Mesopotamia? aka the 'cradle of civilisation' at the fork of the Tigris and Euphrates? (Now the Axis of Evil(TM) country of Iraq, with a stripped museum of what were very significant antiquities from those periods.) Or perhaps villages on the Nile that evolved into the Egyptian empires. 'Civilisation' is held to be a phenomenon of social organisation which occurred within the last 10 000 years, which is remarkably late given that modern man has probably not changed much biologically in 200 000 years. There was an exponential explosion of technologies, social stratification and occupational specialisation which marks 'civilisation', i.e. the formation of cities and so on, in the proposed evolution of types of society, which include hunter-gatherer, horticultural, agricultural or agrarian, modern industrial, etc. Note that a mere 10 000 years of civilisation has seen early technologies such as pottery manufacture or mud building construction transformed into silicon technology, skyscrapers, internal combustion engines and landing on the moon -- a positive feedback loop of technology layered on technology... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution for an anthropological treatment: "The Neolithic Revolution is believed to have occurred somewhere in southwest Asia around 8000 BC–7000 BC. [...] The Revolution developed independently in different parts of the world, not just in the Fertile Crescent. On the African continent, three areas have been identified as independently developing agriculture: the Ethiopian highlands, the Nile River Valley and West Africa. As originally conceived, the successes of the Neolithic Revolution laid the foundations for far-reaching cultural innovations to be made, and provided the framework for institutions and practices which would lead to the "rise of civilization". For this reason, it has often been called one of the most significant developments in human history."

I think it is Harrapa and Mohen jo daro civilization of India.

��atalhöyük in modern day Turkey is the site of the world's oldest city. It is over 9,000 years old.

All of these answere so far are out-of-date (excuse the pun) and incorrect when it comes to the "oldest" civilisation. Very recently archeological discoveries (notably off the Indian coast) have shown us that it was wildly UNDER-estimated how far back civilisation went. Whole coast lines have since been washed away which scientists never even knew existed, which contain evidence of human settling. But one thing we do know, due to geological evidence, is when these coastlines dissapeared. Some vast areas of land have been washed away that indicated human civilisation at least 20,000 years ago. Some would even. say 20,000 years is an conservative guess. BUT! As with all new scientific theories, its always very hard to convince stubborn old scientists, who, have may of spent 30 years of their life working off the theory that civilisation is roughly around 8,000-10,000 years old. When someone comes along, and practically proves they are completely wrong about this, they will effectivly launch a smear campaign in a desperate (some may use harsher words than desperate, i.e begins with a p and ends in athetic) attempt to safe gaurd their research and beliefs.

With the help of archaeology and linguistic studies, we can say that tamil(south indian) is the oldest civilization. Recent archaeology suggests that there could be a submerged land in the indian ocean and linguistic studies reveal of a lost tamil kingdom, "Kumari Kandam" in the indian ocean. There are citations of the flood, which caused it to submerge under the sea. Also, sumerian, the oldest civilization as per archaeological records is considered to be tamil. Even the indus civilization is considered to be tamil.

I strongly believe it is Indian civilization or Vedic civilization. Be it Tamil civilization or Indus valley. European archeologists believe or try to preach that Mesopotamian, Sumerian or Babylonian is the oldest and they call them cradle of civilization. But there are evidences from Gujarat cost of India that there were a civilized society existed there. Some early findings date 9500 years! This is just scientific evidence. But one can find several evidences of ancient civilizations and standard of living from Vedas, epics and several ancient Sanskrit scripts. But they are highly underestimated! Vedic civilization was not only spread in present day India but also in west Asia, Middle East and East Asia up to at least Korea. One can find traces of Vedic culture from Bali in the south Pacific to the Baltic in Northern Europe and from Korea to Kaaba of Mecca. This is evident from the names of the regions starting from India towards the west have all Sanskrit names like Afghanistan (land of Afghans), Baluchistan (land of Baluchs), Kurdistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Sivisthan, Arvasthan (land of Horses) (now Arabia), Turkesthan (Turkmenistan) etc. Stan (Sthan) in Sanskrit means land. Historians have blundered in not giving due weight to the evidence provided by Sanskrit names pervading over the entire west Asian region. Another evidence from literature: Space images taken by NASA reveal a mysterious ancient bridge in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. The recently discovered bridge currently named as Adam's Bridge is made of chain of shoals, c.18 mi (30 km) long. The bridge's unique curvature and composition by age reveals that it is man made. The legends as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to the a primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge's age is also almost equivalent. This information is a crucial aspect for an insight into the ancient epic RAMAYANA, which was supposed to have taken place in Treta Yuga (more than 1,700,000 years ago)

