Massive ancient settlement found in Amazon jungle

A 2,500-year-old settlement has been identified in the Upano region of the Amazon jungle due to digital archaeology studies carried out in a vegetated area

Scientists have discovered a massive 2,500-year-old ancient city covered in vegetation in the Amazon jungle in Ecuador thanks to aerial light detection and ranger (LIDAR). This finding challenges the prevailing notion of ancient peoples in the region as mere hunter-gatherers.

Archaeologist Carla Jaimes Betancourt of the University of Bonn says LIDAR, which allows researchers to see beneath the jungle vegetation and see ancient settlements without excavation, has “revolutionized our understanding of the Amazon in pre-Columbian times.”

Scientists, who thought that the ancient settlements in the Amazon were small and that the inhabitants lived nomadic lives, found that the houses and open-air spaces in this ancient city were connected to each other by an “astonishing” network of roads and canals.

In addition to the excavation work in the area, the LIDAR used in the research, as well as aerial imaging of the ancient city, which is located under approximately 300 square kilometers of dense vegetation and trees, identified 6,000 quadrangular platforms thought to have been used as houses and ceremonial areas.

Source: Newsroom