Well our ancestors... probably not OUR ancestors unless you have family from Australia and Indonesia... did actually encounter something that we would probably call a dragon.

Lets give a warm welcome to Megalania. LINK

The largest lizard we have discovered to ever crawl on the face of the planet, this bad boy probably averaged being about 18 ft long and weighing in at a svelte 1300 pounds (though estimates are a particularly robust one might tip more then 4000 pounds). Did I mention it was probably venomous as well?

The Megalania shared its territory (Godforsaken Australia, the only continent where everything is actively trying to kill you) with other Megafauna such as the Quinkana (a 20 ft long crocodile that had evolved longer legs and was a land predator) and the dreaded Marsupial Lion, the mammal with the greatest bite force ever found. We won't even discuss the giant carnivore kangaroos.

All three species, along with the rest of the Megafauna of Australia, went extinct when modern humans arrived on the continent and decided they could live without giant poisonous lizards as neighbors thank you.

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Posted by Woodreaux

OC California

Member since Jan 2008

2790 posts

Posted on 11/16/18 at 10:54 am to thatguy45

quote:
Were the civilizations of the ancient world closer together than we think them to be? Or is it something else?

Yeah, they were close: technologically. The ancient world and prehistoric humans followed the same general settlement patterns: they went for the most opulent places they could find and access. Thus, they faced the same common problems.

Flooding is a great example. The Han origin story involves their legendary prehistoric figures inventing and improving damn techniques. The Yellow and Yangtze rives were both great givers and takers of life. Really, really early damning techniques failed for a few reasons.

Hence, the early Hans faced water problems just as the Hebrews. Their cultural traditions share a common natural nemesis: too much water at the wrong place and wrong time. Noah built a boat, the founder of the first dynasty built a damn.

TL;DR: civs were connected, by shared natural enemies.

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Posted by Arksulli

Fayetteville

Member since Aug 2014

26176 posts

Posted on 11/16/18 at 10:58 am to Woodreaux

quote:
TL;DR: civs were connected, by shared natural enemies.

Right. Much like many different civilizations developed pyramid style buildings. Because a pyramid (huge base and narrow top) is far and away the easiest way to build a structure reaching up to the sky with the technology they had.

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Posted by BoarEd

The Hills

Member since Oct 2015

38862 posts

Posted on 11/17/18 at 2:23 am to Arksulli

IMO the pyramids all around the world were built to allow initiates to perform a death ritual. They figured out a way to speed up the process of reincarnation to the point where they could accomplish thousands of lives worth of spiritual work in a single lifespan.

It is only through death and rebirth can a person truly understand what this life is about. It allows a person to walk among both worlds. The here and the after.

It makes it pretty interesting, because, despite never having found mummies in these buildings, they were nevertheless, tombs. Of a sort.

The Jesus resurrection story touches on this. Instead of being in a cave, he was likely inside the Pyramid for three days performing the ritual. Afterwards, he transcends this plane as an ascended master.

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Posted by awestruck