Armenian Highlands: the birth place of civilization -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope the following information will interest you. Based on my exposure to European and Near-Eastern research regarding genetics, archeology, mythology and linguistics, I have come to the conclusion that the aboriginal homeland of Armenians and all proto-Indo European and Aryan tribes were somewhere within the vicinity of the Armenian Highlands (eastern Anatolia, northern Mesopotamia, north eastern Iran and the southern Caucasus), more specifically, within the triangle formed by the Caspian sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Putting aside wishful thinking and fairytales propagated by self-serving "Euro-centric" White Supremists on the one hand and equally unreliable Zionist saturated academia within America and England on the other hand, there is a large body of evidence that mainstream western academia has not been exposed to yet that clearly points to the Armenian Highlands as the primordial location where civilized man as represented by Indo-European and Mesopotamian tribes first entered the pages of history. According to Armenian and some European scholars and scientists, the following statements are either accepted as corroborated facts yet to be disproved by other discoveries elsewhere, or very likely speculation and/or theories that yet need to be corroborated through additional research. Thus, based on the evaluation of various scholarly and scientific disciplines, the Armenian Highlands are said to be: The earliest location where metal smelting is said to have taken place. The earliest location where agriculture is said to have been developed. The earliest location where animal husbandry is said to have been developed. The earliest location where wheeled transportation is said to have been implimented. The earliest location where petroglyphs of wheels, ox carts and swastikas are depicted. The earliest location where mankind is said to have developed a keen understanding of movements of the stars and the planets. The earliest location where cyclopic walls and round dwelling have been unearthed. The earliest location where some of the Babylonian, Sumerian, Iranian, Celtic, Slavic, Germanic and Greco-Roman gods and goddesses have their primordial predecessors. The location where Babylonian/Sumerian and Hebrew sacred texts indicate the civilization/mankind was first "created." The location where Babylonian/Sumerian and Hebrew sacred texts indicate the world was repopulated after the Great Flood. The location where, according to Hebrew sacred scripture, God is said to have changed the languages of mankind, thus, scattering them to the far corners of the world. (in my opinion, most probably a metaphor describing the Indo-European language diffusion) The following web-sites are related to the aforementioned statements: Indo-European homeland, Armenian prehistoric artifacts: http://www.armenianhighland.com/home...onicle120.html Karahunge: Armenia's "stonehenge" advent of astronomy: http://www.tacentral.com/karahundj/karahundj1.asp Shengavit: a seven thousand year old dwelling: http://www.armenianow.com/2003/nove...atures/history/ Metsamor: Pre-ancient dwelling a center for metallurgy and astronomy: http://www.tacentral.com/history/metsamor.asp / http://www.tacentral.com/astronomy.asp?story_no=3 Petroglyphs: Neolithic depictions of celestial bodies, swastikas, wheeled transportation, etc: http://www.arminco.com/hayknet/naskal.htm / http://www.iatp.am/ara/map/index.html Pre-historic religions within the Armenian Highlands, Armenian national gods and goddesses: http://www.ercole.net/hayaser/religion.asp / http://www.angelfire.com/hi/Azgaser/AR.html

