Scholars once dismissed Orellana's accounts of sprawling Amazon cities. But European diseases (especially influenza) spread ahead of explorers, wiping out millions. Orellana's writings in Gaspar de Carvajal's account may have been remarkably accurate about what he witnessed.
Orellana likely truthful about Amazon civilizations despite skepticism
Key facts
- Scholars historically believed Orellana fabricated stories of huge snakes, sprawling cities, and Amazon women warriors
- European diseases (influenza) spread across the Amazon ahead of Spanish exploration
- Diseases wiped out millions of Native Americans, causing entire civilizations to disappear overnight
- By the time Percy Fawcett explored in the late 1800s/early 1900s, populations had collapsed
- The speaker argues Orellana's accounts in Gaspar de Carvajal's writings were not significantly exaggerated
Sources
The Enigma of Amazon Civilization Emergenceamazonexplorer.com
Yet, these civilizations met a tragic fate with the arrival of Europeans, succumbing to diseases like influenza and smallpox within the first ...
History of Disease - The West Presslwhspress.com
No Europeans travelled as deep into the Amazon as Orellana for 23 years, but when they did, they did not see these elaborate organized cities of ...
Heavily-populated Amazon was decimated by old world diseasenews.mongabay.com
Most of the native population was devastated by Old World diseases resulting in catastrophic population loss and thereby lessening the use of fire to control ...
Myth of pristine Amazon rainforest busted as old cities reappearnewscientist.com
The first Europeans to penetrate the Amazon rainforests reported cities, roads and fertile fields along the banks of its major rivers.
How Europeans Brought Sickness to the New World - Pulitzer Centerpulitzercenter.org
In the Americas, the arrival of Europeans brought disease, war, and slavery to many indigenous peoples. Can some of the world's last ...
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.