by the way, there are theories that everything ancient really occurred not that long ago. if true, the graph may be less steep.
if curious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Chronology_%28Fomenko%29
(i think its bullshit but who knows? :))
if curious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Chronology_%28Fomenko%29
(i think its bullshit but who knows? :))
BTW, much of Fomenko's mathematical work is quite accessible -- lots of pretty pictures. Also, whatever one might say about this history stuff, his math is not at all crackpot-ish.