Guess what? An enormous ancient city has just been uncovered in the Amazon, hidden away for thousands of years beneath a thick jungle canopy. This discovery, shared by the BBC on Sunday (January 14, 2024), is totally flipping the script on what we thought we knew about Amazonian history.
So, where’s this hidden gem? It’s in the Upano region of eastern Ecuador, and it’s got everything—houses, plazas, interconnected buildings, and even mind-blowing canal and road networks. And get this, it was all chilling under the shadows of some volcanic mountains, making the land super fertile but also possibly causing some drama for the locals.
The head honcho of the investigation, Prof. Stephen, was all like, “Hold up! This site is older than any other Amazon discovery we’ve come across. We’ve been looking at civilization kinda one-sided, and it’s about time we shook things up.”
This research is like a spotlight on Amazonian culture, throwing shade on the idea that folks were just hanging out in small, basic huts. Dorison, one of the research peeps, spilled the tea, saying, “Turns out, ancient peeps were living it up in a legit urban society.”
This ancient hotspot was built around 2,500 years ago and was a bustling community for a cool 1,000 years. Figuring out how many folks lived there is like trying to count jellybeans in a jar, but the best guess is anywhere from 10,000 to possibly a whopping 100,000 people at its peak.
How’d they find it? Archaeologists went high-tech, using LiDAR (fancy laser tech) flown on planes to scan a massive 300-square-kilometer area. It’s like an X-ray for jungles, revealing 6,000 rectangular platforms, each about 20m x 10m x 33m, standing tall at 2-3m. These platforms partied together in groups of three to six units around a plaza. Most were probably chillin’ houses, while some brought the party vibes for ceremonies.
One platform complex, Kilamope, flexed a colossal 140m x 40m platform. These platforms were crafted by sculpting hills and creating elevated earth platforms on top. Straight roads and footpaths connected the platforms, including a road that stretched a wild 25km. Dr. Dorison was all about these roads, praising their slick design with perfect angles.
Why’d they build these straight roads? Some probably held serious meaning, maybe tied to wild ceremonies or deep beliefs. There were also footpaths with trenches on both sides, like mini canals managing extra water.
But wait, there’s drama too! Some trenches were blocking entrances, suggesting there might’ve been some beef with the neighbors.
This ancient city has been on the radar since the ’70s, but this full-blown survey after 25 years of digging spills all the deets on a big and complex society that could give even the famous Maya civilization a run for its money in Mexico and Central America.