What may have contributed to the Bronze Age collapse around 1200 BC?

Drought, war and the Sea Peoples

Lost Civilizations Quiz: Places, People and Key Facts

This lost civilizations quiz explores the Indus Valley, the Minoans, the Khmer of Angkor, the builders of Göbekli Tepe, the Nazca, Great Zimbabwe and Cahokia. Ten questions on places, people and key facts.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Indus
Which civilization's script has never been deciphered?
Crete
Which Bronze Age civilization built the palace of Knossos?
Turkey
Göbekli Tepe's stone pillars are about how old?
Cambodia
Which empire built Angkor?
USA
Which Mississippian city near St. Louis had huge earth mounds?
Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe was built by ancestors of which people?
Peru
Which civilization made giant lines in Peru's desert?
USA
Which people built cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde?
Bronze Age
What may have contributed to the Bronze Age collapse around 1200 BC?
Easter Island
Who carved the moai statues?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which civilization's script has never been deciphered?
Answer: Indus Valley
Short inscriptions on seals remain a mystery.
Q2: Which Bronze Age civilization built the palace of Knossos?
Answer: Minoans
Arthur Evans named them after the legendary King Minos.
Q3: Göbekli Tepe's stone pillars are about how old?
Answer: About 11,500 years
It predates Stonehenge by about 6,000 years.
Q4: Which empire built Angkor?
Answer: Khmer Empire
Angkor may have been the largest preindustrial city.
Q5: Which Mississippian city near St. Louis had huge earth mounds?
Answer: Cahokia
Monks Mound is the largest earthwork in the Americas north of Mexico.
Q6: Great Zimbabwe was built by ancestors of which people?
Answer: Shona
Its stone walls were built without mortar.
Q7: Which civilization made giant lines in Peru's desert?
Answer: Nazca
The lines include animals and geometric shapes.
Q8: Which people built cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde?
Answer: Ancestral Puebloans
They lived there from about 600 to 1300.
Q9: What may have contributed to the Bronze Age collapse around 1200 BC?
Answer: Drought, war and the Sea Peoples
Many civilizations fell around the same time.
Q10: Who carved the moai statues?
Answer: The Rapa Nui
They carved nearly 1,000 statues.

Lost Civilizations Quiz – Civilizations That Vanished

Many great civilizations declined or disappeared, leaving ruins and mysteries behind. The Indus Valley cities were abandoned, the Minoans faded after volcanic eruptions and the Khmer moved away from Angkor.

Causes include climate change, drought, war, disease and shifting trade. Often several factors combined, as in the Bronze Age collapse around 1200 BC.

Archaeologists continue to uncover clues. New technologies like lidar have revealed hidden cities in jungles, and DNA studies help trace where people moved.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz is for history fans fascinated by lost civilizations.

Which script is undeciphered
Who built Knossos
How old Göbekli Tepe is
Who built Angkor and Cahokia
Why civilizations collapse

Did You Know?

Tiwanaku thrived near Lake Titicaca.
The Olmec carved giant stone heads.
Aksum was a powerful African kingdom.
Caral in Peru is one of the oldest cities in the Americas.
Lidar found hidden Maya cities in 2018.