India 10-15000 yrs of civilised, intelligent contributions. AStrlology, astronomy, medicine, surgery, plastic surgery, immunisation were not imported to India, although in modern times, modern versions were. In ancient times Indians had thew most precise astrologicsal calculations. The Americans may have today. But then 40% of NASA is Indian. We see similarities in Indian culture and language in other parts of the world. The further you go from India, the more distorted the language. This suggests migration. Also, anthropology suggests asia and not africa is the birthplace of humans. Historical texts coincide with archeology and astronomical texts. The word arya means noble. The people who composed the vedas in northern India were noble. This may explain persia's name Iran which means aryan. But then Persia is itself derived from Parshus ( a people from India). And how far is persia from India? They were neighbours in ancient times. The Pharisees in the Bible were the Persians. You will not read INdia is the oldest even though they found a 9600 yr old city 5 yrs ago in India. Just as you will not read Saddam had no WMD for some time to come. This city has architecture as advanced as noerth amercican cities do today.A valid history is validated thru influence. A truthful history is so because of objectivity. YOu will read of an Aryan invasion into India even as there were no such people and no such invasion. Migration was westward, not eastward. Today you will read of Al Qaeda and Taliban even when the 2 entities do not exist. Maybe in a thousand yrs and a few discoveries later when the world is multipolar we (the ignorant) will realise this. The wise already know history repeats itself. 10 thousand yrs is not a long time, especially when you consider 40-50000 yrs ago in france, india, australia there were intelligent works such as cave paintings, etc. There is nothing new under the Sun, atleast not over a short time as 10 k yrs.

Africa, where man and all wild life originated.

It depends upon what you mean by civilisation. In a literal sense, the words derives from "civis", a city. The earliest kn ow city is believed to be Ur, in what is now Iraq: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur . There were, however, village settlements in this area and others well before this time.

I also have evedence that early remains within britains coastlines suggests human settlements dating as far back as five thousand years. Thus pre-dating a multitude of egiption ruins. The suggestion alone brings into question that there most probably were civiliasations before the egiptions elsewhere in the world. sorry about the spelling and grammer I am dislexic.

If civillisation is deamed by the fact that they were able to intellectually contribute towards modern day activity I belive that early britions did this by introducing apleanty. Namely the means to constuct weathertight building which were warm and defendeded us from not only the elements but from potential threats to our surviaval. If it was not for these early interactions it would be doughtful we would be typing on these computers now.. Oh thank you Alec

I really enjoyed you conversation or debate, but please go through the link below, then you will know exactly where exactly the oldest civilization existed. http://www.hinduism.co.za/oldest.htm May be it helps to know more about the oldest civilization.

It's all guess work. No-one knows. We can only conjecture as to the oldest 'known' based on smatterings of evidence. Since mankind has existed in it's current form for at least 200,000 years, would it not be fair to say that some civilizations have come and gone and are yet to be uncovered? Why assume that for the first 190,000 years we were all sitting around scratching for food and then, ping! someone gets an idea to build a community. If you agree that a civilization is defined by local cooperation and a form of governance, then surely the oldest civilization will have appeared long before we have current evidence for. The ancient civilizations that always crop up i.e. Iran etc, like ours today, were based on even earlier models which were in turn based on earlier still models. It stands to reason that the oldest civilization has not been uncovered (nor is it likely to be) as it would have to be around 200,000 years ago. Now stop wasting time digging around for useless answers and find some valuable employment within TODAYS civilizations.

