It's long been theorized that the Sea Peoples were responsible for the collapse. They weren't a single people but rather a confederation of residents from islands to the west. They did attack Egypt and other big civilizations, but it doesn't seem like they were actually the root cause. In essence they just had the misfortune to be displaced.
This is an odd time period to think about. There was already a sophisticated system of trade, and densely built cities. Yet the players on the world stage weren't the ones we'd recognize. For example, it wouldn't make sense at this stage to talk about Europe and Asia in the way we know about them. The Iron Age and the rise of the Roman Empire really would change everything. As the letters in which you're reading this show.
2 comments:
The book sounds pretty fascinating and although I haven't read it myself I have been interested in ancient history for a number of years. A month or so ago I happened across a phys.org article about a Bronze Age site in Central Europe that consisted of at least 100 separate interconnected communities.
The fact there were so many hillforts throughout prehistoric Europe indicate the large populations living in the Bronze Age weren't necessarily peaceful. The Sea People, real or not, might have met their match if they came up against tribes that were well armed (and not only with bronze - there's been evidence hardened steel was forged near the end of the era and a thousand years before Rome). It's hard to surmise much when all we're left with are foundation stones and piles of rubble.
We know so very little about the world in which we live. Much of what Graham Hancock has surmised may turn out not to be true but what he has done is to allow us to consider some pretty wild alternatives as real possibilities. The good thing about the Bronze Age is that although so much of their architecture is rubble now they at least kept records on clay tablets. You have to wonder just how much of our civilization will be comprehensible a couple of thousand years down the road.
As Bill Bryson said, “There are three stages in scientific discovery. First, people deny that it is true, then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.”
That is a very interesting article about the dig in Kacarevo. Although it's not really in the "heart of Europe" as the article calls it, but rather on its Eastern side in Serbia. But it's a cool snapshot of the ancient world. I'd like to find out more about this culture they've located.
Yes, it does look like they were living in a dangerous and somewhat warlike world. Villages that didn't build behind some kind of fort or natural defense could find themselves regularly raided, or worse. The way that differing metals and new alloys were used in the making of swords constitutes a serious pre-classical arms race. There's probably a lot we'll never know about these people, but we can get a feel of the places where they were present.
Yeah, I don't know about much of Hancock's suspicious claims, and he can say some pretty far-fetched things. But he's thinking on the right level for dealing with big events and bygone times. The clay tablets turn out to be quite informative, at least to people who understand the language and the writing system. Much of our civilization's records is tied up in electronic media. That's fine as things are going smoothly. But at some point things are going to break down and these records and annals will be sealed off because no one knows how to advertise them.
Bryson is right, of course. Miscrediting and misblaming are frequent syndromes. Science isn't uniquely prey to this, but isn't collectively immune either.
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