Calamities Wiped Out Early Civilization

(AP)  Nature turned against one of America's early civilizations 3,600 years ago, when researchers say earthquakes and floods, followed by blowing sand, drove away residents of an area that is now in Peru.

"This maritime farming community had been successful for over 2,000 years, they had no incentive to change, and then all of a sudden, boom, they just got the props knocked out from under them," anthropologist Mike Moseley of the University of Florida said in a statement.

Moseley and colleagues were studying civilization of the Supe Valley along the Peruvian coast, which was established up to 5,800 years ago.

The people thrived on land adjacent to productive bays and estuaries, the researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Supe fished with nets, irrigated fruit orchards and grew cotton and a variety of vegetables, according to evidence found by research co-author Ruth Shady, a Peruvian archaeologist. They also built stone pyramids thousands of years before the better known Mayans.

But the Supe disappeared about 3,600 years ago and, after studying the region, the researchers think they know what happened.

They found that a massive earthquake, or series of quakes, struck the seismically active region, collapsing walls and floors and launching landslides from barren mountain ranges surrounding the valley.

In addition, layers of silt indicate massive flooding followed.

Then came El Nino, a periodic change in the winds and currents in the Pacific Ocean, which brought heavy rains that damaged irrigation systems and washed debris into the streams and down to the ocean, where the sand and silt settled into a large ridge, sealing off the previously rich coastal bays.

In the end, land where the Supe had lived for centuries became uninhabitable and their society collapsed, the researchers concluded.

The study was funded by the University of Florida and the Heyerdahl Exploration Fund, University of Maine.

[viscor]

"No kidding! It was called a global flood. Read all about it in Genesis. "

LOL, surely you must be kidding. I notice the absence of the word earthquake in Genesis. Shh! Let''s ignore that.

Additionally, you''re willing to accept scientific evidence of "the flood" while rejecting all the scientific evidence showing that it is impossible for "the flood" to have happened as described in your book. It must be nice to blindly accept some things while blindly dismissing others. I bet it makes life very simple for you.

Religion - "...blindly accept some things while blindly dismissing others..."

I think I''ll submit this definition to Webster''s.

[caldwellptr]

They didn''t disappear. They just went to NYC to play music in the NYC subways.

[baruchatta]

"...then you are a son of the devil because you have called the Son of God a liar...." Posted by matter77 at 01:22 PM : Jan 20, 2009
***
Hey, let me explain it to you "Lucy". I have a book. You have a book. Others have other books. Every book says in it that "THIS BOOK IS THE TRUTH". But hey, it''s better to respect the religion and culture of other people, than to curse.
If everyone has a book, then who is to say which is right, or which is more right than the other.
You have your faith, and that is good and I respect that. But you can not prove "faith" to another person. I respect that you have faith in your book. Please remember that I have a book too.

[eggy1620]

They burned too much poo & changed their climate. Nuff said.

[eggy1620]

Flreason, darin6977, MITDGreenb, do you hear that giant sucking sound? That is you being taken in by a serial joke poster.

[darin6977-2009]

Monothesim did not come about until long after this happened. And who says there is only one god? A book written why a bunch of wine swilling drunks that wanted to control their fellow peoples? Frak, people, more people have died fighting over religious beliefs than any other thing. Look at the Middle East right now. Fighting over Allah and Yawa like children arguing over a piece of candy. As far as you Christians go, I have met very few of you and see less of you as the years go by. You break your commandments at will and profess your sins only to do the same sin again and again. As an atheist, I am a better Christian than anyone I know that attends services every Sunday.

[matter77]

If you say the Bible was written by the Jews for the Jews and the Jews alone, then you are a son of the devil because you have called the Son of God a liar.

He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Luke 24:44

[flreason]

They upset God with their sinning ways and not following the ways of Jesus that he was so angry he wiped them from the face of the earth. So the lesson here is to be a good Christian and not upset God.
Posted by mrs_zambesi at 08:58 AM : Jan 20, 2009

The Supe civilization collapsed a millenium before Jesus of Nazareth was born. God didn''t punish them because they weren''t Christians...no one was at that point. The Earth is a living planet that bears the imprint of the Creator, and which is subject to the limitations of the laws of physics that provide some order in a chaotic universe. The molten core of the Earth, which is vital to the atmosphere which allows life to thrive, also affects the dynamic movement of the tectonic plates that lie beneath Earth''s crust. The movement of those plates is the cause of earthquakes. God doesn''t send natural disasters to punish us, they are a consequence of this marvelous and miraculous planet, in orbit around a middling star we call the sun, and subject to the laws of physics--reflecting a complex creation and Creator of which we only perceive or understand an infinitesimal portion.

[govwatch-2009]

"You thumpers are the most ignorant of ALL humans. The bible was written by the jews for the jews. I can see how they pulled the wool over your eyes, you people are followers and always will be. Baaaaaaaaaaa"

You are partially right, the Old Testament was for the Israelites but the New Testament was for everyone, even you.

[govwatch-2009]

No kidding! It was called a global flood. Read all about it in Genesis.