6.4 Different countries, different worlds

Most of us are aware of the ancient Egyptians and their pyramids, the Greeks and their sculptures and temples, but other ancient peoples got short shrift in world history. Here are a handful of long-lost cultures that don't get the name recognition they deserve.

The first one is the Silla culture. The Silla Kingdom was one of the longest-standing royal dynasties. It ruled most of the Korean Peninsula between 57 BC and AD 935 but left few burial sites behind for archaeologists to study.

Silla was founded by the monarch Bak Hyeokgeose. Legend holds that he was hatched from a mysterious egg in the forest and married a queen born from the ribs of a dragon. Over time, the Silla culture developed into a centralized, hierarchical society with a wealthy aristocratic class. Although human remains from the Silla people are rare, archaeologists have unearthed a variety of luxurious goods made by this culture, from a gold-and-garnet dagger to a cast-iron Buddha and jade jewellery.

The Indus Valley Civilization emerged around 2600 BC near the Ravi River. The Indus is the largest-known ancient urban culture, with the people's land stretching from the Indus river in modern-day Pakistan to the Arabian Sea and the Ganges in India. The Indus Civilization persisted for thousands of years, emerging around 3300 BC and declining by about 1600 BC.

The Indus, also known as the Harappans, developed sewage and drainage systems for their cities, built impressive walls and granaries, and produced artefacts like pottery and glazed beads. They even had dental care: Scientists found 11 drilled molars from adults who lived between 7,500 to 9,000 years ago in the Indus Valley.

The Sanxingdui were a Bronze Age culture that thrived in what is now China's Sichuan Province. They were prolific makers of painted bronze-and-gold-foil masks that some archaeologists believe may have represented gods or ancestors, according to the Sanxingdui Museum in China. The Sanxingdui site shows evidence of abandonment about 2,800 or 3,000 years ago. Another ancient city, Jinsha, discovered nearby, shows evidence that maybe the San-xing-dui moved there.

The mysterious and little-known Nok culture lasted from around 1000 BC to AD 300 in what is today northern Nigeria. Evidence of the Nok was discovered by chance during a tin-mining operation in 1943, when the miners uncovered a terracotta head, hinting at a rich sculptural tradition. Since then, other elaborate terracotta sculptures have emerged, including depictions of people wearing elaborate jewellery and carrying batons and flails — symbols of authority also seen in ancient Egyptian art.

The Etruscans had a thriving society in northern Italy from about 700 BC to about 500 BC, when they started to be absorbed by the Romans. They developed a unique written language and left behind luxurious family tombs, including one belonging to a prince that was excavated in 2013. The Etruscan society was a theocracy, and their artefacts suggest that religious rituals were a part of daily life.

Some cultures are known mostly through the records of other cultures. That's the case with the mysterious land of Punt, a kingdom somewhere in Africa that traded with the ancient Egyptians. The two kingdoms were exchanging goods from at least the 26th century BC, during the reign of the pharaoh Khufu (the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza). Strangely, no one really knows where Punt was located. The Egyptians left plenty of descriptions of the goods they got from Punt (gold, ebony, and myrrh) and the seafaring expeditions they sent to the lost kingdom. Scholars have suggested that Punt may have been in Arabia, or on the Horn of Africa, or maybe down the river Nile at the border of modern-day South Sudan and Ethiopia.

You know a culture is obscure when archaeologists name it based on its artefacts alone. The Bell Beaker culture made pottery vessels shaped like upside-down bells. The makers of these distinctive drinking cups lived across Europe between about 2800 BC and 1800 BC. They also left behind copper artefacts and graves, including a cemetery of 154 graves located in the modern-day Czech Republic.

The Bell Beakers were also responsible for some of the construction at Stonehenge, researchers have found. These people likely arranged the site's small bluestones, which originated in Wales.

Different societies around the world have their own cultural traditions that identify their heritage and make them uniquely different. Like language, cultural traditions and customs identify a person's heritage and are ingrained in a person. They are practices and beliefs that are learned since birth. People from one country should not think that what they consider sensible and polite behaviour, facial expressions, hand gestures and cultural practices in their country, are perceived similarly in another. In order to not to be considered rude or disrespectful when you are visiting another country, here are some of the unique cultural traditions and customs around the world which you need to be aware of.

You need to be very careful of what you give to Chinese colleagues or friends because the majority of the Chinese are superstitious and attach meanings to various things. When presenting your Chinese friends with flowers, avoid white flowers, which they associate with ghosts and death. You should also avoid flowers with thorny stems. Be careful not to give a clock to your Chinese friends or colleagues because it is taken to mean that time is running out, or that life and relationships can end. Gifts that come in sets of four are also not a good idea since the number 4 is associated with death.

Different countries have different views on punctuality. In Venezuela, it is actually the norm to arrive about 10 to 15 minutes late for a dinner. Being early for the Venezuelans means the person is either overly eager or greedy. Americans are all about punctuality, just like the Germans, South Koreans, and the Japanese. It is incredible how in Malaysia, being five minutes late (which can actually extend to 60 minutes) is acceptable and you do not need to apologize, either. It's fine for the Chinese if you are 10 minutes late, while Mexicans and Greeks will excuse you if you arrive 30 minutes after the appointed time.

In some cultures, it is acceptable to eat food with your bare hands. But as etiquette would have it, it is often required that you use utensils such as a spoon and a fork, chopsticks, or a spoon, a knife, and a fork when having a meal. Be sure to brush up on how to eat with a knife and fork before you travel to Norway. In this Scandinavian country, even sandwiches are eaten using a fork and a knife.

People usually say ‘cheers’ and clink their glasses when sharing a drink, especially when there is a celebration. But this tradition is not practiced in Hungary. You see, Hungarian forces were severely and savagely defeated during their war with Austria in 1849 and they witnessed Austrian generals celebrating the occasion by drinking beer and clinking their glasses. Hungarians swore not to clink their glasses when having a drink for the next 150 years. The vow ended in 1999 but the majority of Hungarians continues this cultural tradition.

In certain countries, it is tradition for families to marry off their children at a very young age. In several modern countries, where people have more freedom, it is up to them to decide if they want to marry or not and at what age. But in some countries, friends and families can be a bit cruel, if affectionately so. In Germany, for example, a person who's still single at the age of 25 is showered by friends with cinnamon powder throughout the day. It is worse if the person is still single at 30 because they use pepper instead. In France, people buy funny hats for their 25-year-old single friends on November 25, which is Saint Catherine's Day.