
Lost Cities - vinnyglennon
http://www.touropia.com/lost-cities/
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fredley
Vijayanagara is better known as Hampi, and it is amazing, the picture doesn't
do it justice. The whole city was carved out of enormous boulders, which make
up most of the surrounding landscape. It is incredible to behold the scale of
it. Highlights include a camera obscura, elephant stables, a water-cooled
palace, a tuned 'musical temple' and miles upon miles of grand, ruined
streets.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara)

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contingencies
In Asia I would say omissions include:

Angkor (now central Cambodia)
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor)
Hugely significant for the language and culture of mainland Southeast Asia.

Dali, Nanzhao (now Yunnan, China)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanzhao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanzhao)
Important as a highly developed kingdom with influence over a large area that
acted as an early crossroads between China, India, Tibet, and non-state
peoples of Zomia.

Various cities, Shu kingdom (now Sichuan, China)
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shu_%28state%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shu_%28state%29)
Rediscovered in the 1980s, purely only known by literary reference in ancient
Chinese texts, this civilization is known to have had highly developed bronze
working far beyond the capacity of any other known in human history. We really
know little about them as they did not have a written language, other than
they had some form of ritual or belief system involving masks, large and
ornate metallic trees and bird figures.

Various cities, Champa (now central and southern Vietnam)
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa)
Champa was the pre-Chinese Indian kingdom of Vietnam. It was finally conquered
in the 15th century, though its descendents remain. Huge Hindu temple
complexes remain which are spectacular.

Jambi, Srivijaya (now eastern Sumatra, Indonesia)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melayu_Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melayu_Kingdom)
Interesting because it's huge and mostly unexcavated - potentially a second
Angkor.

... and probably at least 3 or 4 early (eg. Mon) sites in Burma.

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legulere
> Because there were no trees on the island, furniture had to be made of stone
> and thus also survived.

Kind of makes me think how they cooked? Also in other regions where there is
no wood available like in Petra.

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ecdavis
That's a very good question, and I'm also quite curious. A quick look at the
Wikipedia article for Skara Brae mentions that pottery, flint and ashes have
been found at the site which certainly suggests they had fire.

What other fuel sources could they have used?

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arethuza
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they used dried seaweed and dried animal
dung. Maybe peat as well - it's still a fairly common fuel in the wilder parts
of Scotland.

Skara Brae is in an amazing part of the world for neolithic monuments -
Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar and lots of others.

Edit: The Viking graffiti in Maeshowe is pretty special too...

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dghf
Skara Brae is amazing: it's a very freaky feeling standing in something still
recognisable as a home after four thousand years.

But it is in no way a city. The article admits as much, calling it 'one of the
best preserved Stone Age _villages_ in Europe'. Even the word 'village' is
generous; it's a hamlet.

I guess '34 Lost Settlements' wouldn't have the same snap as a title.

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davedx
"Like sands through the hourglass..."

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dblotsky
Made me think of this:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cities](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cities).

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anti-shill
look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair....

~~~
twic
Sic transit gloria mundi.

