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Judi Lynn

(162,815 posts)
7. The Amazon rainforest was once home to ancient cities - A vast network of 2,500-year-old garden cities
Thu Jan 11, 2024, 11:23 PM
Jan 2024


Aerial surveys have revealed the largest 2,500-year-old ancient cities in the Amazon, hidden for thousands of years by lush vegetation and connected by an extensive road network.

The Amazon rainforest was once home to ancient cities, confirms ‘Science’ magazine, which has published a description of Ecuador’s largest and oldest known Amazonian settlement.

An international study published on Thursday, January 11, in Science, reveals a network of garden cities along the Upano River in Ecuador, dating back to 500 BC. It’s the oldest and largest urban network in Amazonia.

It is often assumed that the Amazon rainforest was largely untouched by humans before the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus reached the Americas in the 15th century.

However, the first Europeans reported seeing many farms and towns in the region. Francisco de Orellana, a Spaniard, set out from the eastern foothills of the Ecuadorian Andes at the end of 1541 with a few dozen men, embarking on an amazing river journey that would take them from west to east across the entire continent of South America, ending in the Atlantic Ocean via the Amazon River. Gaspar de Carvajal, a Dominican national, wrote about the dangerous 10-month expedition in which he was ambushed by an Indigenous tribesperson and lost an eye due to an arrow.

More:
https://arkeonews.net/the-amazon-rainforest-was-once-home-to-ancient-cities-a-vast-network-of-2500-year-old-garden-cities/

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