Sounds like they had to regress because the acquifer ran dry. Wait, the climate was changing back then too?? How is that possible?? Aren’t we always being told that only modern human industries can do that??
Modern (such as it is) Libya has been building a mother of a water conduit to tap desert aquifers for coastal use. Yeah, that’ll work. No point in learning from the experiences of people for the Time of Ignorance.
“Wait, the climate was changing back then too?? How is that possible??”
Why, it was those evil, ancient SUV’s, of course. Don’t you know ANYTHING?
Actually, we were told that modern urban civilizations, in addition to natural phenomena, can effect climate change on a large scale.
We already knew that pre-modern civilizations can effect climate change. Diamond’s “Collapse” gives a great explanation of what occurred on Easter Island as it was gradually deforested.
Cape Verde Island is another great example of man-made climate (in this case, micro-climate) change. Named “Cape Verde” by European explorers because it was so lush and verdant, the island was deforested over 200 years of intense habitation. Rain clouds had formerly been “caught” by the forests as they moved out from the African continent. With the trees gone, the clouds just passed right over without dropping precipitation.
Today Cape Verde is dry, dusty, impoverished. We’ve known for centuries that men can effect the climate, just as natural phenomena can.