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The new geological time period that marks the ”Age of Man”, called the Anthropocene, began in 1610, according to a new study.

Scientists came to the conclusion that the biggest impact man had on the planet was the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. which marked the dawn of this new epoch.Their research was published in the journal Nature.

The start of the Anthropocene is disputed however, other scientists believing that the industrial revolution or even the first nuclear tests are more relevant beginnings to the ”Age of Man”. Some think that the exact date of the new epoch can’t be determined just yet, and that a conclusion could be drawn after thousand or even millions of years.

An international Anthropocene Working Group is working on determining a start date, which it will announce next year.

Geologists carve up Earth’s history into large periods of time, that coincide with significant change on the planet, marked by continental shifts or a major change in climate and even a big asteroid strike. We live in the Holocene Epoch, which started as the last Ice Age came to an end, more than 11,500 years ago. Many scientists say that humanity has drastically changed the Earth again and that a new epoch is needed.

Geologists are looking in rocks, ice or sediments for a signal, called the “golden spike”, that will show the changes Earth has suffered when the “Age of Man” began. The study suggests that they have found golden spikes which suggest that the start of the Anthropocene was in 1610.

The scientists explained that the arrival of the Europeans in the Americas a century earlier was the beginning of a major global transformation.

Co-author Dr.Simon Lewis, from University College London, believes that global trade started to move species around the planet with much more ease after that point,

“Maize from Central America was grown in southern Europe and Africa and China. Potatoes from South America were grown in the UK, and all the way through Europe to China. Species went the other way: wheat came to North America and sugar came to South America. We saw these species jump continents, which is a geologically unprecedented impact, setting Earth off on a new evolutionary trajectory”, he said.

This change is proven by ancient pollen found in sediments. Another big impact of the time, a golden spike, is the deadly diseases that made their way into the Americas from Europe. Scientists estimate that more than 50 million people were killed in epidemics after the conquest.

Image Source: The Guardian

The Islamic State group has destroyed some parts of the ancient city of Nimrud, in Iraq, in the latest attack against cultural history in the region.

According to the tourism and antiquities ministry of Iraq, the historic city of Nimrud, built by the Assyrian civilization more than three thousand years ago, was bulldozed with heavy vehicles.

The destruction began on Thursday, but the extent of the damage is not yet known. Nimrud is one of the most important archaeological sites in the region. It was founded in the 13th century BC and it’s located near Mosul, by the Tigris River.

IS fighters consider the heritage of Iraq as idolatrous. The attack against Nimrud follows the release of a video which showed Islamic State men destroying ancient statues with hammers in Mosul.

Nimrud was the capital of the neo-Assyrian capital, the most powerful force on the Planet at the time, which covered territories in modern-day Iran, Turkey and Egypt, as well as Iraq.

The most famous monuments of the site were removed from the site some years ago, the famous Winged Bull statues are in London, while gold artifacts and precious stones were moved to the Museum in Baghdad.

According to Reuters, Islamic State members looted Nimrud before leveling it to the ground. Many statues as well as a castle were destroyed completely.

Experts say that the ancient site of Hatra will be next in the IS path of destruction. The city is an Unesco world heritage site and is more than 2,000 years old.

Unesco demanded an emergency meeting of the Security Council, after the destruction of the Mosul Museum, comparing the event to the destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas in 2001 by the Taliban.

Many religious minorities lived peacefully in the Mosul region for centuries, including Assyrian Christians, who consider themselves to be the indigenous people of the area.

Islamic State rules some regions in Iraq and Syria that hold some of the most important sites of the ancient world. The organization is a self-declared caliphate that seeks its inspiration from the early Islamic history.

IS militants have destroyed Sunni Muslim shrines, which they consider being heretical. The jihadists are involved in a heavy battle with allied fighters and Iraqi forces near the city of Tikrit, which controlled by ISIS and lies just 100 kilometers away from Baghdad.

Image Source: Wikipedia

The Human Epoch Began in 1610, Scientists Say

ISIS bulldoze ancient city of Nimrud

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