We have no records for most of human history, and the dating of ancient remains is brought into question by Blavatsky. Our dating still bears the impress of the Biblical scheme of 6,000 years, pushed back by a science which still assumes man to be a recent phenomenon and civilized man a matter of a few thousand years. Blavatsky's longer view of history, in agreement with ancient traditions, discards the idea that until several thousand years ago all men were simple hunter-gatherers. Since the awakening of mind, there have been many levels of cultures and civilizations existing simultaneously around the world. There have been physically and spiritually advanced civilizations extending back millions of years, rather than just thousands, while primitive cultures exist even now.
Mankind evolves over long periods of time, influenced greatly by terrestrial cycles.
But this racial development is achieved by the repeated reincarnation of individual people, not primarily by the passing on of knowledge from generation to generation. The key lies in the evolution of individual souls, not of civilizations. That ancient symbols and traditions embody human knowledge as well as the primal spiritual revelation to infant humanity makes them subjects for serious investigation. Ever since Heinrich Schliemann took as history the works of Homer and thereby discovered ruins of Troy, Mycenae, and Crete, myths and epics have been considered as possible sources of historical information. Blavatsky brings forth many of the world's traditions to show their scientific, historic, and philosophical information and to demonstrate their basic agreement.