 | TIMELINE 4th MILLENNIUM B.C. |
TIMELINE 4th MILLENNIUM B.C.
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We examine both works of fiction and important contemporaneous works on non-fiction which set the context for early Science Fiction and Fantasy.
There are 48 hotlinks here to authors, magazines, films, or television items elsewhere in the Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide or beyond. Most recently updated: 25 Sep 2000 [65 Kilobytes].
Jump Straight to the Chronology, or else first read: Note on dates: "BP" means "Before Present", so 3000 BC = 5000 BP4th MILLENNIUM B.C.: Executive Summary
{to be done} Fiction About the 4th MILLENNIUM B.C. {to be done} Jump to Century-by-Century Chronology of 4th MILLENNIUM B.C.: 4,000 BC to 3,900 BC 3,900 BC to 3,800 BC 3,800 BC to 3,700 BC 3,700 BC to 3,600 BC 3,600 BC to 3,500 BC 3,500 BC to 3,400 BC 3,400 BC to 3,300 BC 3,300 BC to 3,200 BC 3,200 BC to 3,100 BC 3,100 BC to 3,050 BC 3,050 BC to 3,000 BC 3,000 BC to 2,900 BC
4000 BC to 3900 BC
"Agriculture was long believed to have begun in a single centre in the Middle East, about 4000 BC. Modern dating techniques have since disproved this hypothesis; they indicate agriculture already in progress about 7000 BC, and archaeologists have uncovered evidence of animal domestication thousands of years earlier. It has also been shown that some plants were probably cultivated in the New World, which suggests that agricultural development took place simultaneously in many areas and thus did not spread from a single originating centre." Encyclopedia Britannica: agriculture, history of 4000 BC: Global; Holocene delta development worldwide Holocene delta development worldwide transgressive sequence of deltaic deposits #160. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 4000 BC: Mesopotamia; Mesopotamia delta Stratigraphic relations by the authorshowing the rapid development of a rich, fertile delta in Mesopotamia #165. Contents: Late Quaternary Chronology Stanford "3000 BC" notes 4000 BC: Europe; Atlantic hypsithermal Atlantic hypsithermal "Eden"; wet warm conditions in Near East, time of plenty. #2. Ice Core Evidence Stanford "3000 BC" notes 4000 BC: Ireland; Irish elm decline Irish elm decline, 4000 to 3250 BC #88. Iceman Stanford "3000 BC" notes 4000 BC: Global; Valleys in the Holocene #142. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 4000 BC: USA; On Mississippi at 6000 BP, slowing sea level rise at 10-15 below present level, beginning of meander belts. Development of Pine Island Beach trend, a linear sand shoal developed when sea level slowed 10-15 ft. below present level at mouth of Mississippi (currently beneath Lake Pontchartrain). Transition from Middle to Late Archaic period. Alternative view (Penland) that sea level rose to above present level at this time. See Sancier Geomorphology and Quaternary Geologic History of the Lower Mississippi Valley, 1994 (1.4525). #492. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 4000 BC: Mesopotamia; Sea level, Persian Gulf Recent (1996) reviews of Persian Gulf paleosealevel indicates that levels were up to 2 meters higher than at present during the period 6000-4000 BP (Earth and Plan Sci Letters 142 (1996) 43-57. #64. Stanford "3000 BC" notes3,900 BC to 3,800 BC
7000-3900 BC: Stone Age in Cyprus The first settlers came to Cyprus during the Neolithic or Stone Age, possibly on rafts from Asia Minor. One of the largest known settlements was at Khirokitia where the remains of 'beehive' stone houses can be found. Other remains can be found at Kastros and Tentra. The History of Cyprus in 90 Centuries3,800 BC to 3,700 BC
3800 BC: Early Indus Periods are long, chronological detail is poor except within certain sites but improving rapidly * Neolithic 7000 - 3500 BC (3500 years) * Mehrgarh I-II 7000 -4500 BC (2500 years) * Mehrgarh III 4500-3800 BC (700 years) * Early Indus Period 3500 - 2600 BC (900 years) Emergence of Civilizations in the Indus valley: Early Indus period3,700 BC to 3,600 BC
3700 BC: Mesopotamia; Father Burrows #125. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3700 BC: Mesopotamia; Burrows' flood, Jesuit paleographer Burrows, who accompanied Leonard Woolley on his 1930s archeological dig at Ur (and who later figures a the murderer in Agatha Christie's "Murder in Mesopotamia"), dates Mesopotamian/biblical flood at 3700 BC (January 1930 Dublin Review) #3. Stanford "3000 BC" notes3,600 BC to 3,500 BC
3600 BC: "By predynastic Amratian times, about 3600 BC, agriculture appears to have begun in the valley alluviums of the Nile. By late predynastic times, about 3100 BC, there is evidence of a considerable growth in wealth consequent upon the earlier agricultural development and accompanied by a more integrated social system." Encyclopedia Britannica: agriculture, history of 3600 BC: California; Central coast 3600 Central California coast investigations show that there had been little laminated sediment deposition on the continental shelf of California after 5000 BP, (Gardner, J.V. Geology 14, p 691-694, 1986) #4. Stanford "3000 BC" notes3,500 BC to 3,400 BC
