As strange as it may seem, departures without a trace and mass disappearances are something as common as it is bizarre in human history. Numerous groups of people ended up disappearing suddenly, and often for mysterious reasons. Entire civilizations have already been wiped off the map, as have their cities and empires.
Archaeologists are trying to retrace the steps of its inhabitants and reconstruct what exactly happened, to see if we can find a cause and, more importantly, a way to stop this from happening to our own civilization. I'm Donato de Paula, narrator of Mistérios do Mundo, and here are 10 of those civilizations that mysteriously disappeared. If you like the video, don't forget to like, subscribe to the Mistérios do Mundo channel and turn on notifications.
Clovis Culture If you've ever taken a walk through the deserts of New Mexico, you may have wondered why on earth a civilization would have decided to live there before the advent of air conditioning. But as strange as it may seem, this area, in addition to being an extensive land, was the territory of one of the first American civilizations, the Clovis people, who were named after the modern city of Clovis, in New Mexico, United States. Archaeological finds of many objects and weapons were made in this region, quite sophisticated artifacts for the time, from 9,050 to 8,800 BC.
These same tools were found throughout much of North America, meaning this group was quite widespread. But they ended up disappearing. The main theory is that the group, due to its great extension, ended up branching, as occurred in Rome and, eventually, evolved into distinct peoples in different places, making the Clovis people the precursors of many other Native American cultures.
This hypothesis is supported because genetic connections with the Clovis people have been found in the remains of even South American peoples. Chachahayuk These people were part of a Neolithic civilization that lived in what is now modern Turkey from 7,500 to 5,700 BC. They lived in mud-brick houses, which were entered through the roof, possibly through a wooden staircase.
Everything is preserved on a 34- acre archaeological site. Traffic between the houses was carried out above them, as there were no streets. All the residences were very similar, which indicates that this civilization distributed its wealth, a utopia where leaders seemed to have no space.
It is not known exactly what happened to the population, which reached 8 thousand people at its peak. There are no literary records or anything that could suggest what actually contributed to the mysterious disappearance. Nabataeans Semites are people who belong to a certain group of ancient languages, which include Arabic, Hebrew and others.
One such group was the Nabataean culture, which had existed since at least 312 BC, and is mentioned as having been attacked by the Macedonians. This ancient and apparently forgotten kingdom crossed the territories of Syria, Arabia and Palestine, becoming quite complex. The Nabataean script eventually developed over the centuries to become modern Arabic, and it was only recently that we were able to retrace its trajectory.
They established vast trade routes and became an extremely technologically advanced civilization, with large water systems that helped them survive the arid Arabian climate. They left behind massive structures that aligned with celestial bodies, proof that these people had advanced mathematical and astronomical knowledge. The Nabataeans ruled their empire from the stunning and unexplored city of Petra, in modern-day Jordan.
Towards the end of their history, they became strong allies of the powerful Roman Empire. It is believed that the Nabataeans were annexed to the empire itself, but the formal reasons and exact manner of annexation are still a mystery. Cucuteni Culture Between approximately 5,400 and 2,700 BC, a society known as the Cucuteni-Tripilian Culture lived in the areas of what is today Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, more specifically in the Carpathian Mountains.
Curiously, this group also disappeared from the face of the Earth. They were a primitive civilization that depended heavily on agriculture and nearby water supplies, like every civilization that was just beginning. They had a religion of their own and were proficient in many arts, including sculpture and pottery.
While investigating the ruins left behind by this civilization, archaeologists noticed something strange. These ancient people deliberately burned down their settlements every few years. It is not known why.
Before its strange disappearance under completely unknown circumstances, this enormous culture spanned an impressive 350,000 square kilometers. Rapanui Without a doubt, this is the most famous of cultural disappearances. The Rapanui people consisted of the original inhabitants of Easter Island, which left us the famous statues that the whole world knows and admires.
The Polynesian people inhabited the island, which now belongs to Chile, although it is 3,500 kilometers from the mainland. Due to their absolute remoteness, the Rapanui supposedly disappeared due to starvation, caused by excessive use of resources. The destruction of the Easter Island ecosystem by rats has also been cited as the culprit, as it is also believed that the Rapanui traveled to another remote island, thousands of kilometers away, to start a new settlement.
