Lidar reveals 3 million people lived in just 3% of the Amazon rainforest
Amazonian civilization had estimated 3M people in 3% of forest area
Using lidar, researchers uncovered nearly 400 previously unknown earthworks in a small patch of the Amazon, suggesting over 20,000 more exist in the region. The findings challenge the idea of a pristine rainforest, estimating up to 3 million people lived in just 3% of its area. These structures, some 2,500 years old, were likely ceremonial, and their discovery highlights the profound human influence on the forest's composition.
At the same time that Pythagoras was in ancient Greece doing his theorem, we had people here in Amazônia doing geometry.
- jgilias
This article linked in the posted one is even better when it comes to “the whole picture”
https://www.science.org/content/article/unearth-their-past-a...
- khanhnguyen8386
The myth of the 'pristine, untouched Amazon' was always a European trope. Lidar is proving that ancient civilizations were sophisticated ecosystem engineers, shaping the rainforest for centuries without destroying it.
- marojejian
Originally heard about this via Nature podcast's interview with the researcher:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02367-x
This is a continuation of many findings in this direction. It's wonderful to imagine the many societies humans have created, and sad that we'll be able to learn so little about them.
- userbinator
Amazonian civilization now has an estimated 1M people in 0.3% of warehouse area.
- ErigmolCt
Finding hundreds of previously unknown earthworks is a major archaeological result. Extrapolating from them to millions of inhabitants is where I would slow down...
- delichon
> In the past 40 years, Amazônia has lost more than 13% of its vegetation cover.
This is loss of original forest cover, replaced by non-native vegetation: pasture, agriculture & tree plantations. 13% is about the amount of vegetation coverage domesticated in Amazonia over 40 years. It has been converted from wilderness into a renewable, denser source of ingredients for food, clothing and shelter.
- dyauspitr
It’s so crazy that they all just… died because of the old world diseases before anyone really got a chance to meet them as a civilization.
- guywithahat
There’s an incredible story about Orellana, who captained the first journey down the Amazon River in the 1500’s with Gaspar de Carvajal taking notes. They described cities of hundreds of thousands of people, and sailing for days going through city after city.
Decades later people tried to repeat the journey and didn’t find major cities, ultimately calling Carvajal a liar. The reality was everyone died due to new diseases. It’s hard to imagine the impact disease had on South America in particular