Resurrecting the Secret Ancient Cities of the Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon, often touted as one of Earth’s last untamed frontiers, has long been shrouded in the enigmatic whispers of ancient legends. The veil shrouding the Amazon’s secrets is slowly lifting, and what lies beneath is nothing short of astounding.
Stories of lost cities hidden deep within its emerald depths have swirled for centuries. These tales lured brave Spanish conquistadors on a quest for the legendary El Dorado, a fabled city of gold, leading them off the edge of the known world, where some vanished into the dense labyrinth of the jungle, never to return. The 20th century bore witness to another valiant soul, British explorer Percy Fawcett, who embarked on a relentless pursuit of what he believed was the Lost City of Z. He, too, was swallowed by the Amazon’s unforgiving embrace, penning his own hauntingly unfinished chapter in a saga that commenced six centuries ago. In the heart of the Amazon, a relentless mission unfolds with unwavering dedication. It’s a quest to unlock the enigmatic secrets of this vast, mysterious land. Imagine a past where explorers, wielding the tools of archaeology and the magic of remote-sensing, unearthed a treasure trove of isolated sites.
However, the plot of this age-old narrative has taken an unexpected turn. Recent revelations by a team of innovative scientists have unearthed the truth—ancient cities did indeed thrive amidst the Amazon’s bosom. Yet, the challenge of unearthing the urban remnants within the dense, secluded rainforests remained a Herculean feat. Until now. Armed with an ingenious piece of technology, perched 650 feet above the earth’s floor, these scientists harnessed the power of light-based remote sensing, known as lidar. From the vantage point of a helicopter, they virtually peeled away the forest canopy to reveal the remnants of an extensive urban civilization, abandoned some six centuries ago, near the Llanos de Mojos in the Bolivian Amazon.
The team embarked on an exhilarating aerial adventure, employing cutting-edge lidar technology to map six distinct regions of the dense rainforest. These areas, ranging from about 4 to 32 square miles in size, were once the vibrant heartlands of Bolivia’s ancient culture during the era spanning 500 to 1400 C.E. The LiDAR ( Light Detecting and Ranging ), device uses infrared beams, projected over hundreds of thousands per second, showering the land below. Each beam, like a curious explorer, makes contact with the Earth’s surface before gracefully rebounding with invaluable distance measurements.
This intricate dance between technology and terrain generates a valuable cloud of data points. These points become the pixels in a canvas of discovery, transformed by computer software into high-resolution images. It’s here that scientists work their digital magic, sweeping away the Amazon’s lush foliage to unveil the Earth’s surface beneath. The results are nothing short of astounding. Within this digital realm, 26 unique archaeological sites materialized, each one a treasure trove of history and heritage. What’s truly riveting is that among these revealed gems, 11 had remained hidden, shrouded in the Amazon’s ancient embrace until now.
This groundbreaking archaeological discovery, lidar technology has unveiled the presence of low-density urbanism beneath the dense tropical forests of southwest Bolivian Amazonia basin. Before, now, such evidence of pre-Hispanic urbanism in Amazonia was scarce, with the exception of some large interconnected settlements in southern Amazonia. The new research presents lidar data revealing the presence of two remarkably large sites sprawling over 1,700 square miles of the Llano de Mojos region which once bore witness to the footprints of these ancient civilizations. These were no ordinary footprints; they were the vibrant imprints of the Casarabe people, (circa 500-1400 C.E.). These daring souls defied the wild and chose to thrive, engaging in activities like hunting, fishing, and tending maize within these age-old precincts.
Urban centers adorned with monumental platform structures and towering pyramids come into sharp focus. A network of raised causeways weaves a tapestry of connectivity, binding together a constellation of suburban-like settlements that sprawl for miles. The entire landscape bears the indelible marks of an expansive water control and distribution system, featuring a web of reservoirs and over 600 miles of causeways and canals, weaving an intricate web across the landscape. Nature unveiled this remarkable discovery, in May 2022 in a paper called ´´Lidar reveals pre-Hispanic low-density urbanism in the Bolivian Amazon´´ —a revelation that challenges our preconceptions, suggesting that the “wilderness” of the Amazon rainforest may have concealed a densely populated, even urbanized, world for centuries, long before recorded history chronicled the tales of this enigmatic realm.
Sites and major archaeological features revealed by lidar in the Cotoca area. Original source Nature.
The future promises to reveal even more of this enigmatic landscape with this imaging technology. In the words of Prümers, “I’m sure that in the next 10 or 20 years we’ll see a lot of these cities, and some even bigger than the ones we are presenting in our paper.”
