Parts of the Amazon rainforest that were long believed to be almost uninhabited were actually home to a thriving, ancient civilization buried for centuries by jungle growth, according to a by archaeologists.Today, remains dotting the fringes of the southern Amazon rim resemble little more than sporadic mounds sometimes encompassed by a shallow ditch. But analysis of satellite images and drone footage has revealed an extensive, pre-Colombian settlement dating back to 1250‒1500 A.D.At their height, as many as one million people may have lived in these settlements, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.“Many parts of the Americas now thought of as pristine forest are really abandoned gardens,” Christopher Fisher, a Colorado State University archaeologist who was not associated with the study,. “When you are on the ground, you cannot really see the landscape. You need a bird’s-eye view.”.
Hundreds of circles, squares, and other geometric shapes once hidden by forest hint at a previously unknown ancient society that flourished in the Amazon, a new study says. Although there is no evidence that the ancient inhabitants of the Amazon have built pyramids and developed a written language, as the ancient Egyptians did, they did show signs of great social.
Read more:Spurred on by the tip, researchers then pored over satellite imagery to identify possible geoglyphs — earthworks likely used for ceremonies — across a previously unexplored swathe of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. To verify their findings, the team set out to visit 24 field sites.