Denis Valentinovich Manturov Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian ...
The modern Amazon can hardly be attributed to the most densely populated regions of the Earth. However, once in these places there was a developed agricultural civilization with densely populated cities. More recently, scientists have figured out what may have killed her. Oddly enough, these were ... reservoirs created by people in order to preserve the supply of rainwater.
For many people, the word "Amazonia" is associated with the endless virgin tropical forests that grow along the banks of one of the largest rivers in the world. In these thickets, exotic animals are found at every step, colorful birds and butterflies flutter, and, most importantly, there are no people nearby. Only occasionally can you see in the distance a naked Indian hunter with a wind pipe filled with arrows, whose tips are moistened with the strongest poison in the world, curare.
Indeed, the modern Amazon can hardly be attributed to the most densely populated regions of the Earth. Indian villages are not so common here, and their population is very small. This is not due to the fact that the Amazonian Indians were exterminated for many centuries by the colonialists. Quite the contrary, it was the Indians living in this region that practically did not suffer from the colonization of America. Some of them saw white people for the first time only in the twentieth century.
The fact is that the soils of tropical forests are not particularly suitable for agriculture, as they are quickly depleted. The rainforest is a unique natural community that produces just as much substance as is needed for the normal life of the ecosystem, and not a gram more. Therefore, everything that falls from the trees is almost immediately utilized by the animals and fungi living in the soil. The resulting humus is just enough to keep the plants alive. Its surplus (as it happens in our forests and forest-steppes) is never formed.
And since the accumulation of the soil layer does not occur, then the farmers in these parts, you yourself understand, have nothing special to do - well, they plowed the land once, twice, and then what? The soil has already been depleted with these odors, and there is nowhere to get a new one. That is why, as scientists believed, the tribes living in the Amazon never engaged in intensive farming, preferring hunting and gathering - fortunately, there is always something to pick up in the forest.
The number of hunters and gatherers, as we know, is never particularly high - the food source is painfully unstable, and you cannot make large reserves with this lifestyle. That is why the researchers of this region long time were convinced that the forests next to the greatest river in the world have always been rather poorly populated and no civilizations have arisen - the local residents all the time lived "the old fashioned way", they did not build cities, they did not build roads, and gardens and vegetable gardens were not "fenced off".
True, several facts have been known for a long time that do not fit into the usual picture. For example, the fact that it was in the Amazon region that the oldest pottery in South America was discovered (which was several centuries older than the Inca). Hunters, as you know, don't really need clay pots - they don't cook soup, they don't stew vegetables, and carrying such a luggage with you in a nomadic lifestyle is somewhat burdensome (and a pot is also not very convenient as a headdress).
In addition, the Spanish traveler Francisco de Orellana, who visited the Amazon in 1541-1542, in his report portrayed this region as very densely populated. At the same time, he described large cities located both on the banks of the river and in the depths of the forest, as well as the gardens and arable lands surrounding them. For a long time, scientists did not even know how to interpret this information - either the researcher described a completely different region (for example, the Orinoco River basin), or all these reports were created from the words local residents(who, frankly, love to lie), or the unusual food caused strong visual hallucinations in the impressionable Spaniard.
However, not so long ago, scientists found out that Don Francisco was still right and cities in the Amazon really existed. The first of them were discovered back in 2003 when decoding a satellite photograph of the Xingu region in Brazil. It turned out that in this region, the territory of which is now occupied by virgin forests, even before the Columbian era, there were about 20 large settlements surrounded by arable land and gardens and connected by a network of roads.
Over the next seven years, several expeditions explored the area, examining the ruins of ancient settlements and collecting all the items found among the ruins. They managed to establish that all the cities were built according to the same plan - in each village there was a central square 120-150 meters in diameter, on which, among other things, the most important persons of the city were buried. From each square there was a road, and always strictly from the north-east to the south-west, apparently personifying the movement of the sun across the sky. Streets of big cities sometimes reached 50 meters wide.
