An Ancient Civilization of Millions Once Flourished in the Amazon
Researchers found 396 previously unknown earthworks and said the Aquiry may have supported up to 3 million people at its peak.
- On Wednesday, July 29, 2026, a study published in the journal Nature revealed 396 previously undocumented earthworks in the Amazon rainforest, identified using LiDAR technology to peer beneath the dense forest canopy.
- Researchers utilized airborne laser scanning to map the Aquiry civilization, which thrived in southwestern Amazonia between 600 BCE and 850 CE, transforming understanding of the region's past.
- By extrapolating survey results, the team estimates the Aquiry supported 1.25 million to 3 million people at its peak between A.D. 100 and 300, with more than 20,000 additional earthworks potentially hidden across the region.
- These geometric sites likely functioned as ceremonial and political centers rather than permanent residences, with Indigenous Arawakan people historically referring to the Aquiry as a network fostering community relations.
- University of Helsinki archaeologist Martti Pärssinen notes these findings fundamentally reassess human influence on the Amazon, with Aquiry land management practices significantly affecting the region's carbon production and biocultural history.
36 Articles
36 Articles
During the 20th century, the Amazon was believed to be the last great virgin region on the planet. In addition to being a large reservoir of trees (therefore, a reservoir of oxygen production and fixed carbon), we have the perception that only a few indigenous tribes live there, in remote environments and always on the banks of rivers. Most of the Amazon (around 90%) is in the interfluve region, and was considered not very permissive for agricul…
Findings in the Amazon reinforce suspicions that humans played a role in shaping the world's largest tropical forest. The post Geoglyphs in the Amazon reveal mysterious culture of millions of inhabitants appeared first on in.gr.
The lungs of our planet looked very different about 2,000 years ago. The area was inhabited by the ancient Aquiry civilization, which dotted the landscape of southwestern Amazonia with mysterious geometric earth mounds. But new research suggests the civilization was much larger than archaeologists initially thought.
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