There remains plenty about the distant past that is still unknown and unexplained, yet one group of scientists have made a new potentially major discovery by unearthing jaw-dropping 'proof' of an ancient civilization in the United States from over 13,000 years ago.
While scientists and researchers are able to uncover fragments of ancient history as far back as the earliest recorded dinosaurs, there is still plenty left to be discovered, especially in relatively recent history.
New finds are being made all of the time, including some with major religious significance, and researchers are taking advantage of new technology such as artificial intelligence and LiDAR to reveal ancient cities and rewrite what was previously understood about major historical periods.
One new discovery could unlock proof for a long-held theory surrounding a lost civilization in the United States, as mind-blowing 'evidence' of this occurring in Louisiana has now been found.
What evidence have scientists found of an ancient civilization?
As reported by the Daily Mail, a team led by comet scientist Dr Allan West have discovered fragments of glass in Louisiana rocks, hinting towards the existence of a cosmic explosion that took place over 13,000 years ago.
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This lines up with a theory that was popularized by author Graham Hancock in his best selling 2015 book Magicians of the Gods, as he wrote about a 'lost prehistoric civilization' in the United States that was destroyed by the fragments of a large comet in 10,800 BC.
While many found Hancock's story entertaining, it was slammed for a barrage of factual errors and logical fallacies, yet perhaps Dr West's new discovery could bring further legitimacy to the book's claims.
"I am exploring a mystery, and that mystery is a very strong feeling that the archaeological project is not giving us the whole story about the past," Hancock explains in reference to his theory, "not because of any conspiracy, but because archaeology mainly focuses on physical artefacts."
He also adds that "it's clear to me that something is missing, that during the Ice Age there was a culture with advanced astronomy, knowledge of the Earth's dimensions, and even the problem of longitude solved."
Dr West's research uses radiometric dating and electron microscopy to date the cosmic explosion to the Younger Dryas Boundary, which is a period of ancient history known for abrupt cooling and mass extinctions.
The discovery itself amounts to a 984-foot-long lake and crater-like depression just west of Perkins, Louisiana, and could mark the first of potentially many similar finds that link back to cosmic explosions thousands of years into the past.
Thanks to this new discovery Dr West is able to suggest that these explosions, which he compares to the destructive power of a nuclear bomb, could have been more common than we originally thought, so perhaps they were enough to wipe out entire civilizations that have since been lost to history.