Lidar Reveals Hundreds of Ancient Earthworks Hidden in the Amazon

Archaeologists Find Ancient Glyphs in the Amazon

Archaeologists using lidar have discovered nearly 400 previously unknown geometric earthworks—circles, squares, and roads—beneath the Amazon rainforest canopy. Dating from 600 B.C. to 850 A.D., these geoglyphs challenge the idea that the region was untouched before Europeans arrived. The findings, published in Nature, show monumental structures spanning up to 120 acres, reshaping our understanding of pre-Columbian societies in the southwestern Amazon.

This is an important and ambitious study, based on exceptionally extensive lidar coverage for this region, which reveals the remarkable scale of pre-Columbian landscape modification in southwestern Amazonia.
  1. jnrk

    Mirror: https://archive.is/9IF4W

  2. vednig

    Looks like a giant wireless charger

  3. tigerlily

    Anyone else instantly picture the Glyph of Gallantry lying amongst jungle vegetation in a Heroes of Might and Magic 3 map?

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2026-08-04