Mapping technology helped archeologists uncover a network of ancient Amazonian cities

Archeologists discovered a complex system of ancient cities connected by roads underneath the Upano valley in the Amazon rainforest. Using cutting-edge tech in tandem with fieldwork, experts were able to map the region, revealing an advanced system of settlements. According to the findings published in the journal Science, the cities date from around

According to the findings published in the journal Science, the cities date from around 500 BCE to 300 and 600 CE — that’s roughly the same time that the Roman Empire was happening in Europe. One co-author of the study, archaeologist Antoine Dorison, estimated that at least 10,000 people occupied the cities, possibly even as many as 30,000 at their peaks.

The team found a series of small platforms, about 66 feet by 33 feet, which they think served as houses. The Upano might’ve built these residences around large civic or ceremonial plazas. And between platform clusters, archaeologists found evidence of agriculture, like drainage systems.

“For that reason, I call this garden cities,” Stéphan Rostain, lead author of the study, told CNN.

José Iriarte, an archeologist who didn’t work on the findings, said the labor organization used to create these cities and roads would have had to have been sophisticated. Iriate added that when people think of the people of the Amazon, they think of uncontacted peoples located in the wilderness, but this society must have been densely populated and well-connected.

He emphasized that this signals a complete paradigm shift in our understanding of ancient Amazonian cultures. People Indigenous to the region weren’t all rural hunter- gatherers; many were city-dwellers.

Similarly complicated sites were found across Latin America, from Mexico to Brazil. The new research smashed the preconceived idea that Indigenous people didn’t develop complex societies and merely lived in “pristine forests.” Colonization thrived on the false idea that it was white people’s duty to “civilize” the rest of the world. This new research shows that the rest of the world was doing perfectly fine without Europe’s “help.”

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The groundbreaking discovery was aided by Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology, a remote sensing method used to inspect the Earth’s surface. The tech, typically administered by airplanes and helicopters, sends pulses of light downward to measure the distance from the vehicle to the Earth. That data is used to generate 3D information about the shape of the surveyed area.