In 1985, genetic research began revealing humanity's closest extinct relatives. Neanderthals were confirmed as a distinct species that coexisted with Homo sapiens for thousands of years. Later, Denisovans would be identified through DNA extracted from a single finger bone. The fossil record showed multiple hominid species overlapping in time and space. Modern humans were not alone. We were one branch among many.

Then they all disappeared. Except us.

The question that haunts paleoanthropology is: why? Why did Neanderthals, who had larger brains, stronger bodies and had survived for 300,000 years, suddenly go extinct 40,000 years ago? Why did Denisovans, who thrived in Asia, vanish? Why did Homo erectus, who had spread across the Old World, leave no descendants?

Mainstream science offers three explanations: competition, climate change and interbreeding. Homo sapiens outcompeted other hominids for resources. Climate shifts reduced habitable zones. And limited interbreeding absorbed small populations into the Homo sapiens gene pool, leaving trace DNA but no distinct lineages.

These explanations are plausible. But they avoid a darker possibility: extermination. Not passive competition, but active elimination. Genocide. The annihilation of rival species by a more aggressive, more organized, more ruthless one.

Archaeological evidence shows Homo sapiens and Neanderthals coexisted for millennia without significant conflict. Then, suddenly, Neanderthal sites show signs of violence. Burned settlements. Mass graves. Abrupt abandonment. Homo sapiens sites expand into former Neanderthal territory. Within a few thousand years, Neanderthals are gone.

This is the pattern of conquest. Not slow displacement, but rapid takeover. The arrival of Homo sapiens correlates with the disappearance of other hominids. The correlation is too consistent to be coincidental. We did not simply outcompete them. We replaced them.

Modern humans carry 1-4% Neanderthal DNA. This suggests interbreeding occurred. But the percentage is low. Most Neanderthal genetic lines did not survive. The interbreeding was limited, likely involving female Neanderthals absorbed into Homo sapiens groups. Male Neanderthal lines show almost no survival. This is not mutual integration. This is conquest and assimilation of the defeated.

The Sumerian narrative of four failed creations fits this pattern. Each prior version was eliminated. Not through natural selection, but through deliberate action. The gods decided they were failures and destroyed them. If the gods were advanced humans or external engineers, the story describes the systematic elimination of prototype species.

The fossil record supports this. Homo habilis appeared, then disappeared. Homo erectus appeared, then disappeared. Neanderthals appeared, then disappeared. Each species existed for hundreds of thousands of years, then vanished within a narrow timeframe. The disappearances are too sudden for natural extinction. They suggest intervention.

Genetic studies reveal another anomaly. Modern human DNA shows evidence of a population bottleneck around 70,000 years ago. The global population dropped to as few as 10,000 individuals. Some researchers attribute this to the Toba supervolcano eruption, which caused a volcanic winter. But the timing is suspicious. Right after this bottleneck, modern humans explode in population and spread globally. As if something reset the population and then allowed it to expand rapidly.

This mirrors the flood narrative. A catastrophic event. Few survivors. Rapid repopulation. The survivors carried a specific genetic lineage, which became dominant. Other lineages were eliminated or absorbed. The result: humanity as we know it, descended from a small population that survived a near-extinction event.

The four forgotten creations may be Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthals and Denisovans. Each represented a phase of human development. Each was functional but flawed. Each was ultimately replaced by a superior version. Modern humans are the fifth iteration. The successful design. The species that outcompeted, absorbed or exterminated every rival.

This is not comfortable history. But it fits the data better than passive competition. Modern humans are not peaceful. We are aggressive, territorial and ruthless with perceived threats. If we treat other humans this way, how would we have treated other species? Species that competed for the same resources, occupied the same territories, and could not interbreed successfully?

The answer is visible in the archaeological record. They disappeared. We survived. And we carry fragments of their DNA as trophies.

The ancient texts describe this process openly. The gods created, evaluated and destroyed. The flood eliminated the unworthy. The survivors were chosen. Modern religion sanitizes this as divine judgment. But stripped of theology, it is genetic culling. Deliberate selection for specific traits. Elimination of variants that did not meet criteria.

If advanced beings-whether aliens, time travelers or a prior advanced human civilization-were managing human evolution, iterative design with elimination of failed versions is exactly what you would expect. Create a version. Test it. If it fails, eliminate it. Create an improved version. Repeat until success.

Modern humans are the success. We possess language, abstract thought, long-term planning and social cooperation at scale. We are violent enough to eliminate rivals but cooperative enough to build civilizations. We are intelligent enough to innovate but not so intelligent we question authority effectively. We are mortal enough to fear death but not so short-lived we cannot plan. We are the Goldilocks species. Not too strong, not too weak. Just right.

The forgotten creations were not forgotten. They were deleted. And their deletion was necessary for our existence. If Neanderthals had survived, the world would be different. Humanity would be diverse, not dominant. Civilization would be contested, not unified. History would be shared, not singular.

But they did not survive. We are alone. The only hominid species. Not because we were chosen by God. Because we were chosen by process. Natural or artificial, the result is the same. We are what remains after everything else was eliminated.

The pre-flood humanity was not mythical. It was real. Multiple hominid species, coexisting and competing. The flood-whether literal deluge, volcanic winter or metaphor for systematic elimination-reset the board. Modern humanity emerged from the reset, carrying fragments of prior species as genetic memory. We are the amalgamation. The successful synthesis. The fifth creation.

And if the pattern holds, we will not be the last.