Sunken City Off India Coast 7500 B.C.? 10 000 B.C.? 50 000 B.C.? How to fix the date of the Mahabharata A practical suggestion The following text is taken from the Mahabharata. The text in Section VI predicts the sinking of the City of Dwaravati. Section VII describes how the city of Dwarka was swallowed up by the ocean. Geological expertise can help determine the period when the city of Dwarka was lost beneath the ocean waves. Tsunami? (Earliest recorded event of Tsunami) From The Mahabharata Mausala Parva, Section VI Translated by Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli Vasudeva said: This city of Dwaravati, after Arjuna’s departure, will, with its walls and edifices, be swallowed up by the ocean without any delay. From The Mahabharata Mausala Parva, Section VII Translated by Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli Vaisampayana said: The widows of the other heroes of the Bhoja, the Vrishni, and the Andhaka races, lordless now, that set out with Arjuna, numbered many millions. That foremost of car-warriors, that conqueror of hostile towns, viz., the son of Pritha, escorted this vast procession of Vrishnis, which still abounded with wealth, and which looked like a veritable ocean. After all the people had set out, the ocean, that home of sharks and alligators, flooded Dwarka, which still teemed with wealth of every kind, with its waters. Whatever portion of the ground was passed over, ocean immediately flooded over with his waters. Beholding this wonderful sight, the inhabitants of Dwarka walked faster and faster, saying, - "Wonderful is the course of fate! Dhananjaya (Arjuna), after abandoning Dwarka, proceeded by slow marches, causing the Vrishni women to rest in pleasant forest and mountains and by the sides of delightful streams. Sunken City Off India Coast- 7500 B. C.? © 2002 by Linda Moulton Howe February 16, 2002 Surat, India - A month ago in mid-January, marine scientists in India announced they had sonar images of square and rectangular shapes about 130 feet down off the northwestern coast of India in the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay). Not only are their sonar shapes with 90-degree angles, the Indian Minister of Science and Technology ordered that the site be dredged. What was found has surprised archaeologists around the world and was the subject of a private meeting two weeks ago attended by the Indian Minister in charge of investigating the underwater site about thirty miles off the coast from Surat. An American who traveled to that private meeting was Michael Cremo, researcher in the history of archaeology for the Bhakti Vedanta Institute in India and author of the book Forbidden Archaeology. I talked with him today in India about the dredging operation, what the ocean engineers found and the implications of first carbon dating of artifacts at more than 9,000 years. Michael Cremo, Researcher of Ancient Archaeology and Author, Forbidden Archaeology "Within the past few months, the engineers began some dredging operations there and they pulled up human fossil bones, fossil wood, stone tools, pieces of pottery and many other things that indicated that it indeed was a human habitation site that they had. And they were able to do more intensive sonar work there and were able to identify more structures. They appeared to have been laid out on the bank of a river that had been flowing from the Indian subcontinent out into that area. According to the news releases, they have done a radiocarbon testing on a piece of wood from the underwater site that is now yielding an age of 9,500 years which would place it near the end of the last Ice Age. Yes, those are the indications that are coming. There were actually two radiocarbon dates: one about 7500 years old and another about 9500 years old. The 9500 year old one seems to be the strongest one. That's the one they are going with. This was announced by Minister Joshi (Murli Manohar Joshi is Indian Minister for Ocean Technology) at this meeting I attended in Hyderabad, India. He said there is going to be more work going on. It's difficult because it's very difficult to see down there. There is a very swift current. So, it's going to have to be a pretty massive effort, but he said the government of India is willing to put the resources behind it to do whatever it takes to further confirm these discoveries. I also spoke in Hyderabad with an independent archaeologist not connected with the Indian government, but who has a deep interest in these discoveries and he says they are still going to have to send divers down there. Up to this point, they have not sent divers down. The information they have is based on the sonar readings and the dredging they have done. Eventually, they are going to have to find a way to get people down there to take a closer look at this. I think this effort is going to go on. Now, another American archaeologist, Richard Meadows of Harvard University, is proposing there should be an international effort here. On the surface that sounds like a good idea, but it also may be an effort of American archaeologists and others to control the project. I don't think they want to see a civilization being as old as it appears to be according to these new finds at 9500 years ago. So, I would hope the Indian archaeologists and government would be very cautious about letting outsiders in there who might have a different agenda and who might try to control what gets let out about this very important discovery. It could be quite revolutionary. Cultural Background of People At Underwater Site? Even if we don't know what the cultural background of the people is, if it does happen to be a city that is 9500 years old, that is older than the Sumerian civilization by several thousand years. It is older than the Egyptian, older than the Chinese. So it would radically affect our whole picture of the development of urban civilization on this planet. Now, if it further happens that additional research is able to identify the culture of the people who lived in that city that's now underwater, if it turns out they are a Vedic people - which I think is quite probable given the location of this off the coast of India - I think that would radically change the whole picture of Indian history which has basically been written by western archaeologists. India's Vedic Culture - Was It Really Older Than 3500 Years? The most archaic Sanskrit (Devanagari) is that of the Vedas, multiple books written in thousands of hymns and verses arranged in song cycles. The Vedas say that "God-men" brought Sanskrit to Earth men as a language of musical tones. http://www.hinduism.co.za/oldest.htm

