I'm skeptical that we could hide the evidence of our civilization from future archaeologists, even were we to devote an enormous effort in to doing so.
Yes, there should be hard evidence, and yes, there are many OOPArts out there, and yes, we do try very hard to fit them into our current world view, or they get filed and forgotten.
That's the first time I'd ever come across that term ("OOPArt").
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-place_artifact
Keep in mind that I am speculating, not advocating the certainty of an antediluvian society, but merely allowing the possibility that one could have existed, as yet undiscovered and/or unrecognized.
One can't prove a negative, of course, but it strikes me as extraordinarily unlikely. And, as they say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
A post collapse religious fervor could even have gone to great efforts to eliminate every trace of any previous technology or civilization, no library of Alexandria, no statue of Buddha is immune.
Shades of Asimov's "Nightfall"!
Ours would be extraordinary difficult to hide. Stuff in Clarke orbits could still be there when we are no longer recognizable as our current species.
That's the first time I'd ever come across that term ("OOPArt").
FR, an opportunity to learn something every day...
And, as they say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Yep. I'm open to such evidence being found. Until then, it's just speculative fiction/fantasy.
Shades of Asimov's "Nightfall"!
Opposite, really. In Nightfall the church tried to provide continuity.
A blend of militant islam and wacko environmentalism, with a leavening of Luddites, rage, and post collapse PTSD-like insanity wouldn't leave much behind.