Apparently, in the square in the center, residents of the city gathered in case of danger, as well as to perform religious and state rites and ceremonies. They spent their leisure time in one-story houses built of wood, the foundations of which were found along the edges of city streets. In these dwellings, scientists discovered many artifacts - bone and stone arrowheads, tools, jewelry and, of course, fragments of ceramic vessels.
The analysis of the latter showed that the ancient Amazonian potters, using very complex materials, for example, microscopic quartz needles obtained from certain freshwater sponges, made excellent household and ceremonial vessels with complex carved and painted ornaments. However, these craftsmen, apparently, were not aware of either a potter's wheel or glass-like glaze.
All this testifies to the fact that a developed agricultural civilization once existed in the now practically deserted region. However, until now, scientists did not understand how the ancient Indians managed to cultivate plants in the tropics. After all, there, as you know, there is an endless rain for two or three months a year (in which crops cannot be planted - they will simply be washed away), and then almost immediately the dry season begins, during which the soil turns into dust and all the seedlings may simply die ...
Residents of those settlements located directly next to the river solved this problem quite simply - they dug canals, but the area under study is located quite far from the Amazon and its large tributaries. And just recently, this secret was finally revealed.
This summer, a Swedish expedition, exploring the remains of settlements in the area of the Brazilian city of Santarem, came across strange depressions located near ancient fields. According to the head of the research, Peter Stenborg, they represent nothing more than the remnants of ancient reservoirs that were filled with water during the rainy season. In drought, this water was used to irrigate fields and gardens.
In addition, scientists, having analyzed the soil on the site of the former arable land, found that it is fundamentally different from that which is characteristic of the tropical forests of the region. It has an intense dark color, which is due to the high content of humus in it. The most interesting thing is that soils of this type are not found anywhere in the vicinity of Santarem.
Stenborg believes that this fertile land was artificially created by humans, in much the same way that silage and compost are now made. It could be based on leaves and other organic remains of those plants that the ancient inhabitants of the Amazon grew in their gardens. Scientists have established that all of them are not local. The owners apparently brought the plants with them when they came to the region six thousand years ago.
So, it turns out that the ancient inhabitants of the lands located in the Amazon basin could create artificial soil (and this, by the way, neither the Maya nor the Incas could do) and build reservoirs for storing water. Perhaps it was they who caused the death of this mysterious civilization.
Previously, scientists thought that the cities of the Amazon were depopulated due to epidemics of diseases unseen before in the New World, with which the Indians were infected by European settlers. Indeed, this sometimes happened in other regions of South America, but for the Amazon, which until the twentieth century colonists visited extremely rarely, this situation was hardly typical. Most likely, civilization disappeared as a result of some natural disaster, which the inhabitants of ancient cities themselves provoked by creating a system of reservoirs.
It is known that the water table in the tropics is maintained mainly by the water that got into the soil during the "wet" season. If you dig a reservoir, then all rainwater from a large area will drain into it, leaving the surrounding soil completely without moisture. As a result, the trees begin to dry out, their roots no longer hinder soil erosion, and as a result, the place where the forests used to be turns into a barren desert.
And here the addition of artificial soil will not even help - after all, it only plays the role of a biological additive, which, interacting with the root soil layer, only increases its fertility, but does not completely replace it. And if the base itself is destroyed, then these additives simply have nowhere to gain a foothold and they, too, are carried away by wind or storm erosion.
As a result, after the disappearance of fertile soils, the cities were deserted, and the surviving residents mingled with the tribes of hunters and gatherers, who also suffered from this natural disaster. The total number of people in the once densely populated region has fallen sharply, the "cultural baggage" of former farmers has been slowly lost (hunters do not need this knowledge), progressive technologies have been forgotten over time. It is in this form that the indigenous population of the region has survived to this day.
