Martti Pärssinen and a University of Helsinki team flew LiDAR over 4,000 km of Amazon forest in Acre and Amazonas, scanning 180,000 sq km. They estimate 24,000–30,000 earthworks hidden below — enclosure complexes of up to 8 structures linked by roads, plus geometric geoglyphs with ditches 5m deep, likely ceremonial gathering hubs.
LiDAR reveals 24,000–30,000 ancient earthworks hidden beneath Amazon canopy
Key facts
- Research team led by Martti Pärssinen of the University of Helsinki flew LiDAR over 4,000 km of dense Amazonian forest in the Brazilian states of Acre and Amazonas
- Scanned cultural area covers approximately 180,000 square kilometers in the southwestern Amazon
- Researchers estimate 24,000 to 30,000 total earthworks are scattered across the scanned region
- LiDAR revealed enclosures clustered into complexes of up to eight structures connected by roads, along with previously undetected quadrilateral and multilateral embankments
- Earlier geoglyph discoveries in Acre from the late 1970s included massive geometric shapes (squares, circles, hexagons) with ditches carved 5 meters deep and earthen walls stretching the length of several football fields
- Sites are believed to have functioned as ceremonial gathering points for ritual, trade, dance, and sport
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