The World’s Oldest Civilization

The cradle of civilization is one of the five possible locations where civilization first emerged. According to many experts, civilization began in what is called the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia), and then spread to other areas due to a nomadic lifestyle. But this traditionally held view is disputed by several scholars and archaeologists. They the viewpoint that there is no single cradle of civilization, but independent development of civilization occurred in several areas, which were Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, Shang (Yellow River Valley), and Mesoamerica and Andean South America. The reason for this belief in multiple cradles of civilization has resulted from observation, and study of relics of the period. These relics point out how different features developed irregularly and independently in these different civilizations. The interaction between different communities due to nomadic lifestyles led to the development of common systems and techniques in agriculture, pottery, metal work, etc. It is therefore difficult to specifically state which is the oldest civilization, as there is no definite answer to the question.

Mesopotamia
Many experts, as mentioned above, believe that Mesopotamia being located in the Fertile Crescent, is the most ancient civilization in the world. The reason for this is that Mesopotamia is where the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers converge, making the area extremely suitable for agriculture. Many agrarian societies are therefore believed to have been established here. Also since the Ubaid, Sumerian, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyrian civilizations are all located in this area, Mesopotamia is widely considered to be the oldest civilization. Settlements can be traced in Mesopotamia to the start of the Early Bronze age, which is much before 7000 BC. The earliest sites were in Jarmo, and the earliest cities were established in Sumer under the Uruk period. Mesopotamia, over the years, has been ruled by the Hellenists, Persians, Mongols, and Turks. Mesopotamia is the area that we now identify as Iraq.

Egypt
One of the oldest civilizations in the world, there is archaeological and anthropological evidence that points towards the existence of a settlement in the area as early as 10000 BC, but there is no definite evidence to determine the time period. The settlement then took to farming as their main source of sustenance, but remains of another settlement found in the area, that can be dated back to the same period, shows practice of hunting and fishing. It is indicated by studies that the land around Sahara was not as arid as it is today and was perfect for grazing ground. It was around 2500 BC that the settlements moved towards the Nile due to change in climate and inhospitable conditions, where the civilization was established as a more complex society. The civilization of Ancient Egypt has been responsible for several lasting legacies for humankind as a whole, including pyramids, mathematical systems, practice of medicine, glass making techniques, and also paper, in its earliest form.

Ancient India
Settlements have known to exist in the area since before 6000 BC, as there is evidence that has been found that dates back to this period. Studying the history of the Indus valley civilization tells us that this was a well-developed society. These settlements were very self sufficient with remains of granaries, burial tombs, drills for stones and copper, etc., found in the area near present day Balochistan in Pakistan. The Indus Valley Civilization, which saw complex societal structures, have known to exist since 4000 BC, with the major cities being Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Both these cities have been discovered to be large cities with many structures of great magnitude inside city limits. The decimal fraction system is one of the gifts of the Indus Valley Civilization to the modern-day world. Excavation of the sites that are believed to be a part of the civilization have been on since 1920 and the most recent discovery was in 1999.

China
China is heralded as the world’s oldest continuous civilization. Pre-civilized settlement relics dating back to 7000 BC have been found in China. In fact, in some cases, the date variance ranges between 9000 BC and 5500 BC. There is evidence of agricultural practice, pottery, craft work, and even animal husbandry. The civilization can be traced back to the establishment of city states in the Yellow River Valley around 2200 BC. But this claim is disputed with the first dynasty that is archaeologically definable being traced to the Shang Dynasty of Ancient China which started its reign somewhere around 1750 BC. There is very little verifiable data about earlier settlements in the area due to the lack of written records or any such documents.

Andean South America and Mesoamerica
In the Americas, the oldest civilizations were located in South America and Mesoamerica. The oldest Mesoamerican civilization was the Olmec Civilization which was established sometime around 1200 BC. Settlements have been traced back to 5100 BC, due to records of corn cultivation from then. Some of the main cities that were established under the Olmec rule were San Lorenzo and La Venta, which like other cities, are said to have had giant statues of the then Emperor. In South America, the oldest civilization was the Norte Chico that was a group of connected settlements, with huge cities at Aspero and Caral.

There are a variety of popular SUV brands available for sale. While it can take some time to find the right SUV for you, completing research before making a decision can help you make the best decision possible wen you are in the market for a new or used sport utility vehicle. This guide highlights some of the most popular SUV brands, both in terms of sales volume and the quality of their products. Be sure to use a service like CarsDirect to find a great selection of new and used SUVs available for sale in your area and nationally. Below are the most popular SUV brands for sale:

1. Ford: With sport utility vehicles like the Ford Explorer selling in large volumes, Ford’s SUV lineup is far and away the top SUV brand in terms of popularity. While Ford vehicles are popular and offer excellent prices whether you purchase new or used, it can cost a lot of money to buy an up-level Ford SUV. Ford offers SUVs in all sizes, from the mid-size Escape to the full-size Explorer, Expedition and Excursion. Whatever your need, a Ford SUV can offer seating for up to eight passengers and a variety of gas and diesel engines.
2. Toyota: For SUV buyers looking for import quality coupled with SUV versatility, Toyota offers a sport utility vehicle to fit every need. From the compact RAV4 to the larger Highlander and the body-on-frame Sequoia and Land Cruiser, Toyota SUVs range from simple compact crossovers like the RAV4 to word-class luxury off-roaders like the Land Cruiser. Many Toyota SUVs are built in the United States, and you will also benefit from the great reliability of Toyota products.
3. GMC: The GMC Truck division of General Motors specializes in building “professional grade” SUVs for heavy-duty users. GMC’s SUV offering is the Yukon, which is available in short and long body styles. The Yukon offers a variety of V8 engines, standard seating for up to eight passengers, and lots of luxury amenities. If you are shopping for a used GMC, the Envoy offers a smaller size, a smooth straight-six engine, and a lower selling price. The Envoy was built through the 2009 model year, and there are many examples of nice used Envoys on the market.