Interestingly, the ancient inhabitants of the Amazon, most likely, were the first people on our planet, whose civilization perished as a result of the ill-considered human impact on natural communities. Therefore, looking at the ruins of the once majestic cities, you somehow involuntarily wonder - are they not a clear example of what awaits humanity in the future if it does not stop its mockery of the environment?
The modern Amazon can hardly be attributed to the most densely populated regions of the Earth. However, once in these places there was a developed agricultural civilization with densely populated cities. More recently, scientists have figured out what may have killed her. Oddly enough, these were ... reservoirs created by people in order to preserve the supply of rainwater.
For many people, the word "Amazonia" is associated with the endless virgin tropical forests that grow along the banks of one of the largest rivers in the world. In these thickets, exotic animals are found at every step, colorful birds and butterflies flutter, and, most importantly, there are no people nearby. Only occasionally can you see in the distance a naked Indian hunter with a wind pipe filled with arrows, whose tips are moistened with the strongest poison in the world, curare. Indeed, the modern Amazon can hardly be attributed to the most densely populated areas of the Earth. Indian villages are not so common here, and their population is very small. This is not due to the fact that the Amazonian Indians were exterminated for many centuries by the colonialists. Quite the contrary, it was the Indians living in this region that practically did not suffer from the colonization of America. Some of them saw white people for the first time only in the twentieth century. The fact is that the soils of tropical forests are not particularly suitable for agriculture, as they are quickly depleted. The rainforest is a unique natural community that produces just as much substance as is needed for the normal life of the ecosystem, and not a gram more. Therefore, everything that falls from the trees is almost immediately utilized by the animals and fungi living in the soil. The resulting humus is just enough to support the vital activity of plants. Its surplus (as it happens in our forests and forest-steppes) is never formed. And since the accumulation of the soil layer does not occur, then the farmers in these parts, you yourself understand, have nothing special to do - well, they plowed the land once, twice, and then what? The soil has already been depleted with these odors, and there is nowhere to get a new one. That is why, as scientists believed, the tribes living in the Amazon never engaged in intensive farming, preferring hunting and gathering - fortunately, there is always something to pick up in the forest.
The number of hunters and gatherers, as we know, is never particularly high - the food source is painfully unstable, and you cannot make large reserves with this lifestyle. That is why the researchers of this region for a long time were sure that the forests next to the greatest river in the world were always quite sparsely populated and no civilizations arose - the locals all the time lived "the old fashioned way", they did not build cities, they did not build roads, orchards and vegetable gardens did not "fence". True, several facts have been known for a long time that do not fit into the usual picture. For example, the fact that it was in the Amazon region that the oldest pottery in South America was discovered (which was several centuries older than the Inca). Hunters, as you know, don't really need clay pots - they don't cook soup, they don't stew vegetables, and carrying such a luggage with you in a nomadic lifestyle is somewhat burdensome (and a pot is also not very convenient as a headdress). In addition, the Spanish traveler Francisco de Orellana, who visited the Amazon in 1541-1542, in his report portrayed this region as very densely populated. At the same time, he described large cities located both on the banks of the river and in the depths of the forest, as well as gardens and arable land that surrounded them. For a long time, scientists did not even know how to interpret this information - either the researcher described a completely different region (for example, the Orinoco River basin), or all these reports were created from the words of local residents (who, frankly, like to lie), or unusual the food caused strong visual hallucinations in the impressionable Spaniard.