It is not known exactly how they disappeared, but the truth may well be a combination of the many proposed explanations. Minoans Coming from the Greek island of Crete, the Minoans were an ancient Bronze Age civilization that existed between 3,000 and 1,000 BC, long before the Golden Age of Athens and Alexander the Great. The Minoans were precursors of the Greeks of the well-known Ancient Greece, so famous in our history books.
They also had a pagan culture, practicing animal sacrifices, burning offerings, and holding many cults and music and dance festivals. There are mentions of the Minoans in Egyptian hieroglyphics, which means that they definitely circulated in the ancient world, and had technologies of high value for the time. Theories suggest they were wiped out by a volcanic eruption on the islands of Santorini, near Crete.
Herodotus, the famous Greek historian, writes that they were felled by plagues and disease, but there is simply no telling what happened to them, as Herodotus wrote many centuries after the people of this island had disappeared. Anasazi The Anasazi culture of southwestern North America left behind many structures and artifacts to be found before they disappear. Archaeologists believe climate change has made already difficult conditions even worse, making access to water difficult.
Massive structures were built into cliffs and left completely abandoned, having been found in relatively pristine condition. These structures were perfectly useful when war was going to break out, as the Anasazi could climb them and be many stories above the invading tribes, being able to set their enemies on fire with impunity. Many Native American tribes, as well as some scholars, claim that the Anasazes never really disappeared.
They have only just reached the critical mass of how large a society can become, before inevitably splitting into smaller fractions and becoming new groups of people. Very similar to Ancient Rome. They believe that certain tribes that survive today are direct descendants of the Anasazi people.
Olmecs were the first great Mesoamerican civilization, and their culture was as rich as it was unusual. They left us many structures and artifacts, and their prominence lasted from 1200 to 400 BC, with a society based on sacred religious practices for which they built similar temples, the pyramids. Like the Polynesian people of Easter Island, they also carved massive stone heads, some of them even 10 feet tall and weighing up to 8 tons.
Much of this culture has been lost over time, and we don't even really know how they called themselves or even about their language. Omeca is a term the Aztecs had to refer to them centuries after their disappearance, which roughly translates to rubber people. Even more interesting is the fact that not a single trace of those who lived there remains.
Not even bones were found. We can only estimate how this civilization lived through its artifacts. Nabitaplaya About 11,000 to 6,000 years ago, in what is now southern Egypt, lived the people of Nabta Playa, a largely nomadic Neolithic group.
Deep in the Nubian Desert lies one of the oldest stone circles in the world. It is there that there is evidence of the origin of the astronomical knowledge of the Egyptian civilization itself. The climate of the Nabta Playa basin provided an abundance of water at some points of the year, and then complete drought at others.
Eventually, the people settled and inhabited the area as a civilization. However, climate change has made the area almost entirely dry, leaving only the stone circles as traces of a civilization that once lived there. Khmer Empire Throughout history, the Khmer Empire is one of the most recent disappearances that have occurred.
The empire existed between the years 802 and 1431 in Southeast Asia, encompassing the modern countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. They had a mixed culture of Buddhists and Indians, which emerged through centuries of warfare. The Khmer Empire erected some of the most astonishing temples and monuments in Southeast Asia today, many of which are in near-perfect condition.
However, like others on this list, the Khmer Empire also declined and disappeared. But what happened to them? Well, some researchers have noted that migrating Thai people may have slowly overtaken the Khmer people, much like Germanic tribes slowly infiltrating the western half of the Roman Empire over time.
Others blamed the constant internal wars that the empire had on cultural differences, while other studies also point to possible changes in climatic conditions that altered people's access to rainwater, causing mass migration. Hypotheses vary according to why each of these civilizations fell, but the truth is that no one really knows for sure. What we have left is to fuel our fertile imagination about who would have lived and what kind of history they left for us.
Which of these civilizations did you enjoy learning about the most? Tell us in the comments! Until next time!