you poor poor people. try looking towards peru, south america for this answer. the answer lies in the Andies. not in EuroAsia

Well, the Pyramids and the Sphinx (Which apparently originally had a lions head) in Egypt have water erosion marks, which dates them by default to the ice-age. Many, many, geologists testify this. NOTE; Egyptologist date the giza pyramids to 2000bc because an archaeologist (who was incidently running out of funding) SUDDENLY found, inside the Great pyramids in a secluded corner, some rather poor and badly carved heiroglyphs saying something like, "Khufu is great". When in contrast to the solid evidence of the erosions, it becomes clear that the Giza Pyramids date back to at least 8000 bc, during the ice-age, for that was when egypt last experienced continuous rainfall.

The City of Jericho is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth. Archaeologist have unearthed the remains of over 20 successive settlements their dating back as far as 11,000 years ago or 9000 B.C. It is located in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories North of the Dead Sea. It is currently occupied by an estimated 25,000 Palestinians, and governed by current mayor Hassan Saleh.

Iraq is the oldest civilixation. every one will said different story and make his own countery oldest. but go to turst website like encyclopedia and this is what i found out. Highly developed human society with structured division of labour. The earliest civilizations evolved in the Old World from advanced Neolithic farming societies in the Middle East (Sumer in 3500 BC; Egypt in 3000 BC), the Indus Valley (in 2500 BC), and China (in 2200 BC). In the New World, similar communities evolved civilizations in Mesoamerica (the Olmec in 1200 BC) and Peru (the Chavin in 800 BC). Neolithic Polished axe-head, dating from about 1800 BC (Devizes Museum, Wiltshire, England). The Neolithic period is characterized by the advent of ground and polished axes and adze heads. Polishing the stone tool by grinding a fine abrasive against it gave the axe a smoother cutting edge and greater strength. Polished axes were often made of stones such as schist and jadeite, which are harder materials than flint. Neolithic burial from the grotto of Arene Candide, near Finale Ligure (Liguria, Italy). An important prehistoric site, the grotto was continually occupied from the late Palaeolithic (up to 12,000 BC) to the Iron Age, and was one of the earliest sites in northern Italy to be settled by people of the Neolithic period (9000-6000 BC). The Neolithic inhabitants also used the grotto for burials, in which the body was placed in a crouching position and accompanied by simple grave goods.Literally ‘New Stone’, the last period of the Stone Age. It was characterized by settled agricultural communities who kept domesticated animals, and made pottery and sophisticated, finely finished stone tools. The Neolithic period began and ended at different times in different parts of the world. For example, the earliest Neolithic communities appeared about 9000 BC in the Middle East, and were followed by those in Egypt, India, and China. In Europe farming began in about 6500 BC in the Balkans and Aegean Sea areas, spreading north and east by 1000 BC. The Neolithic period ended with the start of the Bronze Age, when people began using metals. Some Stone Age cultures persisted into the 20th century, notably in remote parts of New Guinea.

It depends how you mean it. The oldest town is debated, as both a village in Turkey, the city of Jericho in Isreal, and a few towns in India date back to before written record began in 5000 BC. Most likely the Sumerian farm villages along the Tigris river are the oldest. The oldest nation was the Sumerian Nation which covered much of modern day South Iraq. The first empire was the Egyptian Empire of the 1600's BC. The largest empire was the British empire which covered nearly 25% of the earth at its height in the 1800's. The longest lasting nation still operating is China which began as a small monarchy nation around 2300 BC.

