They discovered a large network of ancient cities in the Amazon rainforest

(CNN) — Archaeologists working in the Amazon rainforest have discovered an extensive network of cities dating back 2,500 years.

Pre-Hispanic settlements, highly structured with wide streets and long, straight avenues, plazas, and groups of monumental sites, were found in the Upano Valley on the eastern slopes of the Andes in the Ecuadorian Amazon. study Published in the magazine on Thursday Science.

The discovery of the oldest and most extensive urban network of built and excavated elements in the Amazon to date is the result of more than two decades of research in the region by a team from France, Germany, Ecuador and Puerto Rico.

Research started with field work before using remote sensing method Lidar (Laser Object Detection and Measurement System), which uses laser light to locate structures under thick wood.

The study's lead author, Stephane Rostine, archaeologist and research director at France's National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), described the discovery as “incredible”.

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“The lidar gave us an overview of the region and we were able to greatly appreciate the scale of the sites,” he told CNN on Friday, adding that it showed them a “complete network” of excavated roads. “The lidar was the icing on the cake.”

Rosstein said the first people who lived there 3,000 years ago had small, scattered houses.
However, from approximately 500 BC to 300 to 600 AD, the Kilamobe and later Upano cultures began building mounds and placing their houses on mud platforms, according to the study's authors. These sites were arranged around a low, square plaza.

Lidar technology data revealed more than 6,000 sites in the southern part of the 600 square kilometers surveyed.

According to the study, the sites were mostly rectangular in shape, some were circular in shape, and measured 20 by 10 meters. They were usually built in groups of three or six around a square. Plazas also usually had a central platform.

The team also found monumental complexes with very large sites that may have had a civic or ceremonial function.

At least 15 groups of complexes identified as settlements were discovered.

Some settlements were protected by ditches, and some had roadblocks near larger compounds. According to the researchers, this suggests that the settlements are vulnerable to threats from outside or from inter-group tensions.

Even the most isolated complexes were connected by an extensive network of large straight roads with roads and barriers.

In the empty areas between the compounds, the team found features of land cultivation, such as drained fields and terraces. According to the study, these components are connected by a network of pathways.

“That's why I call them garden cities,” Rosstein added: “It's a complete revolution in our paradigm of the Amazon.”

“We have to think that all the tribes (people) of the forest are not semi-nomadic tribes lost in the forest and looking for food. They are a large variety, various cases and some also had (a) urban structure. (a) stratified society “, he said.

The general structure of the cities suggests the “presence of advanced engineering” at the time, according to the study's authors, who conclude that the plantation urban area of ​​Ubano Valley “provides further evidence that the Amazon is not the primitive forest it once represented.” “.

We should imagine the pre-Columbian Amazon as an “anthill,” Rosstein said, each going about their business.

Similar sites across the American continent

According to natural archaeologist Carlos Morales-Aguilar, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin who was not involved in the study, the newly discovered urban network closely matches other sites found in tropical rainforests in Panama, Guatemala, Belize, and Brazil. and Mexico.

Morales-Aguilar called the study “pioneering” and told CNN that it “not only provides concrete evidence of early and advanced urban planning in the Amazon, but also makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the cultural and ecological legacy of indigenous communities in the Amazon.” This area.

In 2022, Morales-Aguilar was part of a team of researchers studying stone structures that connect communities.

The findings of this latest study reflect the advanced agricultural and urban planning techniques he observed in northern Guatemala and “provide new perspectives on the complexities of these primitive societies,” the researcher said.