However, not so long ago, scientists found out that Don Francisco was still right and cities in the Amazon really existed. The first of them were discovered back in 2003 when decoding a satellite photograph of the Xingu region in Brazil. It turned out that in this region, the territory of which is now occupied by virgin forests, even before the Columbian era, there were about 20 large settlements surrounded by arable land and gardens and connected by a network of roads. Over the next seven years, several expeditions explored the area, examining the ruins of ancient settlements and collecting all the items found among the ruins. They managed to establish that all the cities were built according to the same plan - in each village there was a central square 120-150 meters in diameter, on which, among other things, the most important persons of the city were buried. From each square there was a road, and always strictly from the north-east to the south-west, apparently personifying the movement of the sun across the sky. Streets of big cities sometimes reached 50 meters wide. Apparently, in the square in the center, residents of the city gathered in case of danger, as well as to perform religious and state rites and ceremonies. They spent their leisure time in one-story houses built of wood, the foundations of which were found along the edges of city streets. In these dwellings, scientists discovered many artifacts - bone and stone arrowheads, tools, jewelry and, of course, fragments of ceramic vessels. Analysis of the latter showed that the ancient Amazonian potters, using very complex materials, for example, microscopic quartz needles obtained from certain freshwater sponges, made excellent household and ceremonial vessels with complex carved and painted ornaments. However, these craftsmen, apparently, were not aware of either a potter's wheel or glass-like glaze.
All this testifies to the fact that a developed agricultural civilization once existed in the now practically deserted region. However, until now, scientists did not understand how the ancient Indians managed to cultivate plants in the tropics. After all, there, as you know, there is an endless rain for two or three months a year (in which crops cannot be planted - they will simply be washed away), and then almost immediately the dry season begins, during which the soil turns into dust and all the seedlings may simply die ... Residents of those settlements located directly next to the river solved this problem quite simply - they dug canals, but the area under study is located quite far from the Amazon and its large tributaries. And just recently, this secret was finally revealed. This summer, a Swedish expedition, exploring the remains of settlements in the area of the Brazilian city of Santarem, came across strange depressions located near ancient fields. According to the head of the research, Peter Stenborg, they represent nothing more than the remnants of ancient reservoirs that were filled with water during the rainy season. In drought, this water was used to irrigate fields and gardens. In addition, scientists, having analyzed the soil on the site of the former arable land, found that it is fundamentally different from that which is characteristic of the tropical forests of the region. It has an intense dark color, which is due to the high content of humus in it. The most interesting thing is that soils of this type are not found anywhere in the vicinity of Santarem. Stenborg believes that this fertile land was artificially created by humans, in much the same way that silage and compost are now made. It could be based on leaves and other organic remains of those plants that the ancient inhabitants of the Amazon grew in their gardens. Scientists have established that all of them are not local. The owners apparently brought the plants with them when they came to the region six thousand years ago. So, it turns out that the ancient inhabitants of the lands located in the Amazon basin could create artificial soil (and this, by the way, neither the Maya nor the Incas could do) and build reservoirs for storing water. Perhaps it was they who caused the death of this mysterious civilization. Previously, scientists thought that the cities of the Amazon were depopulated due to epidemics of diseases unseen before in the New World, with which the Indians were infected by European settlers. Indeed, this sometimes happened in other regions of South America, but for the Amazon, which until the twentieth century colonists visited extremely rarely, this situation was hardly typical. Most likely, civilization disappeared as a result of some natural disaster, which the inhabitants of ancient cities themselves provoked by creating a system of reservoirs. It is known that the water table in the tropics is maintained mainly by the water that got into the soil during the "wet" season. If you dig a reservoir, then all rainwater from a large area will drain into it, leaving the surrounding soil completely without moisture. As a result, the trees begin to dry out, their roots no longer hinder soil erosion, and as a result, the place where the forests used to be turns into a barren desert. And here the addition of artificial soil will not even help - after all, it only plays the role of a biological additive, which, interacting with the root soil layer, only increases its fertility, but does not completely replace it. And if the base itself is destroyed, then these additives simply have nowhere to gain a foothold and they, too, are carried away by wind or storm erosion. As a result, after the disappearance of fertile soils, the cities were deserted, and the surviving residents mingled with the tribes of hunters and gatherers, who also suffered from this natural disaster. The total number of people in the once densely populated region has fallen sharply, the "cultural baggage" of former farmers has been slowly lost (hunters do not need this knowledge), progressive technologies have been forgotten over time. It is in this form that the indigenous population of the region has survived to this day. Interestingly, the ancient inhabitants of the Amazon, most likely, were the first people on our planet, whose civilization perished as a result of the ill-considered human impact on natural communities. Therefore, looking at the ruins of the once majestic cities, you somehow involuntarily wonder - are they not a clear example of what awaits humanity in the future if it does not stop its mockery of the environment?