3500: "As far as is known, no animals were domesticated in the Americas until a comparatively late date. Available evidence seems to indicate that, in spite of the early domestication of some plants, village life did not begin to develop on any scale until 3500 BC or possibly somewhat earlier in Mexico, following domestication of corn. The process of agricultural development was therefore rather slow, occurring in widely dispersed centres, often in areas of poor fertility, sometimes even in deserts. Cacao (chocolate used to make a beverage), tomatoes, and avocados were cultivated. Irrigation, terracing, and the construction of islands in lakes increased land usage in drier areas. The land was cleared by chopping and burning, and the seeds were sown with the aid of fire-hardened digging sticks (see photograph ). Crops were stored in pits or granaries. The corn was prepared by boiling in limewater and by wet grinding. Cornmeal paste was then made into tortillas or flat cakes and gruel. Fine textiles were woven of cotton, and paper was made from tree bark. Village life was based on the extended family, composed of parents and their children's families, which provided the labour force. Villages were organized into larger territorial units based on ceremonial centres commonly in the form of flat-topped pyramids. Larger territorial units developed early in the 1st millennium AD." Encyclopedia Britannica: agriculture, history of 3500 BC: Early Indus Periods are long, chronological detail is poor except within certain sites but improving rapidly * Neolithic 7000 - 3500 BC (3500 years) * Mehrgarh I-II 7000 -4500 BC (2500 years) * Mehrgarh III 4500-3800 BC (700 years) * Early Indus Period 3500 - 2600 BC (900 years) Emergence of Civilizations in the Indus valley: Early Indus period 3500-2600 BC: Kot Diji * one of the better known settlements of the Early Indus period (3500-2600 BC) * 33 km (20 miles) from the Indus river today, but when occupied, the river flowed right by it; the river has shifted course since then. * massive defensive wall, lower part built of stone from the outcrop the site is on, upper part of mud brick; preserved to 4-5 m high (13-16 feet) * defense, animal protection, or flood control? Emergence of Civilizations in the Indus valley: Early Indus period 3500 BC: Mesopotamia; Leonard Woolley's flood 3500 BC: Leonard Woolley, head of the joint British American team excavating Ur, dates the flood layer found at the base of the ruins of Ur at 3500BC. #6. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: Morocco; Arid interval Arid interval 5010-4860 (+/- 150) at Tigalmamine in montane Morocco. Corresponding decline in oaks (Quercus rotundifolia and canariensis) in favor of Gramineae suggests reduced winter precipitation corresponding to cooler sea temperatures in North Atlantic. Lamb, H. F. et al, Nature, 373 p 134 (1995). #70. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: Mesopotamia; Tigris and Euphrates alluvial plain At about 3500 BC the lower Tigris and Euphrates alluvial plain was under extreme pressure from both rapidly rising sea and buildup of the Karun delta. Under such unstable conditions, a large storm in the Zagros mountains could trigger a diversion of the Karun in an upstream direction, resulting in a flood filling of the lower Tigris-Euphrates alluvial plain, similar to the filling of the Salton Sea in the early part of this [20th] century. #84. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: South Carolina; South Carolina sea level A recent sea level curve from South Carolina indicates a sudden sea level rise (transgression) beginning about 3500 BC, followed by an equally rapid 2 meter drop a century or two later. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Pub. 27, p. 192. #79. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: Global; Holocene delta development worldwide The sequence of Holocene delta development worldwide is indicated as beginning at 6000 BC; by 3000 BC a transgressive sequence of deltaic deposits had developed as shown on the figure. Under conditions of rapid sea level rise these fresh deposits would have been swampy and waterlogged. However, a sudden regression would leave a silty, nutrient-rich floodplain well- drained with a slightly receding (downcutting) river, a condition ideal for irrigated agriculture. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Pub. 27, p. 235. (trans.html) #78. EF PRO-EUSTASY Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: Mesopotamia; Rain storms, climatic oscillation. Millennial-scale warming terminates with a period of climatic disturbance and flooding in the lower latitudes (Nile, Arizona, Morocco, Israel, Mesopotamia), followed by a drought; general, worldwide, climate-driven shock to early societies living in "edenic" geography of plenty with "fertile crescent" survivors organizing into more centrally administered culture based on irrigation.