Kuhikugu

Kuhikugu is a pre-Columbian archaeological complex at the headwaters of the Xingu River in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, discovered by anthropologist Michael Heckenberger in 1993 while working with Kuikuro indigenous guides. The complex encompasses around twenty towns and villages across 20,000 km2, supporting an estimated 30,000-50,000 people from roughly 1,500 to 400 years ago. Settlements featured circular plazas, defensive ditches, palisades, and roads 10-50 meters wide connecting communities. Inhabitants practiced manioc farming and fish farming using constructed dams and enriched terra preta soils.