Scientific Theory Suggests There Might’ve Been A Civilization On Earth BEFORE Humans
Move over, aliens! Scientists are looking for lost civilizations that once inhabited Earth before humans ever made their first footprint. Could there have been others before us?
A ‘Dr. Who’ Reality
Never mind the question “are we alone in the universe?” — scientists are now asking whether we were even the first to build a civilized community here on Earth. This new speculation that another life-form once inhabited this vast
land has been dubbed the Silurian hypothesis. The Silurians were fictional but refer to the advanced, intelligent reptile species of the “Dr. Who” world. Scientists want to know if perhaps such a predecessor might have been here before us.
Are Humans Just A Blip?
The Earth, in all its glory, is only about 4.5 billion years old, compared to a universe that is roughly 13.8 billion years old. If humans have walked the Earth for only 300,000
of those years and have lived in an industrialized civilization for about 300 of those years, perhaps there was some kind of civilization before humans ever appeared on Earth. What were they like?
Dust In The Wind
Since human civilization is but a blip on the screen of existence, scientists are wondering if another advanced civilization was active in the past. They argue it would be easy to overlook, given
the length of time Earth has been around leaving billions of years of breadcrumbs. Kind of hard to spot a tiny breadcrumb among a silo of wheat, especially if you aren’t looking for it.
Something Buried Deep In The Earth
The hypothetical question then highlights what might be left behind from an earlier intelligent civilization. Surely there would be some kind of evidence if there had been advanced beings sometime in
the past. Perhaps there might be pottery, weapons, bones or equipment buried underneath layers of earth. It’s like the Yeti; there must be proof somewhere if it once existed. Wouldn’t there be?
A Hidden Society
According to scientists, it’s not that simple. Fossils are generally few and far between, making it easy to miss a civilization that hung around for only 100,000 years. Given that geological records only
go as far back as 2.6 million years, there would have been plenty of time when an industrialized civilization could have occurred. It just may be that no evidence has been found yet.
The Way Of The Dinosaurs
The idea there should be plenty of evidence to contribute as proof of another civilization before humans falls flat when compared to the dinosaur era. The dinosaurs reigned for roughly 180 million years, yet
only a handful of them have been found. So it would stand to reason that an advanced civilization living for a short amount of time might never be found. So has it been just us?
A World Before Us
The Silurian hypothesis asks just that. Scientists have proposed the question of whether or not we could find evidence of an earlier advanced civilization, though one has never been found before. This forced them
to look at how the planet changes with each new era and the effect it has on its inhabitants. Their study concluded that it is possible and further research should be done. What now?
Time To Do Some Digging
The reason they concluded it could be possible for there to have been an industrialized civilization before us humans came along boiled down to the simple fact the evidence might be so small
that if they aren’t looking for it, they may never see it. So now the idea is to expand on the hypothesis and find ways to look for the evidence if there is any.
A New Frontier
Since scientists have determined the likelihood of finding artifacts or fossils of such an advanced civilization may be close to impossible, they are suggesting that studies focus on a much
deeper level. By examining ancient sediment and specifically looking for the anomalies created by an advanced society, scientists just might find an intelligent civilization that existed long before we did.
Game Changer
The implications of a long lost industrialized civilization on Earth, possibly millions of years before humans, are huge. It opens up the idea that the untimely demise of one civilization might just
be planting the seeds for another to thrive. The Silurian hypothesis questions more than just who or what came before us, it questions who or what might come after us as well.
