Lidar Reveals 400 Ancient Amazon Geoglyphs, Rewriting Regional History
TL;DR Summary
A lidar survey across ~1,700 square miles of western Brazil’s Amazon uncovered nearly 400 earthworks dating from 600 BCE to AD 850, built by the Aquiry—a large, multicultural group estimated to number up to three million—indicating substantial ceremonial centers and settlements; as many as 20,000 geoglyphs may still lie hidden, with abandonment around AD 850–950 potentially linked to regional collapses seen in other civilizations.
- News - Hundreds of Geoglyphs Discovered in Amazon Rainforest Archaeology Magazine
- Archaeologists Find Hundreds of Ancient Glyphs in the Amazon The New York Times
- Over 20,000 precolonial earthworks in the Southwest Amazonia Nature
- Mysterious Shapes Hidden Beneath the Amazon Canopy Reveal a Sprawling Ancient Civilization Much Bigger Than Researchers Expected smithsonianmag.com
- Massive hidden glyphs from ancient civilization discovered beneath Amazon rainforest WKRC
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