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Lost Civilisations


Panjandrum

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What is your favourite 'lost' civilisation? Which culture would you like to know more about? Do you believe that a lost culture has anything to teach those cultures which have survived, or do you beleive that anything they may have had of worth would be either so outdated as to be useless, or else already incorporated into modern societies?

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A civilization not lost, yet remote, would be the Dogon tribe of Africa. The tribe has only of late allowed social scientists into their region. Yes, the Dogon would qualify to teach others. Their tribal drawings contain drawings of Sirius A (a large and bright star also called the Dog Star) and Sirius B its companion.

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What is your favourite 'lost' civilisation? Which culture would you like to know more about? Do you believe that a lost culture has anything to teach those cultures which have survived, or do you beleive that anything they may have had of worth would be either so outdated as to be useless, or else already incorporated into modern societies?

 

The Anasazi's :eek:

We know a bit about them, but we don't know what happened to them?? :confused: They vanished...or assimilated into other cultures?

Perhaps it was a result of years of drought.

 

Here is a link Panj. Scroll down a little bit :) , I visited the Cliff Palace near Mesa Verde. :hihi: (I lived in Pueblo, Colorado for a few years as a kid, and the place was fascinating to me.)

Since then I have read a couple books, and admire their culture and adaptation to harsh environments.

 

http://www.crystalinks.com/anasazi.html

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Ive heard of the Anasazi, and I agree they are an interesting puzzle. To build such elaborate cliff-dwellings with the 'technology' available to them is quite a feat.

 

TBD, a lost civilisation is one which has no known modern successor, and about which little is known. Thus, the Maya and the Khanate of the Golden Horde both qualify, but ancient Greece does not.

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A civilization not lost, yet remote, would be the Dogon tribe of Africa. The tribe has only of late allowed social scientists into their region. Yes, the Dogon would qualify to teach others. Their tribal drawings contain drawings of Sirius A (a large and bright star also called the Dog Star) and Sirius B its companion.

This is a very controversial matter. It seems that myth and fact have become thoroughly intertwined. There isn't much proof to suggest that the Dogon really had this knowledge before they came into contact with outsiders. It has been suggested that they actually got their information from visiting Europeans to begin with, and then repeated this knowledge when their mythology was recorded later on. The Wikipedia article provides some interesting information.

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What is your favourite 'lost' civilisation? Which culture would you like to know more about? Do you believe that a lost culture has anything to teach those cultures which have survived, or do you beleive that anything they may have had of worth would be either so outdated as to be useless, or else already incorporated into modern societies?

 

I morn the loss of the cultures of central and Southern American Indian- Aztecs-Incas.

The thought that some dumb arsed priest burned their library fills me with disgust and sadness. Now we have to piece together the languages from glyphs on temples.

Very sad

I think they could have taught us much. Look at the most amazing impact of Amazonian Terra preta farmers have to say to us now. Ancient farming practices more advanced than our own for the given environment. Quite incredible.

 

In my own country I mourn the loss of so much of the Aboriginal knowledge of the continent and for their continuing degradation.

 

Genocide sucks

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I would agree that the Maya were a worthy civilisation, but I cant think of anything of value to mourn about the loss of the Aztecs, or of the Aboriginals for that matter. Its not like they ever developed... well, anything.

 

The problem is we will never know will we?

Do they have to be useful to us to escape genocide and cultural oblivion?

 

The Aztecs had amazing botanical gardens. Covering hundreds of acres. They crossed and bred thousands of plants-medicinal and otherwise useful. The reason we have over 2,000 varieties of Chillie is because of their breeding programme. Chillie and chocolate were much venerated.

"The Bandianus Manuscript" is an early Spanish book on their botany It was was hidden (All Spanish knowledge of the new World was a State Secret) and re-found in the Vatican library in 1930. I have a copy but it is too hard to work out the medicinal plants mentioned. I believe that Dover has recently issued a re-print.

 

Australian Aborigines had/have an affinity with the land that is unsurpassed.

Australian geography and environment have great and special challenges. (No tourist survives a few days in the Outback)

Europeans are now just realising this. Aborigines had it all worked out- they were able to survive on a few hours of work per day and spend a lot of their time developing a deep spirituality.

In fact we now know they created the Australian flora. They had a huge pharmacopoeia of botanical drugs and useful plants (One berry recently tested had 10,000 times the vitamin C content of oranges). A lot of this knowledge has been lost.

They used art to express their stories of the land. Some of the earliest art known exists in Australia

Weapons like spear throwers and the aerodynamics of the boomerang are unique.

 

All this, and I know nothing about either race

--

Michael

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...I cant think of anything of value to mourn about the loss of the Aztecs...Its not like they ever developed... well, anything.
That's odd. For someone who seems to find so much glee in the deaths of innocents, I would have thought you'd be quite fond of the Aztecs...

 

Honoring the superiority of teenage intellect,

Buffy

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That's odd. For someone who seems to find so much glee in the deaths of innocents, I would have thought you'd be quite fond of the Aztecs...

 

Honoring the superiority of teenage intellect,

Buffy

Hopefully Panjandrum just worded it poorly,although there is not a lot of wiggle room there...As far as I understand the Aztecs attained a high degree of development in engineering, architecture, art, mathematics, and astronomy.The amazing Chinampa(floating garden)was a unique development,and an ingenious way to fed the people. The chinampas were so effective at producing, that there were often food surpluses.

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I would agree that the Maya were a worthy civilisation, but I cant think of anything of value to mourn about the loss of the Aztecs, or of the Aboriginals for that matter. Its not like they ever developed... well, anything.
What things of significance have you developed lately Panj? Should we mourn your loss if for one reason or another we should loose you??

.............................Infy

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