Michael Heckenberger, an intrepid anthropologist hailing from the University of Florida, brings a wealth of knowledge to the table, built over two decades of exploration into pre-Columbian Amazonian urbanism.
Michael Heckenberger’s previous work has been an unceasing odyssey in the enigmatic heart of Brazil’s Xingu region. Here, a collection of communities, endearingly dubbed “garden cities,” became the focal point of his fascination. These settlements intricately wove together the threads of existence, adorned with homes, plazas, and protective palisade walls, yet distinctly different from these newly discovered monumental marvels in Bolivia.
Though not directly involved in the recent research, Heckenberger keenly points out that elements observed in the Llanos de Mojos settlement, such as moats and causeways, as well as a modified landscape featuring parklands, working forests, and fish farms, have been discovered in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon, where Heckenberger collaborates with the Kuikuro Nation, the Llanos de Mojos stands out.
In his discerning eyes, the settlements encountered elsewhere in the Amazon might be described as interconnected villages. They often lack the essential traits of true urban centers, lacking large, defining features like monumental architecture, including platform mounds and U-shaped temples. However, in the heart of Llanos de Mojos, you find all these elements and more.
Heckenberger declares with enthusiasm, “This is, in my mind, the clearest case of a fully urbanized Amazonian landscape. It’s a marvelous piece of work. It shows a really remarkable range of things that humans did in the past to work with their landscapes and accommodate larger and larger populations.” The intricate puzzle of Amazonian history is finally revealing its majestic picture.
These large sites, covering 147 and 315 hectares, form part of a complex four-tiered settlement system, demonstrating a unique type of tropical low-density urbanism previously unseen in Amazonia. The Casarabe culture, which thrived from around AD 500 to AD 1400, spans approximately 4,500 square kilometers. The large settlement sites exhibit impressive civic-ceremonial astrologically connected architecture, including stepped platforms, U-shaped structures, rectangular platform mounds, and conical pyramids, some towering up to 22 meters in height. These sites are interconnected by straight, raised causeways that extend over several kilometers, with a vast water-management infrastructure of canals and reservoirs completing the settlement system.
Amidst the treasure trove of 26 sites uncovered, two magnificent urban hubs emerged: Landívar and Cotoca. While the existence of these urban centers was already known, the archaeological findings challenge the previous belief that western Amazonia had low population density in pre-Hispanic times. The large settlement sites of Cotoca and Landívar, showcase monumental architecture and water-management infrastructure on a scale comparable to Andean cultures, exceeding the complexity of interconnected settlements in southern Amazonia. This discovery redefines our understanding of the diversity of early urban societies and highlights the rich cultural history of Amazonia.
A sense of awe lingers when you delve into the specifics. Each of these urban giants is encircled by a series of moats and formidable rampart fortifications, reminiscent of the fortresses of legend. As you walk through these ancient streets, you would encounter artificial terraces that once held the weight of history, colossal earthen-platform structures that bore witness to ceremonies of grandeur, and conical pyramids that kissed the heavens at over 70 feet in height.
The striking alignment of these architectural marvels adds yet another layer of intrigue. Each of these structures, designed with precision, points towards the north-northwest. It’s a cosmic connection to the stars, a reflection of a cosmological worldview observed at ancient sites across the vast tapestry of the Amazon. These cities, once hidden in the mists of time, now stand as a testament to the remarkable achievements and lost knowledge of those who once called this lush realm their home.
The Amazon’s boundless wilderness, reminds us that the most blinded are those who choose not to see. Heiko Prümers, co-author and a researcher from the German Archaeological Institute, unveils the myth that for centuries cast the Amazon as an untouched jungle, a region immune to human presence. He shares, “It’s a myth that was created by Europeans who really spoke of a jungle, and vast regions untouched by humans. So a lot of people didn’t want to see that there were archaeological sites here that merit exploration.” It’s a tale of deliberate blindness that’s now unraveling.
Similar discoveries were also made in other remote regions of the Brazilian Amazon in 2018, the revelation sent shockwaves through the world of science. Satellite images unveiled a sprawling tapestry of enigmatic geoglyphs and vibrant villages, shattering the belief that this territory, particularly in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, was sparsely populated before. Here, far from the major rivers, an astonishing revelation emerged – hundreds of villages flourished between 1250 and 1500 C.E., potentially housing a staggering million souls. This extraordinary occurrence unfolded within a mere 7 percent of the vast Amazon basin. Yet, the quest for grander urban centers, anchoring these teeming settlements, continues to tantalize, an enigma yet unsolved, with each discovery we are continuously rewriting and relearning the ancient history of the Amazon region.