If you want to know the record holder for the oldest person in the world, then you’re in the right place. Jeanne Louise Calment (born in 1875 / died 1997) was the oldest living person and had the longest confirmed human life span in history, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days. She lived in Arles, France, for her entire life, and outlived both her daughter and grandson. She became especially well known from the age of 113, when the centenary of Vincent van Gogh’s visit brought reporters to Arles. She entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1988, and on 17 October 1995 she became the oldest person ever.

She said she was 12 or 13 when she saw Vincent Van Gogh in Arles, and she said later that he was “very ugly, ungracious, impolite, sick, I forgive him, they called him loco.”. Madame Calment once said: “I have an enormous will to live and a good appetite, especially for sweets”. She used to eat more than two pounds of chocolate a week and treat her skin with olive oil, rode a bicycle until she was 100.

The oldest undisputed lifespan for a man supercentenarian is that of Christian Mortensen, who lived to be 115 years, 252 days. He was the oldest undisputed man ever. He was also the first undisputed man to reach 114 and 115 years of age.

The longest documented lifespan for a living person is that of 114-year-old Besse Cooper, of Georgia, United States, who was born on 26 August 1896. She succeeded Eunice Sanborn of Texas, United States, on 31 January 2011.

Tuti Yusupova (claimed birth date July 1, 1880) is an Uzbekistani who claims, at an alleged age of 130, to be the oldest living person in the world. It has been claimed that she has a birth certificate recording her as having been born in 1880, but this has not been independently verified.

Antisa Khvichava (born 8 July 1880) is a Georgian woman who is 130 years old, which would make her the oldest person of all time. Her passport is given as evidence. However it is claimed that it is likely that her birth records were either misrecorded or falsified.

Did you know that a supercentenarian is someone who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in a thousand centenarians. There are estimated to be 300–450 living supercentenarians in the world, though only about 90 individual verified living supercentenarians are known. A supercentenarian is considered ‘verified’ if his or her claim has been validated by an international body that specifically deals in longevity research, such as the Gerontology Research Group or Guinness World Records.

blue-whale

The huge dinosaurs called sauropods astound us. So massive! So tall! Such long necks and tiny heads! But more astounding is this: these strange giants rank among Earth’s great success stories, roaming the planet for 140 million years. Today, scientists from many fields have joined in an effort to figure out how they did it. Paleontologists, biologists, botanists, animal nutritionists, and engineers all agree: the world’s largest dinosaurs were extraordinary creatures. The challenge is to discover what made them tick.

Norway is the longest country in Europe — nearly every Norwegian I meet proudly boasts that if Norway were a long wooden board and Oslo the nail it hinged on, you could swing the country around and it would reach all the way to Sicily in southern Italy.

But that’s not nearly the half of it. Norway’s length comes nowhere close to the country’s complexity — especially the way that fjords, glaciers, and very steep mountains create a kind of beautiful topographical maze that travelers must carefully navigate in order to get from A to B.

In other words, Norway is not Kansas —you can’t just drive across it. Some days, roads are closed by four-story-high snowdrifts, and on most days, there’s a mountain in the way or a fjord to cross or go around. If you were to unravel Norway’s bundled-up coastline, it would reach more than 25,000 km (15,625 miles) in length.

For a very long time, the reality of Norway’s intricate geography meant a life of isolation for so many Norwegians — during the long winter months, farmers and fisherman were cut off from the world by snow and ice. Neighbors may live less than a mile from one another, but on opposite sides of the fjord or mountain, that’s a world apart. In some ways, before Norway’s extensive network of roads, bridges, and tunnels was completed, the west coast of Norway (namely Bergen) had closer ties with the outside world than their own capital, Oslo.

This “isolation nation” is one major reason why Norway has so many distinct dialects. People living in different valleys and fjords were sequestered long enough to develop their own way of speaking. It also contributed to Norway’s tunnel-digging craze.

Nobody builds tunnels the way the Norwegians do. If there’s a rock they can dig through, they will, and it makes driving through the country much more exciting than simply rounding a bend. Once while driving through the western fjords of Norway, I counted myself driving through 39 tunnels in the space of 90 minutes. Seriously.

The longest of these engineering phenomena is the Lærdal Tunnel (Lærdalstunnelen), spanning the mountain between the tiny villages of Lærdal and Aurland but fundamentally linking Bergen and Oslo.

At 24.5 km (15.23 miles) long, the Lærdal Tunnel is the longest road tunnel in the world, meaning it’s the longest tunnel that you can drive through. At 57 km (35.4 miles), the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland now holds the title for longest tunnel in the world (used only by trains), and last September, I rode through the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, which is the longest undersea tunnel in the world.

It took me over twenty minutes to drive from one end of the Lærdal Tunnel to the other, and traveling through it evoked a strange emotion to know that I was zipping beneath one of Norway’s massive stone mountains.

Speeding through the dark for such a long time might be unnerving for some travelers, but rest assured, the Lærdal Tunnel is one of the safest in the world, with a high-tech ventilation system, safety stations with emergency equipment and call boxes, and several man-made caves that are lit with colored lights. There are even regular parking bays inside the tunnel where you can pull over should you need to.

I shot this video from the hood of my car in order to show you the full length of the tunnel, but for the sake of your time, I’ve sped it up by 800%.

That way you can experience the longest tunnel in the world in the longest country in Europe in the shortest amount of time.

Driving through one of three “caves” in the Lærdal Tunnel, the longest road tunnel in the world. (Photo by Andrew Evans, National Geographic Traveler)