At https://phys.org/news/2022-02-comet-fiery-destruction-downfall-ancient.html … the Hopewell culture in North America fell into decline 1500 years ago, which is not unlike the setbacks faced by the Romans and Persians, or people in China and India at the same point in time. However, the researchers are referring to the theory that a comet or meteors were responsible for the Hopewell decline, a theory that came out a little while ago. We are told the decline can be explained by falling debris from a comet on a close passage to the earth. On the other hand, an old fashioned meteor might have done the trick via an atmospheric explosion. We are further told it laid waste forests and destroyed Native American villages. Hopewell is best known from Ohio. The airburst, they continue, set fire to 9200 square miles of territory between AD252 to 383The date coincides with reports of not one but 69 near earth, or visible comets, documented by Chinese astronomers. The research is published in the prestigious journal, Scientific Reports – see https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05758-y … and cosmic encounters seem to be coming at us thick and fast. Somebody has opened the flood gates. However, there is actual evidence in the discovery of meteorite fragments, irridium, and platinum, all said to have an origin in a cosmic interloper. They also found a charcoal layer, indicating fires and extreme heat. The micro-meteorite fragments have a chemical signature. Airbusts, we are told, leave behind tell tale platinum.
The Hopewell people actually collected meteorites and forged metal implements from them. A comet shaped mound was constructed near the epicentre, they claim, and various Algonquin and Iroquois tribes, descendants of Hopewell, preserved what happened in their stories and mythology. This is perhaps where they might have goosed the golden egg as myths and stories could refer to earlier events, going back much deeper in time. However, it does just go to show what archaeology has been missing all these years, proper soil analysis. No one would have thought to sift the sediments all that long ago. The possibility is that, worldwide, there could have been many meteor airbursts, right through the Holocene. If you don't look for something you won't find any evidence of it and the mainstream prognosticators can say there is no evidence therefore it didn't happen.
Not long after I posted this piece Robert sent in another link to the same story – see www.sci-news.com/archaeology/hopewell-comet-10515.html … with the comment that airburst events could actually be electrical discharges, presumably from a comet I suppose as there were no planets in the vicinity. He also provides a link to an older meteor story at www.sci-news.com/space/atacama-desert-comet-10247.html … which featured on the News some time ago. Let us get the meteors accepted first before worrying about electrical discharges – which have yet to be confirmed as a fact of the past. The presence of meteor fragments tends to give away the root cause. Sci-news looks like a good site to keep an eye on.
The full article available to print out is at www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05758-y .. and makes clear the dates are derived from calibration methodology, specifically IntCal20, which incorporates Bayesian methodology. The real historical dates may therefore be somewhat awry as the calibration curve always had its beginning in the first millennium BC rather than in the early medieval period. IntCal20 also incorporates several kinds of proxy data which might not be as exact as ice cores and tree rings. I say this as the date has a broad range – and that range might not really be broad enough. Having said that, in order to retain an open mind, there is no reason why an atmospheric fireball in North America would coincide with a downturn in other parts of the world. However, it is worth pointing out that the Roman empire had a lot of problems in early 3rd century AD, and later, in the 5th century AD, and the 3rd century also saw the collapse of the Gupta period in India, and so on. It seems peculiar to me that the IntCal20 dates the event to the period in between these two downturns.