[Semi-Canon] Isolated Civilizations
tehskyman
Banned
I know we won't get to it for a very long time (if ever in this version maybe mark 4 will get there) but my thoughts keep coming back to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as fascinating examples in a neo medieval world.
South Africa on the most part would revert to pre-european tribes duking it out but the western cape would probably be home to small nation or two. It would be basically the most isolated civilization on the planet. Thousands of kilometers of tribal wilderness between it and the nearest civilization. It wouldn't revert to a nomadic state b/c 1. theres noone powerful enough to challenge them and 2. The Drakensburgs would shelter them from all but the most devoted army.
Australia is also interesting. You've got the coast which would maintain several maritime city states centered around Adelaide, Melbourne Sydney and Brisbane. You've got the south eastern interior which would maintain a nation. And then you've got a desert 1800km wide in the middle of the continent. And on the south western corner would be Perth. A corner of civilization sandwiched between thousands of kilometers of desert and ocean. All this nothing in an area the size of the lower 48.
And New Zealand. Britain but upside down? Probably not. There'd be significant polynesian influences.
Chile is also in a similar situation but it has neighbors. Argentina/Uruguay/Brazil would be over the andes and across a relatively small plain. Peru is just a 1700 km boat trek along the atacama coast. But the Inca did it so I don't think that Chile would be as isolated. But still. These nations would be so interesting as places without advanced civilization prior to european colonization
All these isolated outposts of civilization. Thousands of Kilometers from anyone else worth taking about. Staring out to sea and sometimes starting at the desert and Savannah inland. It's possible that some of these places would regress to tribalism with a single disaster. New Zealand and the Western Cape would be the most likely to do so but Australia I suspect is just large enough that if one city were to fall to anarchy, the others would fill the gap. I don't think that maybe aside from Viking Greenland and Vinland has a civilization ever been so isolated. But greenland and iceland were icy wastes. These are subtropical forests.
South Africa on the most part would revert to pre-european tribes duking it out but the western cape would probably be home to small nation or two. It would be basically the most isolated civilization on the planet. Thousands of kilometers of tribal wilderness between it and the nearest civilization. It wouldn't revert to a nomadic state b/c 1. theres noone powerful enough to challenge them and 2. The Drakensburgs would shelter them from all but the most devoted army.
Australia is also interesting. You've got the coast which would maintain several maritime city states centered around Adelaide, Melbourne Sydney and Brisbane. You've got the south eastern interior which would maintain a nation. And then you've got a desert 1800km wide in the middle of the continent. And on the south western corner would be Perth. A corner of civilization sandwiched between thousands of kilometers of desert and ocean. All this nothing in an area the size of the lower 48.
And New Zealand. Britain but upside down? Probably not. There'd be significant polynesian influences.
Chile is also in a similar situation but it has neighbors. Argentina/Uruguay/Brazil would be over the andes and across a relatively small plain. Peru is just a 1700 km boat trek along the atacama coast. But the Inca did it so I don't think that Chile would be as isolated. But still. These nations would be so interesting as places without advanced civilization prior to european colonization
All these isolated outposts of civilization. Thousands of Kilometers from anyone else worth taking about. Staring out to sea and sometimes starting at the desert and Savannah inland. It's possible that some of these places would regress to tribalism with a single disaster. New Zealand and the Western Cape would be the most likely to do so but Australia I suspect is just large enough that if one city were to fall to anarchy, the others would fill the gap. I don't think that maybe aside from Viking Greenland and Vinland has a civilization ever been so isolated. But greenland and iceland were icy wastes. These are subtropical forests.