Ê #487. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: Fiji; Fiji sea level A recent sea level curve from Fiji suggest a 1 meter drop between 3500 and 3000 BC. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Pub. 27, p. 313. (fiji.html) #77. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: China; Han River delta Recent graph of sea level data from the Han River delta. #162. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: Europe; Upper treeline in alps Upper treeline in alps and elsewhere drops 100 meters in 3500 BC then rises to 2500 BC indicating a cold spell at 3500 (Markograf 1974 in Lamb, p 374) #5. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: China; Han River delta Recent data from the Han River delta indicate a rapid sea level rise (3 meters) from 4000 to 3000 BC. The data are not detailed enough to permit accurate charting of century scale variations, though the data at 3200 BC suggest the possibility of a major oscillation at that time. (Journal of Coastal Research, Special Pub. 27, p. 133. #80. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3500 BC: Europe; Early agriculture Introduction of early agriculture in Europe: "The Neolithic Mosaic on the North European Plain" Peter Bogucki Princeton University; web site #65. The Neolithic Mosaic on the North European Plain Stanford "3000 BC" notes3,300 BC to 3,200 BC
3400 BC: Egypt; Pharoah Sneferu at Meydum 3400 C14 date (4802) of Cypress beam at temple of Pharoah Sneferu at Meydum. First radiocarbon date by Libbey. #7. Nubia: The Land Upriver Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3400 BC: Mississippi; Mississippi delta Carcoal nut dated at 4869 rcybp 6 meters below MSL at Bayou Lafourche at Paincourtville in Mississippi delta represents beginning of delta formation in this area. Other C14 dates indicate regular rise in alluviation thereafter. Science #60. Stanford "3000 BC" notes3,300 BC to 3,200 BC
3300 BC: California; Mid Holocene wet Mid Holocene Atlantic wet period features high human population growth in Santa Barbara area (4600-4800 BP). This follows an earlier warmer time about 5500 BP with older milling (metate) grinding techniques and is followed by another hot spell about 3500 BP with increasing hunting, sea fishing, residential bases, status ranking, mortar and pestle use for large pulpy seeds, technology in general. From Glassow, UCSB Anthropology Dept, 4/9/93 talk at Asilomar #9. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3300 BC: Europe; Belgian coast Along the Belgian coast, recent work shows that "two rather distinct retardations appear to be present; a more marked one at about 7500-7000 cal yrs. B.P. and a second one at about 5500-5000yrs. calB.P." In other words, sea level rise was temporarily reversed at these times. ÊThe idea of irregular sea level rise, introduced my Fairbridge (1961), and subsequently dismissedby uniformitarian interpretations, has recently been reinforced by analysis of Australian coralreefs(4). Fairbridge's sea level curves are discussed in the Encyclopedia Brittanica. They had been suppressed in favor of the more uniform curve of Shepard, though the irregular model is now coming backinto vogue with the return to respectability of more catastrophic ways of looking at the data. #75. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3300 BC: Global; July summer cooling, Soviet Union Maximum Piora July summer cooling according to pollen counts between 60 and 70 degrees latitude in the Soviet Union (4.7 ka assumed to be c14date) #8. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3300 BC: California; San Francisquito Bay The upper graph shows C14 dates for muds and vegetation in the San Francisquito Bay and delta; C14 dates have been corrected to give calendar years, and the effects of autocompaction have been removed. Comparison of these data with the world wide data shown in the lower curves provides reasonable latitude for short term sea level regressions without proving them. It also appears that the data are in close enough vertical agreement to suggest vertical crustal stability in the late Holocene in San Francisco Bay, though this is not the conclusion of Lajoie and the other authors of this USGS study. #76. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3270 BC: New England; Elm collapse New England elm collapse: 4650 BP-1950+570= 3270 BC Cause remains controversial. #10. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: ; #328. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: Florida; Pine bursts Iceburg-triggered Florida pine bursts events occur every 5709 years, based on a sequence beginning about 35 thousand years ago. The last pine burst was about 4650 years BP, or 3250 BC if we correct carbon dates. The one before that is 12,000 years ago, corresponding to the disastrous Younger Dryas period. That suggests that something may be about to happen. (Science, 7/9/93). #12. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: Global; Atmospheric methane Atmospheric methane from GRIP ice core with lowest value 580 ppbv at 5.2K yrs. BP followed by rapid increase of 40 ppbv over 200 years; variously attributed to clathrate or permafrost outgassing, decrease in tropospheric oxidation, or abrupt increase in low-latitude wetlands. Blunier, T, et al, Nature, 374 47 (1995). #69. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: Global; Sulfate in GISP2 Sulfate in GISP2 ice core; curve is a low-tension robust spline of sulfate concentrations with average about 30 ppb. The cause of the 150 year peak at 5.2K yrs BP is not known, but the authors suggest the possibility of an anomalous nearby temporary body of open water (polynya) which generated marine biogenic sulfate. Zielinski, GA et al, Nature, 264 948 (1994). #68. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: California; Santa Barbara basin off the coast paleoclimatic data from sediment cores in the Santa Barbara basin off the coast of California, sediment bioturbidity and snail form, also indicating a discontinuity, possibly abrupt cooling, at 5.2k yrs BP. Kennett, JP and Ingram, BL, "A 20,000 yr record of ocean circulation and climate change from the Santa Barbara basin" Nature v 377 p 510, 12 Oct 1995. #74. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: Europe; Piora oscillation, Europe Piora oscillation, named after Piora Valley in Europe where climatic irregularites were first noted. A major break in the climatic regime which resulted in a readvance of Alpine glaciers, a retreat of forests. Elms and linden trees declined in Europe and North America. In northern Europe the oak and hazel declined or disappeared. Changes occurred as far away as the Andes, Alaska, and the Kenyan highlands, so the disturbance was evidentally of global magnitude extended throughout the world. 3500 to 3000 BC. Lamb p.120; Lamb notes that this is the time of the rapid spread of New Stone Age cultures in Europe; meanwhile there seems to have been a sudden stimulus to the growth of organized civilization, to deliberate cultivation along with development of the tools necessary for such activities. In Mesopotamia, and in the arid areas of the middle east in general, a period of wet years in which oases would have expanded and wild fruits and nuts abounded would have been followed by a growing dryier and less hospitable climate in which perhaps organized civilization would have been necessary for continued survival. Flourishing of civilizations in the Indus valley, notably at the city of Harappa, starting about 3000 BC with lands under cultivation that exceeded the areas of Mesopotamia and Egypt occurred up until about shortly after 2000 BC when drought brought an end of this culture. As the 3rd millenium progressed the flooding became erratic and finally disappeared, giving way to a period of calm in which travel by sea and over high mountain passes encouraged northerly migration and trade and exchange of metallic and monument building technologies that we now know as the Bronze Age. Production of great funerary megaliths in northern Europe and the growth of prestige- oriented Beaker culture spelled the end of thousands of years of hunter-gatherer cultures, and the rise of centralized heirarchical civilization. #13. http://www.usl.edu/~aa/indus_valley.txt Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: Egypt; Egypt Nile delta A core (5-44) taken at the south margin of one of the coastal lagoons at the north end of the Nile delta showed a layer of potsherds 25 ft. below sea level dated at 3,500 to 4,500 CYBP. The layer was underlain by 20 ft. of lagoon mud which would have compressed about 3 feet so the corrected depth would be close to 22 ft. below present sea level. Accounting for deep subsidence (6 ft., according to Stanley et al) would place the "buried civilization" at 16 ft. below sea level. Boring 5-7 drilled south of the coastal Lake Manzala, Egypt, about 40 km from today's shoreline shows a layer of delta front sand from 4 to 5 meters below ground surface deposited at about 4,600 BP (interpolated from lower date of 5,720 RCYBP) (Coutellier and Stanley). #15. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: California; San Francisquito history Historical geomorphology of San Francisquito Creek at here #157. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: Global; Stormy weather Beginning of 1000 yrs wet, stormy weather. A neoglacial period characterized by wetter, stormier conditions; starting between 5000 and 4000 years BP and extending to about 3500 yrs BP (Enzel, Quat R 1992) #16. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: Europe; Newgrange start Occupation of Irish tomb sites. Charcoal from the Newgrange and Knowth tombs in Ireland yield dates ranging from 2800 to 3250 B.C. #11. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: New England; Hemlock decline New England Decline in hemlock pollen in 45 New England lakes. The date of the disappearance is 4650 yrs BP with a standard deviation of 300 years. #14. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3250 BC: Peru; Huascaran glacier Peru Ice. We have seen elsewhere (see methane) how atmospheric concentrations of methane (swamp gas) during the Holocene (last 10,000 years) are related to the extent of wetlands especially at low (tropical) latitudes. Here in the lowermost graph we see oxygen isotope ratios and nitrate for the Huascaran glacier in Peru, showing an abrupt cooling at about 5200 BP.Compare this with the graph of methane; the two are mirror images. For other climatic indicators see theÊ paleoclimatic page. Thompson et al "Late Glacial Stage and Holocene Tropical Ice Core Records from Huascaran", Peru Science v 269 7 July 1995. #73. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3212 BC: Europe; French coastal megaliths French coastal sites. In 1971 at Pointe aux Oies, France, near Wimereux, the French geologist Mariette (1971) discovered several Neolithic sites in brackish water, one meter below sea level. He dates them by radiocarbon at 4500 BP and believes the sea level stood at -4 m at the time of their habitation. He says that there are other "menhirs" and passage graves in the intertidal zone dating from the same period of 5000-4500 BP. Another French paper indicates various sites at 4 to 5 meters beow sea level in the Seine and Somme valleys and estuaries. At Abbeville this interface is indicated as corresponding to an "emergence" (which seems to be a temporary lowered sea level) at the end of the Neolithic and beginning of the Bronze Ages, between 4600 and 3500 BP, the temporary lowering bottoming at 8 m below msl. At Montmartin, Calvados, a layer of shells dated at 4700 BP is at -2 m and is thought to have been deposited when msl was -4.7m;(Giresse 1969); at Briere, peats dated a 4630, 4480, and 4260 overlie brackish water clay at -1.3 m implying a sea level below - 4.5 at that time. (Giot, 1968) 4550 BP-1988= 3212 BC #30. Stanford "3000 BC" notes3200 BC to 3100 BC
3200 BC: Global; GISP2 team, the latest from Most recent studies form the GISP2 team, 1995. #150. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3200 BC: Ireland; Cessair 3200 BC: Cessair and followers; 2500 BC: Partholan; 2000 BC: first Nemed invasion; 1500 BC: Fir Bolg (possibly the Belgae of NW Gaul, per Julius Caesar); 1000 BC: Tuatha de Danann; 300 BC: Sons of Mil (Celts, from Spain [possibly Helvetians who had migrated from what is now Switzerland to Northern Spain]); #81. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3200 BC: Mesopotamia; Tigris-Euphratres Sharp reduction of Tigris-Euphratres streamflow at 5200 cal yrs BP; also Iranian Plateau changes from humid to arid at same time. Johnson and Kay, Climatic Change, 3 (1981) p 251 #61. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3200 BC: Mesopotamia; Mesopotamia delta Stratigraphic relations showing the rapid development of a rich, fertile delta are compared in Mesopotamia with the generic model of delta formation suggested by Stanley, who demonstrates that development of these potting grounds for civilization would have appeared only after 6000 BC. Significantly, no comparable environmental condition existed in any great river valley for more than 100,000 years. #83. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3200 BC: Missouri; Pomme de Terre River By 4600 BP Missouri"s Pomme de Terre River has undergone a major change in its regime, downcutting a channel about 15 ft deep. This is the largest record of change in the river"s behavior since 10,000 BP and is interpreted as having been caused by an abrupt climatic change toward wetting. 3200 Temporary French coastal emergence starting at 3200BC #18. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3200 BC: ; Paleoclimate Data Page #144. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3199 BC: Europe; Irish oaks Tree rings in Northern Ireland are narrow in 1153 BC 1628 BC 3199 BC and 4377 BC. The 3199 BC value is associated with an acidity peak in Camp Century ice cores dated at 3150 BC demonstrating unquestionably that adverse weather conditions, probably due either to volcanic eruption or meteoric impact, occurred at this time. Other narrow years are associated with frost rings observed in California bristlecone pines and with eruptions of Icelandic (Hekla 3 in 1159 BC) and Aegean (Santorini in 1628 BC) volcanoes. Baillie,Nature, 3/24/88 #19. Sacred Woods and the Lore of Trees Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3190 BC: Global; Heckla eruption, Iceland Heckla eruption: 4570 BP-1950+570= 3190 BC #20. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3160 BC: California; Sunnyvale girl Skull, Sunnyvale girl: 4500 bp-1950+570=3120 BC; corrected 8/8/96 at Ken Lajoie's office:: 4460-1950+650=3160 BC #23. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3150 BC: Global; Sulphate spike Sulphate spike in Greenland GISP2 core. #87. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3150 BC: Turkey; Lake Van Oscillation Abrupt change in sedimentation rate of Lake Van in Turkey indicative of rapid climatic fluctuation at (varve) dates of 5200 BP (3150 BC) (Palaeo, 122 (1996) p 107) #58. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3150 BC: Global; Paleoclimatic flood, global Climatic conditions at time of Mesopotamian flood, from several scientific sources of paleoclimatic data. See here. #21. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3150 BC: Greenland; Camp Century, Greenland Camp Century ice core acidity peak 3150 BC #22. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3150 BC: USA, SW; SW US flood peak 3000 SW US flood peak. According to Victor Baker of the University of Arizona, a period of flooding began in the southwest starting at about 5000 BP and ending at 3600 BP, with a sharp peak at about 4400 BP. (Starts at 3500 BC and peaks at 3150 BC) #43. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3150 BC: Ireland; Irish elm decline Decline, 4000 to 3250 BC #170. Iceman Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3150 BC: Europe; Iceman of the Alps On September 19, 1991, two German hikers, Helmut and Erika Simon, noticed what appeared to be a body sticking out of the glacial ice at an altitude of 3200 meters in the Alps -- just over the border in Italy, as it would later turn out. Within a few days the find had attracted the attention of scientists as well as police authorities and the corpse was hacked from the pocket of ice where it had been frozen, some considerable time before, as it turns out, for among the items the frozen man had been carrying were a copper axe and 14 arrows, and a dagger, all of apparent neolithic style. Radiocarbon dating of bits of tissue and bone yileded dates of 4525 and 4575 BP, or 3150 BC with subsequent dating of grass from the man's boots dated at another lab within a few years of the body. Among the many mysteries that surrounded the find was the fact that the body was naked and apparently mummified. Clothing was found nearby, and it has been surmised that the man may have have died of hypothermia, it being known that those suffering from this condition often remove all their clothing as death approaches. As for the mummification, it was suggested that the man may have been dried by the autumn dry winds, the foehn, that affect the Alps, though rarely at this altitude. A further mystery was the absence of genitals, a fact that once released seemed to give rise to lurid rumors, one of which, perpetrated by some a British magazine aimed at homosexual readership..., was that the corpse's anal passage contained sperm, and that this "fact" was being suppressed by the scientists conducting the investigations. Mean while, lawyers, diplomats, scientiests, and the media were engaged in a dispute over the ownership of the body and it's associated artifacts, with the Italians claiming that the Austrians had kidnapped the body from italian terrritory. "Sometimes I think," said the weary rector of Innsbruck University, were the iceman was being kept under refrigeration pending resolution of disputes, "Let's get a shovel, and then we can bury him again. (1992 Horizon/Nova documentary; Nature, 4 March 1993.) #17. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3150 BC: Mesopotamia; The Flood The Flood 3150 BC(?). Abrupt cooling at higher latitudes, possibly related to oceanic effects, especially in Northern Europe, corresponding to peak of megalith cultures. Probable oscillation in sea level shortly before 3000 BC followed by 10-15 ft. alluvial deposition in river valleys. #486. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3113 BC: Mexico; Mayan recreation Last Mayan date of recreation of the world following The Flood , Aug 12, 3113 BC. #24. Stanford "3000 BC" notes 3110 BC: China; Yangtze River Dating of sediments in the Yangtze river delta suggests a sedimentation rate so high between 5060 and 4460 BP, accompanied by a major change of flow into a new subdelta, and followed by a period of deep water with clay deposition, that the authors are inclined to think that their date of 4460 BP must be mistaken. (Kam-biu Liu, Quat Res 1992) #25. Stanford "3000 BC" notes3100 BC to 3050 BC
3,100 - 2,700 BC: Old Kingdom Egypt [David W. Koeller] 3150-2890 B.C.: First Dynasty Egypt. The kings were:
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