These remarkable revelations of ancient civilizations emerged through relentless determination and hard work. Despite the Amazon’s thick and remote jungles, where vibrant societies once thrived, traces of their urban existence had eluded discovery. Yet the emergence of Lidar technology is poised to revolutionize the pace of uncovering the past. Archaeologist Chris Fisher notes, “Lidar has ushered in a new era for archaeology…”
“These researchers were able to see patterning that’s just not visible from the ground, and that pattern clearly showed two very large settlements, embedded within a settlement system, with a level of social complexity that really hasn’t been demonstrated very well in the Amazon,” he says. “It’s absolutely amazing.” Fisher passionately calls for an ambitious undertaking: a comprehensive lidar scanning of not just the Amazon but of far-reaching global territories. This monumental endeavor, embodied in the Earth Archive project, seeks to immortalize the fading echoes of the past before they fade into the mists of an unrelenting future.
Meanwhile, the exponential pressures of development and modern capitalist exploits of the natural resources that the Amazon rainforest yields, means that Amazon’s pristine forests are quickly vanishing, sacrificed in the name of agriculture, cattle ranching, mining extraction, energy generation, and the sprawling infrastructure that accompanies these ventures. These untouched regions, holding the secrets of ancient civilizations, stand at the precipice of change.
“We’re running out of time, because we’re losing the Amazon,” Fisher says. “And we’re going to lose things that we never knew were there. To me, that’s a real tragedy.”
While it appears that the Amazon once teemed with human activity, many ancient sites have remained almost undisturbed for some 500 years, this means that we are finding the relics of pre-Spanish cultures over there almost untouched.
Furthermore, the recent expedition is a prime example of the transformative power of LiDER remote sensing imaging technology filling in our knowledge gaps. From a bird’s-eye perspective, unveiling intricate patterns and revealing two sprawling settlements within a complex network, showcasing an unparalleled level of social sophistication in the heart of the Amazon. The findings are nothing short of astounding.
The fate of the Bolivian region of the Amazon´s Casarabe people and their thriving settlements is an enigma that we have yet to fully unveil. The clues we have, gathered from dating the sites, point to their occupation coming to a close around 1400 C.E., a chapter that concluded before the Europeans’ footsteps graced the Amazon. As we seek to understand their story, one theory emerges from the depths of time.
Heiko Prümers, with a keen explorer’s spirit, suggests a possible cause of their departure – a widespread drought. A striking revelation lies within these ancient sites, where Prümers’ team unearthed massive reservoirs, a surprising feature in a land where abundant rainfall is the norm. In the heart of the Amazon, where the heavens usually weep tears of plenty, these reservoirs stand as mute witnesses to a challenge the Casarabe may have faced – the unpredictability of nature’s balance.
According to Prümers, the precise purpose of these reservoirs, whether they served as a freshwater source, a means to cultivate fish or turtles, remains shrouded in the mists of history. Yet, their very existence serves as an enigmatic testament.
Journeying through paleoclimate investigations, an intriguing revelation surfaces – the Amazon’s age-old secrets are far more dynamic than previously imagined. In the depths of time, around a fifth of this mysterious wilderness, it is believed, existed as open savannah landscapes, rather than the dense forest we associate with it today. This unexpected terrain would have provided an ideal canvas for the remarkable landscape transformations carried out by the ancient Amazonians. These ingenious people, inhabited urban or suburban settlements, where intricate sociopolitical structures thrived. Through the lens of science and technology, we are learning that the Amazon’s history, is far more complex and multifaceted than we once envisioned.
As the Casarabe culture’s story unfolds, we uncover a recurring theme in the annals of the Amazon’s history – severe droughts. Time has whispered tales of these environmental trials throughout the region’s past. Perhaps the same harsh hand of drought touched the Casarabe as well. It takes only a year or two of failed harvests to drive people to seek new horizons.
While their ultimate destiny remains veiled in obscurity, the very existence of this culture contributes to a growing body of evidence. It reminds us that the Amazon, for all its expanse and mystique, is not the untouched wilderness we once believed it to be. The notion of an unbroken forest, dating back in time, is gradually fading into history.”
The Amazon rainforest begins to unveil its ancient archaeological secrets, slowly and deliberately. The veils of time part to reveal a grander, more intricate portrait of this mesmerizing realm, beckoning us to venture further and delve deeper into its captivating history.
Further Research
LiDAR tech explained