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> If an unknown long-dead civilization existed, I would think that their writing system and it’s influence would be one of the easiest ways to recognize them. W
by cbozeman 6y ago
> If an unknown long-dead civilization existed, I would think that their writing system and it’s influence would be one of the easiest ways to recognize them. Writing tends to be our best source of information on ancient civilizations.
This only works if you actually find the things they wrote. If those works are still trapped in ice or ground somewhere, potentially thousands of feet or more underground, we may never find them. That's even assuming they used writing materials that would be preserved.
- rmah 6y agoWell sure. And there may have been a dino civilization. But without evidence, what's the point of speculating?
- cbozeman 6y agoOkay Dr. Grant, I'm pretty sure the velociraptors didn't have an advanced civilization...
- wl 6y agoAnd their writings have to survive. Look at Mesopotamia, where writing began with cuneiform impressions in clay. We've got lots of clay tablets because those survive well when buried. When Imperial Aramaic written on parchment began to supplant Akkadian cuneiform, we lose a lot of the written record. It's created an odd situation where the written documentation of the second millennium BCE is often better than the first millennium BCE.