@itsolelehmann: people are dramatically underappreciating how much this discovery rewrites history > for decades, archaeologists believ…

people are dramatically underappreciating how much this discovery rewrites history

for decades, archaeologists believed the amazon could only support small, scattered communities because its soil was too poor for large, complex civilizations

then deforestation started exposing giant circles + squares carved into the ground, and the theory began falling apart

the intact jungle still hid the true scale, so researchers flew lidar over 4,500 km² and digitally peeled away the trees

they found 396 previously unknown earthworks, some surrounded by ditches 5m deep + connected by roads

across the full region, they estimate 20,000+ structures spread over an area roughly the size of syria

most belonged to a 2,500-year-old society researchers call the aquiry

its peak population is estimated at 1.25-3 million people (the city of rome had roughly 1 million)

so while rome ruled the mediterranean, this supposedly impossible forest society may have supported 1-3 romes worth of people

which raises the obvious question: how did a region archaeologists thought was infertile feed millions?

it turns out this part of the amazon has unusually fertile soil, and they grew maize + squash while actively managing the surrounding forest

then around 850-950 ad, their ceremonial centers were suddenly abandoned, and researchers still have no idea why

and all of this came from a territory covering less than 3% of the amazon

what else is still hiding beneath the other 97% of the Amazon??

Earth (@earthcurated): Archaeologists have officially discovered a massive, completely lost ancient civilization hidden deep beneath the Amazon rainforest using advanced LiDAR laser technology. A sprawling, pre-Columbian network of cities that completely rewrites human history.