May 19, 4130
Archeologists have begun excitedly exploring the newly-exposed land mass that was once called North America. Most of the former continent had been underwater since global climate change raised Earth’s atmospheric temperatures and caused melting of the polar regions, raising ocean levels between thirty and forty feet about two thousand years ago. With the recent cooling of the planet reversing these gains by Earth’s oceans, much of North America dried out over the past ten years, allowing for more ambitious study.
In particular, archeologists have been working in a region between longitude 89.0 and 90.0 W and latitude 39.0 and 41.0 N. Aerial photos indicated a sizable population once inhabited the area, and it had been assumed that the population was forced to relocate to avoid the rising ocean waters. However, test pits and the initial excavation work seem to indicate that the exodus of the prior civilization took place as much as one hundred years earlier.
Environmental scientists, geologists, astronomers and biologists have been researching the migration and have yet to determine its cause. No evidence of a natural disaster such as volcanic activity has been found. Common environmental conditions of that age such as smog and acid rain have likewise been ruled out. No evidence of disease has appeared through initial testing, although biologists continue to work to evaluate this possibility. Asteroid or comet impact, which scientists believe caused the first mass extinction on the planet over 65 million years ago, had been deemed likely after initial topographical studies indicated an almost completely flattened terrain, but further soil testing has indicated no foreign elements and thus this theory has been debunked. Science is baffled at this time.
What has been proven through carbon dating of human waste is the last inhabitants of the region likely lived near longitude 39.78 N and latitude 89.65 W, where two partial excavations have revealed buildings thought to have been used by regional government. Small by today’s standards, one house located at two hundred feet above current sea level probably housed sixty officials while the second structure, at seventy-five feet above sea level, was much larger, accommodating approximately twice as many. Interestingly, archeologists have discovered what was likely a much more densely populated city in the region only 200 miles to the northeast; this city’s political infrastructure was in complete disarray and scientists have yet to reconstruct its history.
Archeologists continue to study artifacts and the sparse written records which have been recovered from the region, and they believe they ultimately will be able to determine the cause of the premature migration. Amongst the written records which have been recovered, the one generating the most excitement has been dubbed the “Migration Scrolls”, which appears to be the diary of a man of some local and period significance. Much of the writings are illegible due to degradation caused by the salt water of the oceans over time. One passage which is giving hope to scientists engaged in this research reads: “…JB is driving people out of the state in droves with….progressive taxation…soon be taxing the air we breathe….”. The rest of the manuscript is unreadable. Based on the last portion of the text, scientists are examining air quality from that time period to determine whether the referenced “JB” had some poisoning impact on the environment.
Archeologists will continue to study the Migration Scrolls and the other documents and artifacts which have been recovered to date. Hopefully, we will one day understand what happened in this region over 2100 years ago.
Author’s Note – If you are from Illinois, this probably makes more sense to you
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