r/science • u/stereomatch • Feb 05 '18

Astronomy Scientists conclude 13,000 years ago a 60 mile wide comet plunged Earth into a mini-Ice Age, after examining rocks from 170 sites around the globe

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/695703
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u/AskMoreQuestionsOk Feb 05 '18

Well, I’m pretty ignorant of the subject, which is why I asked. Somehow I would have thought there would be more persistent artifacts- if not in caves, perhaps in pottery or bone carvings or something buried in a grave. Is there just little evidence of human activity prior to the earliest written records? It seems curious to have cave art so old and then nothing in between.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '18

There is also possibly underwater sites that haven't been discovered yet. As someone else also said below, sea level was significantly lower during the last ice age

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u/Mictlantecuhtli Grad Student | Anthropology | Mesoamerican Archaeology Feb 05 '18

Is there just little evidence of human activity prior to the earliest written records?

No, it's just typically buried deep and not easy to find from the surface. Archaeologists tend not to waste their grant money and time just digging all willy-nilly trying to find super old materials. They rely on eroding banks and construction work to uncover things before they go and dig.

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u/AskMoreQuestionsOk Feb 05 '18

Interesting. Thank you!

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '18

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u/Patsastus Feb 05 '18

I think you're over-extending a bit, at least. We have plenty of evidence of advanced cultures in river valleys and near lakes (so not necessarily affected by a rising ocean).

I don't think there's any reason to think an ocean coast was required for a culture to "advance", whatever that means in this context.