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+--- Thread: ‘Mind blowing’ ancient settlements uncovered in the Amazon (/thread-12313.html)
‘Mind blowing’ ancient settlements uncovered in the Amazon - C C - May 26, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01458-9
INTRO: Mysterious mounds in the southwest corner of the Amazon Basin were once the site of ancient urban settlements, scientists have discovered. Using a remote-sensing technology to map the terrain from the air, a research team has revealed that, starting about 1,500 years ago, ancient Amazonians built and lived in densely populated centres, featuring 22-metre-tall earthen pyramids and encircled by kilometres of elevated roadways.
The complexity of these settlements is “mind blowing”, says Heiko Prümers, an archaeologist at the German Archaeological Institute headquartered in Berlin, and a member of the team.
“This is the first clear evidence that there were urban societies in this part of the Amazon Basin,” says Jonas Gregorio de Souza, an archaeologist at the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. It adds to a growing body of research indicating that the Amazon — long thought to have been pristine wilderness before the arrival of Europeans — was home to advanced societies well beforehand. The discovery was published on 25 May in Nature... (MORE - details)
https://youtu.be/N54zTtbN3uo