Human – the most advanced, intelligent and developed species on Earth.

We’ve been knocking about for millions of years, with early human species such as Neanderthals and Homo erectus roaming the planet long before modern humanity showed up. Modern humans have been around for roughly 300,000 years, but civilization as we know it, with language, cities and complex culture, only dates back 5,000 to 6,000 years. That makes for 2% of our time on Earth – so what the hell were we doing for the other 98%?

Some argue that the Government and modern historians are hiding the existence of advanced human civilizations that may have possessed progressive knowledge, structured societies and even forms of technology. According to this theory, these civilizations existed many thousands of years ago, dating back to way before the timeline of history that we’re taught in schools. It’s believed that traces of these civilizations may still remain, however, they have been forgotten, ignored, or deliberately hidden. 

“It seems a nice, tidy timeline is more important than the truth”, says Jon-Paul Abraham, 51 years-old, a self-described conspiracy lover from Hartwell, Northamptonshire. “People don’t like to be wrong. Rewriting prehistory would mean a lot of high profile academics would at best be wrong, and at worst look silly.

“I believe that people in power need to control the narrative.”

Stories of lost civilizations are nothing new, in fact, they’ve been around for all of history. Take the mysterious legend of Atlantis for example – the lost civilization that is said to have sank deep into the sea – everyone has heard of it, whether they believe it to be real or not. “The internet has given a platform and focus to these myths, which has made these stories quite compelling and tangible”, Jon-Paul says. “I think that lack of evidence doesn’t necessarily make it impossible.

“Over the last 25,000 years, the sea level has risen by hundreds of meters. Look at our human global settlements and how many are by water.

“If the sea level went up by 200 meters today, how much would be left of our civilization after 20,000 years under the oceans?”

While many theories of lost civilizations focus mainly on far-off places, lots believe some clues may lie right here in the UK. For example, there are various UK landmarks that are shrouded in mystery – Stonehenge in Wiltshire, the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire and even Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England.

While these famous landmarks may hold clues and raise eyebrows about the existence of a lost ancient civilization, there is still a lack of definitive evidence, inevitably fuelling the debate between believers and skeptics alike. History lessons taught in schools often focus on a blend of national topics such as wars, conflicts and movements over time. Potentially an exploration into prehistoric events is needed, or even alternative theories of what happened before “history” began.

“As shown in history, civilization can grow and crash, just like the Romans”, says Jon-Paul. “It’s possible that if a civilization was destroyed in prehistory, some knowledge could have been saved and used to better mankind, or exploit it.

“There are some glaring inconsistencies in the dates of our oldest civilization. Some are too early.

“For example, men building megalithic structures needed advanced mathematics, when according to history, they were only capable of making flint tools.”

Monuments such as the pyramids of Egypt would have inevitably required immense effort and strength to build, alongside a deep understanding of mathematics and engineering – a notion which has long made historians question the realms of what they believe to be possible. Inconsistencies in our timeline seem to be far more muddled than mainstream historians are comfortable to admit, which poses an uncomfortable question: was the human species actually far more advanced than our history books tell us, or is there a missing chapter? Jon-Paul suggests: “Children should be encouraged to question doctrine with the anticipation of new pieces to the puzzle.

“I think the limits of our knowledge should be clear. History is always changing as new discoveries are made.”

However, sceptics argue that it’s easy to be attracted to the idea of advanced knowledge that has been lost over time. Ideas about ancient methods of building often stem from gaps in our contemporary knowledge, suggesting sites like this were simply the byproduct of human resourcefulness – not progressive knowledge.

Whether you see the possibility of an ancient civilization as a speculative narrative or a possible phenomenon, it is evidently clear that there is still a lot to learn from history. What filled the huge space between when modern the human species appeared and when civilization officially began? As the gaps in our understanding are filled with hypothetical theories about sunken cities like Atlantis or neolithic sites like Stonehenge, it’s impossible to know whether our questions are being answered or if we’re being left with more doubt? Here at MindFckd, we can’t help but wonder:

What is it that’s missing that makes people question the official story?