Lost Cities in the Amazon have long been a cliché in low-profile fiction; serious scientists viewed the selva as an environment in which only primitive human cultures can exist. Anthropological studies have so far confirmed this point of view: the Amazon is a place where Indian tribes live, which are at the level of the Stone Age. However, archaeological data contradict anthropological data: a scientist from the University of Florida (USA) Augusto Oyuela-Caicedo is conducting excavations in the northeast of Peru, in the jungle near the city of Iquitos. His findings confirm the theory, which has recently spread in scientific circles, that before the arrival of Europeans in the Amazon, there was a developed culture with a population of up to 20 million people (much more than the current inhabitants of the Amazon).
Finds in Indian burial mounds - pottery and earth, mainly the so-called terra preta ("black earth"), which is a mixture of local soil with human waste products, charcoal and ash. Traces of an extinct culture are found everywhere in the Amazon: terra preta layers are found by the Brazilian archaeologist Eduardo Neves of the University of São Paulo and his American colleagues near Manaus. The Indians increased the productivity of the jungle not only by fertilizing the soil: there are jungle areas with an abnormal number of trees that bear edible fruits everywhere. According to the supporters of the existence of advanced civilizations in the Amazon basin in the pre-Columbian era, these are the remains of orchards. The finds of archaeologists in Bolivia and Brazil (near the Xingu River) testify: already at the end of the 1st millennium AD, the inhabitants of the Amazon were able to move tons of soil, build canals and dams that changed river beds.
The shift in scientists' views on the ancient cultures of the Amazon began with the research of Anna Roosevelt at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 1980s: on the world's largest freshwater island, Marajo at the mouth of the Amazon, foundations of houses, quality pottery and traces of developed agriculture were found.
Scholars who deny the existence of advanced cultures in the Amazon in the past (for example, Betty Meggers of the Smithsonian Institution) consider the proponents of the theory opportunists seeking to become famous by opposing classical views. They argue: if in the Amazon basin there were more advanced autochthonous cultures than now, then they did not differ too much from the current ones - neither in terms of development level, nor in terms of population.
In response, the adherents of the developed Amazon quote the Spanish Dominican monk and chronicler Gaspar de Carbajal, who in 1541, having sailed along the Napo River, wrote about "sparkling white cities", "very fertile land", "beautiful roads" and canoes capable of carrying dozens of warriors ... Scientists argue that an advanced civilization perished due to diseases brought in by Europeans, and cities built of wood and relatively compact fields were very quickly and almost without a trace swallowed by the jungle. (It should be remembered here that different cultures have different abilities to leave traces for archaeologists - depending on the materials used. If it were not for a few miraculously preserved notes on easily decaying birch bark, most of the ancient Novgorodians would have been considered illiterate.)
And one more accusation against those who consider the Amazon the homeland of highly developed cultures: by their statements about the region's ability to feed millions of people without harm to the environment, they help corporations lobbying for the active development of the region. Eduardo Neves responds this way: "We humanize the history of the Amazon."
Lost Cities in the Amazon have long been a cliché in low-profile fiction; serious scientists viewed the selva as an environment in which only primitive human cultures can exist. Anthropological studies have so far confirmed this point of view: the Amazon is a place where Indian tribes live, which are at the level of the Stone Age.
However, archaeological data contradict anthropological data: a scientist from the University of Florida (USA) Augusto Oyuela-Caicedo is conducting excavations in the northeast of Peru, in the jungle near the city of Iquitos. His findings confirm the theory, which has recently spread in scientific circles, that before the arrival of Europeans in the Amazon, there was a developed culture with a population of up to 20 million people (much more than the number of current inhabitants of the Amazon).
