Civilizations ended by environmental collapse
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: General History
Forum Name: General World History
Forum Discription: All aspects of world history, especially topics that span across many regions or periods
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4895
Printed Date: 10-May-2024 at 15:31
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Topic: Civilizations ended by environmental collapse
Posted By: Decebal
Subject: Civilizations ended by environmental collapse
Date Posted: 07-Aug-2005 at 23:27
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I was wondering if any of you know of civilizations whose end can be directly or indirectly traced to environmental collapse. Off the top of my head, I can think of Nubia, Mayans and the Khmers. Also, the Middle East has lost its prominent role in world civilization due in large part to environmental degradation.
Could you give more examples of this, and elaborate on the causes and circumstances of the event? ------------- What is history but a fable agreed upon? Napoleon Bonaparte Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.- Mohandas Gandhi 
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Replies:
Posted By: Tobodai
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 00:05
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Easter Island, Tanganyka, Anasazi. ------------- "the people are nothing but a great beast... I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value." -Alexander Hamilton |
Posted By: Maju
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 00:26
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It's assumed that the ancient capital of Ghana, Kumbi-Kumbi or Kumbi
Saleh is buried somewhere under the sands of the Sahara in Mauritania -
though the inmediate cause of its fall seems to have been islamization
under the Almoravids. ------------- 
NO GOD, NO MASTER! |
Posted By: Belisarius
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 02:39
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The Minoan civilization was ended before of earthquakes that occured all over the island of Crete.
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Posted By: vagabond
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 04:08
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As Tobodei said - the Anasazi - Most probably erosion of the topsoil due to deforestation and then drought caused famine, famine caused warfare and internal strife - and left them vulnerable to outside attack. Link to some discussion of their culture: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1578&PN=4 - http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1578& ; ;PN=4
------------- In the time of your life, live - so that in that wonderous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it. (Saroyan) |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 08:10
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Vikings on Greenland
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Posted By: Perseas
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 09:05
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The Harappan civilization of India's Indus River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harappan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harappan ------------- A mathematician is a person who thinks that if there are supposed to be three people in a room, but five come out, then two more must enter the room in order for it to be empty. |
Posted By: The Guardian
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 12:52
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what happened to them?
------------- It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up. &nb |
Posted By: Kenaney
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 13:23
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Pompei in Italy? ------------- OUT OF LIMIT |
Posted By: yan.
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 13:55
| Everything before Noah's Ark |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 14:25
they died most likely caused by a decline in temperature. ------------- |
Posted By: Tobodai
Date Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 19:26
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And also they were displaced by the Inuit settlers, who had a better adapted lifestyle for the environment of Greenland. ------------- "the people are nothing but a great beast... I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value." -Alexander Hamilton |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 09-Aug-2005 at 06:40
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They were possibily even assimilated by the Inuit. Some explorers in
the 18th century noted Inuits with Scandinavian characteristics.
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Posted By: Berosus
Date Posted: 09-Aug-2005 at 21:39
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Jared Diamond fans, you all forgot a big one--classical Greece and
Rome. The lands around the Mediterranean have been so used,
misused and abused for the past 3,000+ years that the local ecology
just isn't what it used to be. Much of the topsoil has eroded
away, many forests were cut down, many species of animals have been
driven to extinction. Even the amount of rainfall appears to have
dropped over the ages. As early as the fourth century B.C., Plato
described the environmental damage done to Greece with these words:
"What now remains, compared with what existed, is like the skeleton of
a sick man, all the fat and soft earth wasted away and only the bare
framework of the land being left." By the time the Romans were
finished, the same could be said for the whole Mediterranean basin.
------------- Nothing truly great is achieved through moderation.--Prof. M.A.R. Barker |
Posted By: Belisarius
Date Posted: 09-Aug-2005 at 22:18
Yes, but the damaged ecosystem did not cause the fall of any civilizations. ------------- |
Posted By: Tobodai
Date Posted: 09-Aug-2005 at 23:18
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It certainly helps their fall, more than any political action ever could contribute to decline. ------------- "the people are nothing but a great beast... I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value." -Alexander Hamilton |
Posted By: Berosus
Date Posted: 10-Aug-2005 at 20:23
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And I think it made sure they didn't come back.
------------- Nothing truly great is achieved through moderation.--Prof. M.A.R. Barker |
Posted By: Idanthyrus
Date Posted: 25-Aug-2005 at 13:08
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The mighty Xiong-Nu empire can fault its rapid decline as much to unrelenting disease and environmental change as to Han armies. |
Posted By: Jalisco Lancer
Date Posted: 25-Aug-2005 at 14:11
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The Mayans ------------- |
Posted By: ITAIM
Date Posted: 27-Aug-2005 at 02:21
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Posted By: Illuminati
Date Posted: 27-Aug-2005 at 03:14
...........and he's back. Again. ------------- |
Posted By: Vivek Sharma
Date Posted: 19-Oct-2006 at 08:31
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The ancient saraswati civilization started to dwindle after the river Saraswati dried up in 1900 BC
------------- PATTON NAGAR, Brains win over Brawn |
Posted By: alexISS
Date Posted: 19-Oct-2006 at 08:42
I guess you earned the title of the Thread Revival Specialist, only problem is the forum is now full of zombie-like threads...  ------------- "Military justice is to justice what military music is to music" Groucho |
Posted By: Vivek Sharma
Date Posted: 19-Oct-2006 at 08:47
Reviving history of AE !
------------- PATTON NAGAR, Brains win over Brawn |