Graham Hancock is becoming the leading light of popular alternative
archaeology. I use the term alternative archaeology as
he works in an area that tends to upset the mainstream academics, its a subject that is not very open to small changes let alone the radical re-thinks that would be needed to take Hancocks work on board. The books was written along side the TV series Lost Kingdoms of the Ice Age , and anyone who saw that must be prepared to cover the same ground, although this time in much more detail.
The basic premise of the book is this.
1. The sea levels have been gradually rising since the end of the last Ice Age.
2. Early civilivations tend to first establish themselves on coastal, estuary and river locations.
3.Much of the old coastlines are now under water due to the sea level rise.
4. The oldest remains of settlement in the world are now to be found underwater
Quite straight forward when you think about it. Once you get that in your head the rest of the book is a series of travels and explorations to back up these ideas. There are three main areas used in the book to provide examples, India, Malta and Japan. Each of these areas are explored in detail and result in some very convincing sets of
information to help support his theories.
It is a big book with a lot of information to take in, and may be a daunting prospect to those who like the idea of the subject but dont fancy such a challange. What I would say to those people is hunt down the video of the TV series, watch that to familiarise yourself with the subject and then read the book. For those already into new archaeological ideas then the theory presented here is at once simple and yet revolutionary and an worthy adition to any historians bookcase. Its a book that you will delve into time and time again as a cross reference to other ideas coming out of this area of
archaeology.