A network of 26 villages, including two larger, was discovered using laser remote sensing (LiDAR) in the tropical savannah of Llanos de Mojos, in the southwestern Amazon, Bolivia.
Archaeologist Jose Iriarte from the University of Exeter, UK, and his colleagues estimate that the buildings and infrastructure of these villages were built between 500 and 1400 AD by the Casara civilization.
They form detailed and complex networks such as 5 meter high terraces and 21 meter high conical pyramids.
Archaeologists have also discovered an extensive network of reservoirs, long elevated walkways and checkpoints spanning several kilometers.
This discovery challenges the idea that the Amazon is a historical landscape Virgin.
Professor Iriarte believes that the Bolivian Amazon, in contrast, is home to an early urbanism created and managed by thousands of years of organized indigenous populations.
” This region is one of the oldest inhabited by people in the Amazon, but little is known about their daily lives and the first cities built at that time. “
Furthermore, scientists say these cities are built in accordance with nature through sustainable livelihood strategies, which encourage conservation and preserve the rich biodiversity of the surrounding landscape.
Details of this discovery were the subject of an article published in the journal Nature (New window) (in English).
Source: Radio-Canada
