Or it might refer to perceived civilization.
A young Melchior could make for an interesting character, but probably not Guru-Melchior. Though either way, I'd say he'd use neither CT based magic or CC magic, the reason being that Zealeans were drawing from Lavos. It was "refined" magic, and thus probably not analogous to what Crono and Co used. Likewise, with a distinct lack of Elements, an Elemental affinity seems unnecessary.