I'm posting this site because it seems like there will be a lot of discussion about where certain ancient civilizations developed. An argument with folks like Hancock and J.W. West is that these civilizations seemed to have "sprang out of nowhere"
Some archaeologists say "show us the archaeology". Modern humans don't seem to have a good concept of climate change. In fact, the world has been very different in the past, and will be in the future.
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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).
To appreciate the article, some links have to be followed. Hancock is asking all the right questions, As always, the argument will be over the answers. So far - very good book.