LIDAR scans have revealed massive urban centers hidden beneath the Amazon rainforest, with evidence of sophisticated civilizations far more complex than previously understood. These cities featured highway systems, raised plazas, and geoglyphs. Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana navigated the Amazon in 1541 documenting large settlements. 🏛️🌿
Key facts verified:
- Amazon Rainforest covers approximately 5.5 million square kilometers, covering about 40% of South America
- LIDAR scans have revealed interconnected networks of cities with populations in the hundreds of thousands in areas like Ecuador's Upano Valley and Bolivia
- Cities included highway systems, raised plazas, geoglyphs, reservoirs, and agricultural systems spanning thousands of years
- Francisco de Orellana documented settlements along the Amazon in 1541
- Historical accounts describe abandoned settlements with infrastructure
Sources
Huge network of ancient cities uncovered in the Amazon rainforestcnn.comArchaeologists working deep in the Amazon rainforest have discovered an extensive network of cities dating back 2500 years.
The hidden ancient mega-cities of the Amazon are finally revealing ...sciencefocus.comBy doing an airborne lidar scan, they discovered a network of connected settlements in the area, made up of larger cities and smaller towns with ...
Laser mapping reveals oldest Amazonian cities, built 2500 years agoscience.orgA dense network of interconnected cities, now hidden beneath the forest in Ecuador's Upano Valley, has been revealed by the laser mapping technology called ...
A Lost Civilization Under the Rainforest? LiDAR Is Rewriting ...m.economictimes.comNow, laser scanning shows large settlements, roads, and farming systems. These discoveries prove that complex societies thrived in the Amazon ...
Lost Cities of the Amazon Discovered From the Airsmithsonianmag.comMapping technology cut through the canopy to detect sprawling urban structures in Bolivia that suggest sophisticated cultures once existed.
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