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Deep in the jungles of South America, a historical treasure awaited archaeologists. In Ecuador they discovered the remains of a previously unknown prehistoric civilization. The huge city may have had hundreds of thousands of inhabitants in its heyday.
A team of French archaeologists made an unexpected discovery while excavating in the Amazon rainforest. In a remote corner of Ecuador, South America, they discovered the remains of a prehistoric civilization. There, a city several thousand years old was covered in jungle.
In eastern Ecuador they discovered a settlement of ancient Indians near the Upano River. According to archaeologists, the city and several settlements in the surrounding area were connected by cleverly designed canals and roads, writes the BBC portal.
On the hills surrounding the river they found the remains of thousands of burial mounds, terraces, squares, houses and fields. Archaeologists determined their location using laser scans and a so-called lidar, which allows them to find buildings hidden under dense vegetation, emphasizes the Science News portal.
Most buildings were formed in small groups of three to six people. These groups of houses then formed a large square around which they stood. Most of the buildings served as homes, but scientists have also found structures that they believe were temples.
The find in Upan Valley is unique for several reasons. “It is the oldest known settlement in the Amazon region. This find shows that we need to change our view of culture and civilization,” French archaeologist Stephen Rostain, who led the research, told the BBC.
The city was founded around 2,500 years ago, around the same time that the foundations of Rome were being laid in Europe. According to archaeologists’ estimates, the number of people in the city at its greatest expansion was in the order of tens or even hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. The city was inhabited for about a thousand years at that time.
Most of the great cities and civilizations that historians know of came later. The best known are the Incas, who lived, for example, in the world-famous Machu Picchu. However, their settlements were mainly in the highlands and mountains. Another well-known people, the Mapuche, lived more on them, in the lowlands of Chile and Argentina.
In contrast, South American archaeologists have found no civilizations in the Amazon jungle. The inaccessible terrain and dense vegetation were also to blame. “This discovery completely changes our view of the cultures of the Amazon. Most people imagine half-naked Indians in huts, but this shows that ancient peoples lived here in elaborate cities,” Rostain added.
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