Did a stone-age supernova give humans the gift of music? Hear me out.

The ending of the original Planet of the Apes shook me. When Charlton Heston — SPOILER ALERT! — discovered the ruins of the Statute of Liberty on that beach, he realized that he’d never left Earth. Instead, he was the survivor of an ancient extinct civilization that left almost no trace of its existence.

Stories like that have me down the path of speculative histories from a variety of authors/researchers who specialize in the concept of advanced peoples who may have occupied this planet before us.

One of the more fascinating theories I’ve encountered comes from a book called The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: How a Stone-Age Comet Changed the Course of World Culture.

Like my Planet of the Apes experience many years ago, I can’t stop wondering about this.

And yes, there is a music angle to what I’m about to outline.

Keep reading. This is pretty mind-blowing.