Drones to explore Amazon for evidence of ancient civilizations

Scientists plan to use drones to scour the Amazonian forests for evidence of ancient civilizations. New discoveries suggest that sophisticated cultures similar to those in other parts of the Americas once occupied the area.

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Data on ancient settlements in the Amazon, which have been accumulating over the last few years, show that civilization there was far more advanced than previously thought. BBC News is reporting that the discovery of geoglyphs, where deforestation has taken place, may point to highly developed urban cultures similar to other peoples in pre-Columbian times, such as the Olmecs, Mayans, Aztecs and Incas.

Until now, the idea that an advanced civilization was lost in the Amazonian forests was considered to be just a myth or the stuff of films. Early European explorers called it El Dorado or the City of Z. Hundreds of them ventured into the Amazon's dark interior searching for its legendary cities, which were reputed to possess gigantic riches.

Also, most scientists in the last century thought that the soil was too poor and ecological conditions too severe for anything other than tribes and small farmers to have existed there. However, the discoveries over the recent period are seriously challenging this view.

© Google Earth

Circular geoglyph Amazon.

Since 2010, some 450 geoglyphs have been discovered. (Geoglyphs are huge geometric patterns carved into the landscape, which can often only be seen from the air.) The new findings in the Amazon show perfectly designed circles, lines and shapes, which are accompanied by huge mounds and massive ditches stretching over a 155 mile (250 kms) area.

© Sanna Saunaluoma, Antiquity Journal

Aerial photograph and plan of earthworks at Fazenda Colorada made up of clear geometric shapes. Excavations suggest inhabitants lived in the three-sided square.

Dr Jose Iriarte from Exeter University, UK, told the BBC that, "This evidence suggests that Amazonia may have been inhabited by large, numerous, complex and hierarchical societies." Certainly, to have carried out such large scale projects it would have been necessary to have a huge, housed labor force, perhaps as large as the Egyptians used to build the pyramids.

Indeed, Alceu Ranzi, a geographer and paleontologist with the Federal University in the Brazilian state of Acre earlier told Archeology News Network that regions of the Amazon were home to civilizations that may have rivaled those of the ancient West. "It could be something as important as an unknown Roman empire, or a Mesopotamia."

Some researchers estimate that as many as 90,000 people may have lived in the complexes which make up the ruins around the geoglyphs. Anthropologist Michael Heckenberger, who has been working for some twenty years on Brazil's Xingu river, a few hundred miles away, believes he has uncovered "garden cities" of 50,000 inhabitants, which were "small and medium residential areas built around central plazas and interconnected by elaborate road systems."

© Edison Caetano, Antiquity Journal

Aerial photograph of ditches at Fazenda Parana.

Ancient Origins reported last year that a study published in the journal, , says that the geoglyphs and surrounding constructions predate the existence of the Amazonian rain forest. Analysis of sediment shows that the climate was far different 6,000 years ago, when it would have been much drier and unsuitable for a jungle ecosystem. That changed about 2-3,000 years ago. Until now the geoglyphs and constructions were thought to have been built around 200 AD, but since they predate the forest, it means that a very ancient civilization existed there before 1,000 BC.

Many believe that the ancient civilization remained in the area during the climate changes and created an elaborate system of land and water management combined with deforestation. This is a key issue which scientists want to investigate with the drone research, in order to see if there is any relevance or lessons to be gained for today's destruction of the rain forest.

Some archeologists think there could be as many as 2,000 other structures hidden below what is now the dense canopy of the rain forest. While some of the shapes and mounds were first seen back in 1999, exploration has proved difficult and is expected to continue for some time to come. The drones will be a major contributor to accelerating this process. Equipped with lidar instruments, which digitally remove the trees from images, the drones should be able to penetrate larger areas of the forest and help researchers pinpoint places to explore on the ground. It may also go a long way to answering the questions about the size and sophistication of the civilization.

The BBC reports that the new project was announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Jose. It will be a British-led team, which just won a 1.7m Euro (£1.25m; $1.9m) grant from the European Research Council.

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

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