The island of Malta is said to be officially the oldest civilization in the world.

Upper Nile valley is the most ancient civilization. All others, Egypt, Western Africans state and Mesopotamia (Abrahams' home) are migratory stops in time. This is where Egypt learned to govern and as we all know, Egyptian civilization was the jump off for every other.

"Not sure if this one is oldest, also there is no firm evidences. Now it's completely your wish if you have initial belief then research thru and find yourself" In Hindu Mythology, aging of cilization is devided in 4 periods (Yuga's). World started from Satyuga and moved to tretayuga, then to dwapur yuga and then current one is kalyuga. each of of this yuga has definate time and after end of 4th yuga (kalyuga), cycle again starts with first yuga(Satyuga). Satyuga =1,728,000 years TretaYug, = 1,296,000 years DwaparYug, = 864,000 years KaliYug = 432,000 years It takes 43,20,000 years to complete the cycle of all 4 periods (yuga), every new yuga starts after a dooms day. and currently we are left with 4,26,900 years of kalyuga (5100 years are already passed). Great ramayana story happened approx. 900000 years before, as per zodic calculations by astrologers explained in old literature. ---------------------------------------------------- As one of my american friend says "It seems a complete rubbish theory unless you stay in india for 7-8 years and study thru the available literature,monuments and feel the heritage of culture". I am also not a firm believer of this theory but do we have someone else claiming so accurately in years with some literature and astrology calculations in the world....answer is NO...probably that's why am writing this to you. ------------------------------------------------------

that is right Matt.Dr Robbert Ballard the American, took a survey ship into the black sea to look for evidence of the flood theory,and possibly found the remains of what looks like a primitive village.But this is still being disputed,lol.my personnel opinion is we should start looking in the med and definitely off the west coast of Spain ,Portugal and north Africa.The recent findings off the west coast of India is quite shocking when you realize there are buildings hundreds of feet long possibly 9500 years old.no wonder religion and science does not mix lol .If their civilization was that advanced, they did not attain that knowledge over night. thank you for letting me vent off lol, phil (try this site i recently found Whitley Striebers unknown country.http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1459.it is very interesting

China, egypt, inka, and maya are the oldest. Their oldest people date back to Bc 9000. Mesopotamia,greece and korea started around bc 8000. Japan started around bc4000 with greece and rome. These are most likely the oldest nations. I also heard that antartica may have been another one.

Atlantis

my dear friends u all look like fools 2 me -A civilization is a society or culture group normally defined as a complex society characterized by the practice of agriculture and settlement in towns and cities. Compared with other cultures, members of a civilization are organized into a diverse division of labor and an intricate social hierarchy. * Sumer: The Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer is widely accepted as the first complex civilization to develop on Earth. * Ancient Near East o Ancient Egypt o Mesopotamia/Sumer o Levant/Canaan o Elam * Minoan civilization * Indus Valley Civilization * Prehistoric Armenia * Helladic period Ancient Greece * Ancient China * Ancient Korea 4 those who say americas had d first civilization)The Norte Chico civilization (also Caral or Caral-Supe civilization[1]) was a complex Pre-Columbian society that included as many as 30 major population centers in what is now the Norte Chico region of north-central coastal Peru. It is the oldest known civilization in the Americas, having flourished between the 30th century BC and the 18th century BC. Sumer (Sumerian: ð’† ð’‚—ð’‚  ki-en-ĝir15[1][2], Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar) was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern Iraq (Mesopotamia), known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (late 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC. Evidence of a lost civilisation has been discovered off the coast of India. Archaeologists have recovered carved wood, pottery, pieces of sculpture and human teeth from a now submerged settlement in the Gulf of Cambay off Gujarat. Radiocarbon dating of one wooden sample suggests the settlement is around 9500 years old. If the date is confirmed, the site would be the world's first known "city". Until now, the earliest settlement of this size was thought to have appeared in the Sumer Valley in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC.

