Imagine...

 ...your entire homeland just catching fire at once. This may have happened to the "Hopewell" culture sometime between 252 and 383 BCE.

A comet grazed the Earth's atmosphere, and debris set 9,200 square miles on fire. (It was observed by the Chinese and there's also matching reports from the Miami and Shawnee tribes). It would have destroyed their land...

...but the interesting thing is that the height of the Hopewell culture was...between 200 BCE and 600 CE.

In other words, it appears that the apocalypse may have, far from destroying their culture and civilization, actually strengthened it.

Interesting thought...