Finds in Indian mounds - pottery and earth, mainly the so-called terra preta ("black earth"), which is a mixture of local soil with human waste products, charcoal and ash. Traces of an extinct culture are found everywhere in the Amazon: terra preta layers are found by the Brazilian archaeologist Eduardo Neves of the University of São Paulo and his American colleagues near Manaus. The Indians increased the productivity of the jungle not only by fertilizing the soil: there are jungle areas with an abnormal number of trees that bear edible fruits everywhere. According to the supporters of the existence of advanced civilizations in the Amazon basin in the pre-Columbian era, these are the remains of orchards. The finds of archaeologists in Bolivia and Brazil (near the Xingu River) testify: already at the end of the 1st millennium AD, the inhabitants of the Amazon were able to move tons of soil, build canals and dams that changed river beds.
The shift in scientists' views on the ancient cultures of the Amazon began with the research of Anna Roosevelt at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 1980s: on the world's largest freshwater island, Marajo at the mouth of the Amazon, foundations of houses, quality pottery and traces of developed agriculture were found.
Scholars who deny the existence of advanced cultures in the Amazon in the past (for example, Betty Meggers of the Smithsonian Institution) consider the proponents of the theory to be opportunists seeking to become famous by opposing classical views. They argue: if in the Amazon basin there were more advanced autochthonous cultures than now, then they did not differ too much from the current ones - neither in terms of development level, nor in terms of population.
In response, the adherents of the developed Amazon quote the Spanish Dominican monk and chronicler Gaspar de Carbajal, who in 1541, having sailed along the Napo River, wrote about "sparkling white cities", "very fertile land", "beautiful roads" and canoes capable of carrying dozens of warriors ... Scientists argue that an advanced civilization perished due to diseases brought in by Europeans, and cities built of wood and relatively compact fields were very quickly and almost without a trace swallowed by the jungle. (It should be remembered here that different cultures have different abilities to leave traces for archaeologists - depending on the materials used. If it were not for a few miraculously preserved notes on easily decaying birch bark, most of the ancient Novgorodians would have been considered illiterate.)
And one more accusation against those who consider the Amazon the homeland of highly developed cultures: by their statements about the region's ability to feed millions of people without harm to the environment, they help corporations lobbying for the active development of the region. Eduardo Neves responds this way: "We humanize the history of the Amazon."
It seems that now only historians do not know that humanity has been living on our planet for several hundred thousand years. Evidence of this is constantly increasing, but scientists pretend that they are deaf-blind and dumb, and even cannot read ...
We have already reported previously obtained scanty information about many cities found on the seabed. Today, a little more information has appeared that will make it possible to clarify one more piece of the mosaic of the great past of earthly civilization. Very brief information about new finds of underwater cities has been published. Scientists immediately announced that they were several thousand years old ... Meanwhile, quite a lot of evidence has already been found that about 13 thousand years was back big war followed by a terrible planetary catastrophe. It was this catastrophe that caused the destruction of a highly developed earthly civilization, which built thousands of colossal structures, many of which went under water. Moreover, the level of knowledge and technology in those BEFORE flood times was such that we will have to grow up to it for a very, very long time. Additional information about this interesting period in the life of earthlings can be found in the 2nd volume of the book by Academician N.V. Levashov "Russia in crooked mirrors" and on the website "Food for Ra" ...
Ancient cities discovered in the depths of water
Billy Roberty
Possible connection between the old and new worlds
The ancient Egyptian civilization existed for so long that today it seems mystical. Pyramids and temples, with their hieroglyphic depictions of a civilization that flourished in the past, have a mysterious, almost magical appeal. It is hard to believe that people of a highly developed society walked the streets of this ancient state.
In January 2002, it was announced that a civilization had been discovered that would appear to the people who built the pyramids as old as the pyramids appear to us. According to Indian oceanographers, archaeological remains of the lost city were found underwater at a depth of 36 meters (120 feet) in the Bay of Cambay, off the west coast of India. Carbon analysis showed the city to be 9,500 years old.
