Civilizational Dead Ends

By strange coincidence, I encountered two different stories (one as a YouTube video and the other as an article in SciTechDaily) about signs of ancient civilizations.  Though each sought to elevate the story to groundbreaking or rewriting history, they both concern civilizations that went nowhere.

Murujuga concerned rock art in Australia.  There are a variety of carvings that date as far back as 50,000 years.  Yes, it is pretty cool, but it represents a people who never advanced beyond the Stone Age until more advanced civilizations arrived.  Is it important to preserve Stone Age graffiti in situ or will a photographic record be enough?  Do some 3-D modeling of the area to preserve it and carry the more interesting pieces to a museum.

Aquiry is a lost civilization in Amazonia on the Acre River.  I was at once reminded of The Lost City of Z when reading about it.  In this remote area, a civilization of up to 3 million people once flourished though it faded away sometime in the 9th century.  Though it may be interesting to study, it proved to be a civilizational dead end.  It is a cul-de-sac that leads to nothing beyond it, certainly nothing that applies to the modern world.

Where the Romans, Greeks, Chinese, Norse, Israelites, and countless others contributed to what has become our modern civilization, these two are dead ends or mere footnotes.  The Murujuga folk may be the source of the didgeridoo and the boomerang.  As for Aquiry, they weren't around to meet modern folk and pass on their innovations, if they had any.