position of slaves. In the XVI-th century “short-eared” uprising, in which almost all representatives of the ruling nation was destroyed and their culture and the writing system quickly fell into disrepair. Now about the civilization of ancient ramanujam is practically unknown. According to scientists, its heyday was very short-lived and ended with the deforestation of about 1,200-year, after which the population began to decline — most have moved to other Islands, and the rest finished off “short-eared”.
Çatalhöyük, Which
Çatalhöyük, one of the oldest cities in the world: its history began more than 9.5 thousand years ago. The town was part of a well-developed Neolithic civilization that existed on the territory of modern Turkey. From most other settlements of the period çatalhöyük, which has a unique architecture: the city had the streets in the modern sense of the word, houses were built close to each other, and walked them through the roof. Residents were engaged in farming, grew wheat and beans, gathered nuts and fruits. Most of the tools they were made of obsidian, and provided them and other settlements. Çatalhöyük, which for its time was a true metropolis, its population numbered about ten thousand people, and archaeological evidence shows the complex socio-political structure of cities and developed culture. That forced the inhabitants to leave the city with over 2000 years of history, is unknown.
Cahokia mounds state historic site
Located in the American state of Illinois, the Cahokia mounds are all that remains of the civilization of the Indians that existed here long before the arrival of Europeans. Cahokia mounds state historic site for a long time was the largest city in North America, its area amounted to more than 15 km2 and the population reached 40 thousand people. 109 mounds have survived to our time, is part of the ceremonial complex, where he held various religious festivals. In the center of the complex is the famous four-tiered Monks mound, the dimensions of which are truly Grand and 28 meters in height and 290 meters in length. Some archaeological findings indicate that Indians from the banks of the Mississippi were fine artists, sculptors and architects. They have created jewelry of copper and shells, adorn the walls of temples skillful designs and pictures of gods and even have developed a complex system of irrigation, which used the water of the rivers Mississippi and Illinois. About 1,200-year residents began to leave the city, according to some scientists, because of the appalling sanitary situation, which has caused numerous epidemics and famine.
Göbekli Tepe
The temple complex of Göbekli Tepe was built, probably about ten thousand years BC. This is one of the most mysterious structures of ancient times — it is practically unknown. “Pot-bellied hill” (so translated the name of the archaeological monument) is located in the South-East of modern Turkey. Around the Hill and found no traces of a settlement, so historians believe that it served as the main religious building of the local nomadic tribes. Most likely, the temple lived a few of the clergy, and nomads came here to perform rites and rituals. The temple is built in the form of concentric circles, the surface of columns decorated with relief images of animals and people. Currently only explored about 5% of the site, so archaeologists have yet to answer many questions, chief among them — which the people created it and who prayed in this temple.
Angkor
Angkor Wat is one of the most famous attractions of Cambodia, but not everyone knows that the temple complex was once part of the huge city of Angkor, capital of the Khmer Empire. The heyday of Angkor came in the 1,000 to 1,200 years BC, and its population, according to some estimates, reached one million man — probably in his time it was the largest city in the world. There are different versions as to why the city went into decline — from war to natural disasters. A large part of the ruins representing the wonderful specimens of Hindu architecture, overgrown with jungle, making them difficult to study.
Firuzkuh
Jamski magnificent minaret — the only one still intact building of the city of Firuzkuh (“turquoise mountain”), capital of the Ghurid Empire, which included the territory of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. The minaret was built in the late XII century to commemorate the victory of Sultan GIAS-ad-DIN over the Ghaznavids and was one of the main religious buildings of the city, but within a few decades the army of Genghis Khan wiped Firuzkuh the face of the earth, and the minaret is long forgotten. Unfortunately, due to the inaccessibility of the monument and the unstable situation in Afghanistan, archaeologists still can’t start a full-fledged excavations in the area. Recently, experts have sounded the alarm: floods and earthquakes can destroy the minaret, therefore, urgently develops a system of measures for its strengthening and restoration, because it is one of a kind example of a medieval culture of the Ghurids.
Niya
More than 1.5 thousand years ago Niya was a flourishing oasis, which was where the caravans along the Great silk road, although guess it’s hard — there’s a desert in the middle of which is a small village of Niya, a part of Sintszjan Uygur Autonomous region of China. The desert hid the ruins of wooden houses, temples and palaces, so the existence of this huge city for a long time no one suspected. Niya has become a real treasure for archaeologists here found traces of many cultures and peoples, which connected the silk road. The city came thousands of merchants, scholars, pilgrims and adventurers of all kinds that turned him into a boiling cauldron, in which “cooked” the civilizations of China, Europe, Africa and Central Asia. Gradually, the silk road lost its importance: the merchants increasingly prefer sea travel, so nya fell into disrepair. Now the remnants of this unique cultural and historical education thoroughly studied by the archaeologists.
Settlement on Nabta Playa
Hard to believe, but in modern day Sahara once lived a people with a highly developed culture and science — this is evidenced by the remains of an ancient Observatory, which was presumably constructed 7-6,5 thousand years BC. Inhabitants of the settlement on the shores of lake Nabta Playa know how to burn and paint ceramics, was engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture. Astronomical construction, which is a thousand years older than Stonehenge, allowed the inhabitants of these places to determine the summer solstice, which each year has followed the spill of the lake — so they knew that it was time to move to “winter quarters.” Like many other ancient cities, the settlement on lake Nabta Playa killed the climate gradually became more arid, and, in the end, people left these places.
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