Underwater city near Japan
One of the greatest discoveries in the history of archeology was made in the summer of 2000 near Japan. There, at the bottom of the ocean, the well-preserved remains of the ancient city stretch for 311 miles.
In the coastal waters of the island of Okinawa, divers have found eight scattered fragments of the city. Expanding their search, they found other structures nearby. Long streets, majestic boulevards, grandiose staircases, magical vaults, giant blocks of immaculately cut and fitted stone opened up to their eyes - all this harmoniously merged into a single architectural ensemble, the likes of which they had never seen before.
In September of that year, a giant pyramidal structure was discovered 300 miles south of Okinawa, 100 feet under water. It turned out to be part of a ceremonial center consisting of wide promenade alleys and pylons. The colossal structure is 400 feet long.
Underwater city discovered off the coast of Cuba
In the summer of 2001, researchers discovered near the Guanahabiba Peninsula (off the west coast of Cuba) at a depth of 2,310 feet, where, according to their version, a group of megalithic structures is located on an area of about 20 square kilometers.
On closer inspection, scientists saw a huge plateau with orderly stone structures (which turned out to be pyramids), rectangular buildings and roads. Researchers believe that the underwater "city" was built at least 6,000 years ago, when the area was above water. They hypothesized that this part of the land was plunged into the depths as a result of an earthquake or volcanic activity.
The researchers emphasize that their interpretation of this discovery is preliminary, and further research and analysis is required before an official statement can be made. Thus, the publication of this discovery is just a matter of time.
These reports completely contradict the position of most Western historians and archaeologists, who (since this does not fit into their theory) have always denied, ignored or concealed the facts that testify to the fact that humanity appeared on planet Earth much earlier than it is commonly believed. It is now becoming apparent that human civilization is much older than many believed.
These discoveries will force Western archaeologists to rewrite history.
Ancient cities discovered on the Amazon
In the September 19, 2003 issue of Science (Science), archaeologists at the University of Florida and their colleagues reported that they had found the remains of a pre-Columbian road system that networked large settlements in central Brazil, in the upper Hingu River, a southern tributary Amazon.
Researchers have found traces of wide, curb-lined roads, squares and manicured parks, which indicate that the people who lived here have significantly changed their habitat. These ancestors of the modern Hingu Indians dug canals around their settlements, built bridges and ditches in wetlands, and cultivated large tracts of land. This refutes the opinion that Europeans were the first to cultivate the Amazon territory.
Also, the opinion that environment at that time it was too hostile, and people did not organize large settlements. In fact, archaeologists estimate that the area's population was in the tens of thousands during its heyday.
The first written record of a subgroup of Hingu Indians, the Cuikuro, dates back to 1884. But according to their own oral history, the cuikuro first met Europeans in 1750. After that, their civilization was destroyed by slavery and epidemics. By the 1950s, only 500 Hingu Indians remained.
The head of the research team, Michael Heckenberger, said that to date, they have discovered nineteen settlements, of which at least four were large centers. The settlements are built according to the cuikuro cosmology. For example, roads and other structures were oriented towards the sun or the stars, due to which, in Heckenberger's words, a kind of "ethnocartography" was created.
Satellite photographs show the patterns that make up the settlements in the area. They also show that the vegetation now covering the area is very different from older forests, which means that the land was either cleared or cultivated in the past.
The Upper Hingu is the largest area of Amazonian forest still owned by Aboriginal people. The Cuikuro Indians still use many of the surviving bridges, ditches and canals where settlements are located on swampy soil.
Recent discoveries have dispelled the myth that it was originally a wild territory.
The question now is how to preserve the remaining Amazon? Should the "primitive" savagery be preserved, untouched by human activity? Or design a landscape that helps Aboriginal life?
Perhaps both approaches should be considered, since the Amazonian jungle is as diverse as all places on Earth.
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