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Perhaps I'm missing something, but my problem with this is that if you go back to 1AD, then most of the world is blank, e.g. suggesting that there was no histor

Perhaps I'm missing something, but my problem with this is that if you go back to 1AD, then most of the world is blank, e.g. suggesting that there was no history in Africa and N and S America.

shipman05 4y ago
"there was no history in Africa and N and S America" By most definitions of history that is a true statement. Wonderful and rich civilizations may have filled those blanks areas, but if there were no written accounts that survive to the modern day (or at the very least oral traditions that were eventually written down), they are by definition "pre-historic". The study of those peoples is left to the realm of archaeology and anthropology, not history. We know even less about those pre-historic civilizations that built using materials that do not stand the test of time (wood, thatch, mud, etc).
- brokencode 4y ago
  That’s part of what I find so fascinating about this map. It’s amazing to see how little we know about the world as it was even 2000 years ago.
  - KineticLensman 4y ago
    But we do know, it's just not shown on this page! E.g. the Mayan and Aztec civilisations. There is a massive amount of history than can be traced to the physical structures they built. One cannot seriously claim that there was no History in Britain until the Romans arrived (or that nothing was / is known about it), which is what this map suggests. The ancient Greek Pytheas [0] visited Britain in approx 330 BC. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pytheas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pytheas
    - brokencode 4y ago
      It shows labels in the regions, just not borders. I’m assuming this is because the exact borders are unknown. Try zooming in more to see the labels.
    - shipman05 4y ago
      The map clearly shows Mayan and Teotihuacanan civilizations in pre-colonial eras. Is the map perfect? Of course not, but I'm confused by your insistence that it's ignoring Mayan and Aztec civilizations when it plainly shows them and their predecessors.
- KineticLensman 4y ago
  > but if there were no written accounts that survive to the modern day There were plenty of written histories outside Europe at 1AD. E.g. the Mayan civilisation [0]. Their counting system has been traced back to 1000BC. > The study of those peoples is left to the realm of archaeology and anthropology, not history There is still no excuse for pretty much the whole of America being blank until about the 15th Century. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#Writing_and_literacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#Writing_and_...
  - brokencode 4y ago
    It’s not blank. Zoom in to see the labels for different cultures on the map. There just aren’t any defined borders.
  - shipman05 4y ago
    No disagreement, but from what I can tell the map does indeed show Mesoamerican civilizations for which we have written records.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but my problem with this is that if you go back to 1AD, then most of the world is blank, e.g. suggesting that there was no history in Africa and N and S America.

shipman05 4y ago

"there was no history in Africa and N and S America" By most definitions of history that is a true statement. Wonderful and rich civilizations may have filled those blanks areas, but if there were no written accounts that survive to the modern day (or at the very least oral traditions that were eventually written down), they are by definition "pre-historic". The study of those peoples is left to the realm of archaeology and anthropology, not history. We know even less about those pre-historic civilizations that built using materials that do not stand the test of time (wood, thatch, mud, etc).

brokencode 4y ago
That’s part of what I find so fascinating about this map. It’s amazing to see how little we know about the world as it was even 2000 years ago.
- KineticLensman 4y ago
  But we do know, it's just not shown on this page! E.g. the Mayan and Aztec civilisations. There is a massive amount of history than can be traced to the physical structures they built. One cannot seriously claim that there was no History in Britain until the Romans arrived (or that nothing was / is known about it), which is what this map suggests. The ancient Greek Pytheas [0] visited Britain in approx 330 BC. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pytheas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pytheas
  - brokencode 4y ago
    It shows labels in the regions, just not borders. I’m assuming this is because the exact borders are unknown. Try zooming in more to see the labels.
  - shipman05 4y ago
    The map clearly shows Mayan and Teotihuacanan civilizations in pre-colonial eras. Is the map perfect? Of course not, but I'm confused by your insistence that it's ignoring Mayan and Aztec civilizations when it plainly shows them and their predecessors.
KineticLensman 4y ago
> but if there were no written accounts that survive to the modern day There were plenty of written histories outside Europe at 1AD. E.g. the Mayan civilisation [0]. Their counting system has been traced back to 1000BC. > The study of those peoples is left to the realm of archaeology and anthropology, not history There is still no excuse for pretty much the whole of America being blank until about the 15th Century. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#Writing_and_literacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#Writing_and_...
- brokencode 4y ago
  It’s not blank. Zoom in to see the labels for different cultures on the map. There just aren’t any defined borders.
- shipman05 4y ago
  No disagreement, but from what I can tell the map does indeed show Mesoamerican civilizations for which we have written records.