5 Civilizations That Mysteriously Disappeared

History is full of loose ends. There are countless cultures and civilizations that disappear with little trace of where they went or what happened to them. That is the all-to-often story of humanity.

While this list could consist of hundreds of lost civilizations, I wanted to gather the top five that piqued my interest (and hopefully yours too).

1. Rapa Nui

The Rapa Nui of Easter Island are famous for their enduring statues of their ancestors, the Moai.

Descendant from the Marquesas Islands, the Rapa Nui were expert way finders who navigated across the Pacific Ocean.

As mentioned, the Moai were seen as representations of their ancestors. Different factions across the island would compete to create bigger and better statues. This resulted in over 1,000 Moai being carved across the island.

Archaeologists have theorized that the competition over resources between different factions led to ecocide. After which

their society fell into a downward spiral of warfare, cannibalism, and population decline.