The Hidden History Beneath the Canopy

For centuries, mainstream academia maintained that the Amazon was largely untouched by human hands, a pristine wilderness sparsely inhabited by small, hunter-gatherer tribes. The poor soil quality, often referred to as “counterfeit paradise,” reinforced this belief. Supporting the densest and most biodiverse forest on Earth, it seemed counterintuitive that the soil could not sustain large-scale agriculture.

But recent discoveries have shattered this view. Advances in LIDAR technology, which can penetrate the dense forest canopy, have revealed vast, previously unknown pre-Columbian civilizations that thrived in the Amazon. These civilizations, which built monumental architecture and sustained large populations, have remained hidden for centuries, overgrown by the forest. The discovery of vast man-made geoglyphs, roads, and even pyramids has turned our understanding of Amazonian history on its head.

In the Yanos de Moxos region of Bolivia, for example, LIDAR uncovered cities with conical pyramids and complex water management systems. Similar finds in the Apono Valley of Ecuador have revealed dense urban centers with thousands of homes, plazas, and intricate road networks. These discoveries suggest that the Amazon was once home to millions of people, living in thriving, advanced societies…

Source: Unlocking the Secrets of the Amazon Rainforest: Hidden Civilizations and Biodiversity