Lidar Reveals 20,000+ Pre-Columbian Earthworks in Amazon
A recent study published in Nature uncovers an extensive pre-colonial civilization in the southwestern Amazon, utilizing Lidar surveys across 4,400 km in Brazil's Acre and Amazonas regions. Researchers have documented over 20,000 earthworks associated with the Aquiry civilization, which flourished from 600 BC to AD 850 across an area of 183,000 sq. km encompassing Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru. The Aquiry constructed geometric earthworks, resided in longhouses, and cultivated maize and squash, before abandoning their sites between AD 850 and AD 950. Notably, only 36 of the 432 identified earthworks were previously recognized. The research indicates that the region may have sustained a population of 1.25 to 3 million at its height. Co-author Martti Pärssinen emphasizes the engineered nature of the landscape, challenging the notion of the Amazon as untouched wilderness.
Key facts
- Lidar surveys over 4,400 km in Acre and Amazonas, Brazil, revealed more than 20,000 earthworks.
- The Aquiry civilization flourished from around 600BC until AD850, spanning 183,000 sq. km across Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru.
- Of 432 earthworks identified, only 36 were previously recorded.
- Researchers predict 24,000 to 30,000 earthworks exist in the area, two-thirds belonging to the Aquiry.
- The area could have supported 1.25 to 3 million people at its peak between AD100 and AD300.
- Aquiry sites were abandoned between AD850 and AD950.
- The Aquiry managed and domesticated Brazil nut, peach palm, and uricuri palm.
- Study published in Nature; co-author Martti Pärssinen of Instituto Iberoamericano de Finlandia.
- José Miguel Pérez-Gómez, unaffiliated archaeologist, comments on 'forest urbanism'.
- Study area represents less than 3% of Greater Amazonia.
Entities
Artists
- Martti Pärssinen
- Alceu Ranzi
- José Miguel Pérez-Gómez
Institutions
- Nature
- Instituto Iberoamericano de Finlandia
- Federal University of Acre
Locations
- Acre
- Amazonas
- Brazil
- Bolivia
- Peru
- Rio Branco
- Madrid