Convergent History

Ranking

The Most Documented-Contact-Isolated Civilizations

Ranked by fewest documented trade, war, or diplomatic links to any other civilization in this dataset — a proxy for isolation, not necessarily for actual historical isolation, since absence of a documented record isn't proof absence of contact.

  1. # Civilization Region Dates Documented contacts
  2. 1 Shang Dynasty Yellow River Valley, East Asia 1,600 BCE – 1,046 BCE 0
  3. 2 Olmec Civilization Gulf Coast, Mesoamerica 1,500 BCE – 400 BCE 0
  4. 3 Qin Dynasty Yellow River to Yangtze, East Asia 221 BCE – 206 BCE 0
  5. 4 Nazca Culture Southern coast, Peru 100 BCE – 800 CE 0
  6. 5 Teotihuacan Central Mexico 100 BCE – 550 CE 0
  7. 6 Gupta Empire Northern Indian subcontinent 320 CE – 550 CE 0
  8. 7 Khmer Empire Southeast Asia 802 CE – 1431 CE 0
  9. 8 Chimú Kingdom Northern coastal Peru 900 CE – 1470 CE 0
  10. 9 Aztec (Mexica) Empire Central Mexico 1428 CE – 1521 CE 0
  11. 10 Kingdom of Zimbabwe Southern Africa 1220 CE – 1450 CE 0
  12. 11 Vedic Civilization Northern Indian subcontinent 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE 0
  13. 12 Jomon Culture Japanese archipelago 14,000 BCE – 300 BCE 0
  14. 13 Indus Valley Civilization Indus River Basin, South Asia 3,300 BCE – 1,300 BCE 1
  15. 14 Kingdom of Kush Nubia, Northeast Africa 1,070 BCE – 350 CE 1
  16. 15 Classical Athens Attica, Greece 508 BCE – 322 BCE 1
  17. 16 Maurya Empire Indian subcontinent 322 BCE – 185 BCE 1
  18. 17 Roman Republic Italian Peninsula, expanding to Mediterranean 509 BCE – 27 BCE 1
  19. 18 Roman Empire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe 27 BCE – 476 CE 1
  20. 19 Parthian Empire Iranian Plateau to Mesopotamia 247 BCE – 224 CE 1
  21. 20 Han Dynasty East Asia 206 BCE – 220 CE 1
  22. 21 Classic Maya Civilization Yucatán Peninsula and Central America 250 CE – 900 CE 1
  23. 22 Sassanid Empire Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia 224 CE – 651 CE 1
  24. 23 Byzantine Empire Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia 330 CE – 1453 CE 1
  25. 24 Postclassic Maya (Chichén Itzá era) Northern Yucatán 900 CE – 1524 CE 1
  26. 25 Inca Empire Andean South America 1438 CE – 1533 CE 1
  27. 26 Etruscan Civilization Central Italy 900 BCE – 27 BCE 1
  28. 27 Old Kingdom Egypt Nile Valley, North Africa 2,686 BCE – 2,181 BCE 2
  29. 28 Minoan Civilization Crete, Aegean Sea 3,000 BCE – 1,100 BCE 2
  30. 29 Old Babylonian Empire Mesopotamia 1,894 BCE – 1,595 BCE 2
  31. 30 Phoenician City-States Levantine coast 1,200 BCE – 539 BCE 2
  32. 31 Neo-Assyrian Empire Mesopotamia and the Near East 911 BCE – 609 BCE 2
  33. 32 Achaemenid Persian Empire Iranian Plateau to the Indus 550 BCE – 330 BCE 2
  34. 33 Kingdom of Aksum Horn of Africa 100 CE – 940 CE 2
  35. 34 Kingdom of Ebla Northern Syria 3,000 BCE – 1,600 BCE 2
  36. 35 Carthaginian Empire North African coast and western Mediterranean 814 BCE – 146 BCE 2
  37. 36 Akkadian Empire Mesopotamia 2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCE 3
  38. 37 Mycenaean Greece Greek mainland and Aegean 1,600 BCE – 1,100 BCE 3
  39. 38 Hittite Empire Anatolia 1,600 BCE – 1,178 BCE 3
  40. 39 Egyptian New Kingdom Nile Valley and Levant 1,550 BCE – 1,077 BCE 3
  41. 40 Elamite Civilization Southwestern Iran 2,700 BCE – 539 BCE 3