“A huge ancient city has been found in the Amazon, hidden for thousands of years by lush vegetation,” reports the BBC. It is larger than the famous Mayan cities that once existed in Mexico and Guatemala, which contained pyramids, palaces, and temples.
Until recently, the Amazon region was thought to have been inhabited only by primitive savages before modern times. But this discovery shows an advanced civilization once existed in the Amazon region of eastern Ecuador, before collapsing 1500 years ago:
The houses and plazas in the Upano area in eastern Ecuador were connected by an astounding network of roads and canals. The area lies in the shadow of a volcano that created rich local soils but also may have led to the destruction of the society.
While we knew about cities in the highlands of South America, like Machu Picchu in Peru, it was believed that people only lived nomadically or in tiny settlements in the Amazon.
“This is older than any other site we know in the Amazon. We have a Eurocentric view of civilisation, but this shows we have to change our idea about what is culture and civilisation,” says Prof Stephen Rostain, director of investigation at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France, who led the research.
“It changes the way we see Amazonian cultures. Most people picture small groups, probably naked, living in huts and clearing land – this shows ancient people lived in complicated urban societies,” says co-author Antoine Dorison.
The city was built around 2,500 years ago, and people lived there for up to 1,000 years, according to archaeologists.
It is difficult to accurately estimate how many people lived there at any one time, but scientists say it is certainly in the 10,000s if not 100,000s.
The archaeologists combined ground excavations with a survey of a 300 sq km (116 sq mile) area using laser sensors flown on a plane that could identify remains of the city beneath the dense plants and trees.
This LiDAR technology found 6,000 rectangular platforms measuring about 20m (66 ft) by 10m (33 ft) and 2-3m high.
They were arranged in groups of three to six units around a plaza with a central platform.
The scientists believe many were homes, but some were for ceremonial purposes. One complex, at Kilamope, included a 140m (459 ft) by 40m (131 ft) platform.
They were built by cutting into hills and creating a platform of earth on top.
A network of straight roads and paths connected many of the platforms, including one that extended 25km (16 miles).
Dr Dorison said these roads were the most striking part of the research.
“The road network is very sophisticated. It extends over a vast distance, everything is connected. And there are right angles, which is very impressive,” he says, explaining that it is much harder to build a straight road than one that fits in with the landscape….
The scientists also identified causeways with ditches on either side which they believe were canals that helped manage the abundant water in the region.
The societies were clearly well-organized and interconnected, Dr. Dorison says, pointing to the long sunken roads between settlements.
The Kilamope and Upano people living there probably mostly raised crops. They ate maize and sweet potato, and likely drank “chicha”, a type of sweet beer.
Prof Rostain says he was warned against this research at the start of his career because scientists believed no ancient groups had lived in the Amazon.
“But I’m very stubborn, so I did it anyway…I am quite happy to have made such a big discovery.”
In other news, researchers have discovered that ancient Europeans’ diet was a lot like East Asians’ diets today, consuming seaweed and fish sauce the way Japanese and coastal Chinese people do.
Researchers have discovered that many fish, especially juvenile fish, are now living in abandoned oil rigs, which serve as sanctuaries from predators.
