Laser Tech Reveals Lost Civilizations in the Amazon Jungle
Recently, in a groundbreaking discovery, archeologists have found ancient cities deep in the Amazon rainforest! What’s the story?
There were a lot of rumors that circulated for centuries that there were once large cities, filled with people, deep in the Amazon. But Experts believed that this rainforest was simply too hostile and too remote to have ever supported cities. Until recently, when scientists began finding these. There were man-made ditches and mounds found. And they’re all over the rainforest.
It took researchers more than 20 years to conduct a thorough investigation of the region before revealing its existence today.
Finally, a 2500–3000-year-old civilization was discovered using a special laser technology called lidar. These lasers shoot down from planes, go through thick trees, and show us where old buildings and roads used to be. This technology helped to see the cities through the thick forest in a matter of days or minutes which would have taken years if used traditional methods.
It detected 5 major cities. The cities had over 6,000 structures, including roads and gardens. These structures were arranged in a pattern and connected by roads. Here people lived and held ceremonies, and they were surrounded by farmland with systems to drain water.
Building these cities would have taken a lot of work since they were made from mud instead of stone. It also seemed that the people who lived there were very organized.
Researchers are still trying to learn more about these cities, like how many people lived there, who they traded with, and how they were governed. This discovery is just the beginning.
This discovery is important because it shows that the Amazon rainforest, which is known for being a tough place to live with dense forests and dangerous wildlife, was once home to advanced societies.