Manaus Agile tourism and culture of the AmazonFor the first time, traces have been found of peoples who lived far from the main Amazonian rivers. They are fortifications, ceramics and even structures that can only be seen from the sky.
A good part of the Amazon is still a mystery to archeologists. For many years, the belief reigned that the forest had not sheltered great civilizations before the arrival of the Europeans - as it did in Peru with the Incas; or in Mexico with the Mayas. It was also believed that the ancient pre-Columbian peoples of the region were restricted only to the areas near the main rivers. They were wrong. Now, archaeologists from the University of Exeter have found evidence that civilizations with up to 1 million inhabitants, divided into different communities, lived in the southern Amazon, far from the main rivers, before the arrival of the Portuguese.
The sites are located in the Upper Tapajós Basinbasin, northwest of Mato Grosso. Brazilians from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) and the State University of Mato Grosso (UEMT) also participated in the research.
The discovery was made possible by satellite images that identified 81 new archeological sites in the region. An expedition was then undertaken and found pottery, tools, and traces of debris. In addition, geoglyphs were found - ditches dug into the earth, forming designs that can only be seen from above. The theory is that these installations served as a ritual setting.
Part of the identified villages are surrounded by ditches or pits between 1m and 3m deep, possibly to avoid attacks from rival tribes and animals. Also found were traces of so-called "terra preta de indio", a type of soil generated through human action, such as the controlled burning of wood and the management of animal remains. Terra preta is more fertile than most natural Amazonian soils and is commonly used for growing plants.
The fact that there are traces of fortified villages, earthworks and plantations there belies the notion that we had that the rainforest was virtually untouched by agriculture. How the Indians overcame such a dense forest is hard to say. One possibility is that the climate with dry periods in the region may have facilitated the felling of part of the forest, as well as the earth moving.
The dimensions of the archaeological sites vary between 30 and 400 meters in diameter. It is estimated that these societies lived around 1250 AD and 1500 AD. There is still a lot left to discover, but gradually we are gathering more information about the history of the largest rainforest on the planet.
We also found evidence on amazon.