there are "ruins" all over the world. if the presence of "ruins" prove the existence of an ancient civilisation, then the latter is as old as life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromatolite http://www.vdome.co.za/life-stromatolites.htm k, seriously, people of the world, what's the point of trying to stretch the "civilised" history of any particular country ? the farther back you look, the less differentiated is human culture. So the oldest human civilisation would be just that, a HUMAN civilisation, not specifically Indian, nor European, nor Mesopotamian, nor Egyptian, nor Chinese, nor Andean, nor Mesoamerican. here's a brilliant book I read a long time ago: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Stone-Age-Prehistoric-Journey/dp/0712684522 go find it if you have time, and visit the places mentioned in the book. sidenote: one thing I respect about Chinese historians. no matter how nationalistic they are, they have the guts to admit that "during the Divine Farmer's era, weapons were made of stone." and yes, I DO consider stromatolites to be the oldest cities in the world -_^

Cuneiform's(3300BC), Sumerians(3300BC), and Elamite's(3300BC).

Much more is going to be learned about this , just a few years away ,Going back much further than imaged!

Western Scientists are giving examples of Mesopatamia, Armenian highlands, Egyptian, Babylon ...etc. However there are no concrete evidences available to prove the datings of the civilizations and on top of everything ; No evidences in terms of literature to validate the chain and links with any such civilization with currently existing races. In south asia, mohanjodro and harappa also carbon dated back 3000BC, however there are no links found. Eventually these races existed long back but left with very discrete evidences about their knowledge pool and gowth patterns. Also if we go for hard evidences then we cannot found any such civilization evidence prior to 4000-5000BC that's a strange element. Indian civilization may not give many hard evidences (as all the places are densely populated since from ancient times) about it's datings but there are many soft evidences in terms of literature and ancient epics/stories. even hard evidences are available till 2000BC in form of various indian kings ruling across the ancient india from East to afghan and kashmir to srilanka (see the stories of gupt/chol vansh). sanskrit is key source of information and it's a strange that a Language is surviving from last known 2000BC and said to be core language in which Ramayan and mahabharat were written originally (various theories on aging for these epics). However a complete language is existing from last 4000 known years and is more strong in vocubulary and assent then any other language in the world. That itself gives an evidence that India has solution to this mystery, all it needs to be researched. As Giza Pyramids in egypt were researched by an Franchman scientist and he discovered many things and hide whatever was against church in 1820 (Due to instructions by french authorities)....so if we research with open mind then can get the correct answers. SandeepM

You are all a bunch on idiots! Especially the INDIA is the best bunch of ground pounding monkeys. How can you claim to have a civilization that is over 1 million years old when "Homo rhodesiensis" has been around for less than 200,000 years! So I'm right in thinking that Indians are not even from this planet! Civilization does not mean a bunch on monkeys sitting around a fire pounding the ground with their fists making screaming sounds. A civilization is (to me at least!) a group of people that get together and make a PERMANENT settlement. You know with buildings, roads, temples, governments, etc. So according to those basic criteria the oldest civilization is not in India, America, Europe or even on Mars. The oldest I believe is in Mesopotamia/Middle East. You can have a group of monkeys swing from trees and farting along the way that may be very good at math, but that does not make them a civilization. A smart bunch of monkeys yes...civilization NO. You need a place to call HOME to be a civilization, a random bunch of people are called NOMADS. There was a guy that I was reading his answers to this very question on a tread saying that Indians did this and Indians did that. He even went as far as to say they invented the maths, language, numbers, and even some today work for NASA answering their 1-800 help lines, believe it or not! Yes everyone one in the world is smart but not one group of people is super smart. If they are so intelligent why in the world are they still a developing country? They can't blame all their woes on the British. Yes they are an old civilization (not the oldest) and they still have not found out how to help themselves let alone MANKIND. In the Middle East they have their own dumb problems with who owns what land and which God is greater and how one persons farts smell better than the others but at least they behave like the group of animals that they are! They don't claim to be scientists and inter-planetary space travelers. It seems the older the civilization the more inbreed jackass, power hungry, retards there seems to be.