I am more inclined to think that the (recent) story began on Mars, conflict destroyed that planet, and a remnant re-established on Earth. :-)
It is very hard to fit recent archaeological findings within the "history" that I was taught in grade school:
Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gobekli-tepe-the-worlds-first-temple-83613665/
Imagine. Such a huge site, deliberately buried for some long distant future generation to re-discover (ours) . By whom? And why?
Mars, Venus.. you name the place.
Are we approaching the apocalypse?
Well, many people I know (some I am even related to) call it the "singularity," a la Ray Kurzweil, rather than "apocalypse". But I tend to hold transhumanists, socialists, strict logicians, and atheists all in equal contempt :-)
And being a recovering musician I prefer to conceptualize (if I absolutely have to, for the sake of conversation) what is happening as the start of a new octave.
"Magnets pull and push us 'round,
To cut the cord, a chord must sound"