She saw that the peoples there were hunter-gatherers or practiced small-scale agriculture but never developed into large hierarchical societies like the vast Andean empire of the Incas, the powerful Maya city-states of Mesoamerica or the Aztecs' territorial control over much of what exists today. . Mexico today.
This explanation is partly because organic remains, from food to clothing, rot quickly in the hot, humid jungle conditions, leaving little trace for modern scientists to detect.
There is no stone in the Amazon with which to build, unlike the “mega” cultures of the Andes and Central America, which left amazing archaeological remains, from Machu Picchu to the massive Aztec pyramids.
A dense forest in the Ecuadorian part of the Amazon rainforest.credit: Scientific
The newly uncovered settlements include five large cities and 10 smaller cities spread across 300 square kilometers in Ecuador's Obano Valley, an area of cloud forest where the forest intertwines with the foothills of the Andes.
Features include hill terraces, rectangular agricultural fields with irrigation ditches and an elaborate system of straight roads and canals – all indicators of urban planning in a centralized and complex community.
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The largest settlement, known as Kilomobi, in the center of the site, is similar in size to the Giza Plateau, home to many of Egypt's most magnificent pyramids and the Great Sphinx.
Food remains appear to show that residents were growing crops including corn, sweet potatoes and cassava, according to the research published in the journal Sciences By a team from the French National Center for Scientific Research.
Ceramics have also been discovered showing that they drank chicha, a sweet corn beer that remains the drink of choice among many indigenous communities throughout Latin America today.
The discovery was made using LIDAR, a laser mapping technology. By flying a light aircraft over the site, the team led by Professor Stephen Rosten was able to peer through the vegetation and create a detailed 3D image of the area, revealing everything from houses to roads, nine meters wide and kilometers long, that are currently hidden. Under the bushes.
Other ancient Amazonian cities have been discovered in recent years in Bolivia and Brazil. But, says Iriarte, the size, dates and features of the unique Ubano Valley cultural settlements suggest that there may have been many other complex civilizations across the Amazon Basin, whose remains are also waiting to be discovered.
The Telegraph, London
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