Scientists using LiDAR technology have identified evidence of an ancient Amazonian civilization that once supported up to three million people. The discovery of extensive earthworks and road networks in Brazil suggests the region was home to complex, organized societies long before European contact. This finding challenges historical views of the rainforest as a previously untouched wilderness.
A massive, previously unknown civilization has been identified beneath the dense canopy of the Amazon rainforest. Using advanced airborne LiDAR technology, which uses laser pulses to map the ground through thick vegetation, researchers have uncovered evidence of hundreds of geometric earthworks that remained hidden for centuries. This discovery reveals that the region was once inhabited by organized societies that featured ceremonial hubs, straight road networks, and sophisticated farming practices.
The Aquiry Civilization and Its Scale
Researchers have named this culture the Aquiry civilization, taking its name from the Iñapari word for the Acre River located in western Brazil. Findings published in the journal Nature suggest that this society reached its peak population between AD 100 and AD 300. During this period, an estimated 1.25 million to 3 million people may have resided across a territory covering approximately 183,000 square kilometers. The scale of these findings is significant, as researchers estimate there could be between 24,000 and 30,000 such earthworks in the Aquiry region alone.
Archaeological Significance and Landscape Modification
Unlike traditional defensive settlements, the identified circular and square structures appear to have functioned as ceremonial and political gathering spaces. These sites were connected by a network of roads and surrounded by villages containing large longhouses. Archaeological evidence also indicates that these societies engaged in active agriculture, cultivating crops like maize and manioc, and practiced intentional forest management by growing fruit and nut-bearing trees.
This evidence is particularly important because it shifts the historical understanding of the pre-Columbian Amazon. For many years, the prevailing view was that the rainforest was a pristine, untouched wilderness prior to European arrival. The data now suggests that large, organized groups lived in and actively shaped the Amazonian landscape for centuries, flourishing from approximately 600 BC until their decline between AD 850 and AD 950. As LiDAR technology continues to be used in broader regions of the Amazon Basin, researchers expect that many more sites may be uncovered, potentially leading to further revisions in our knowledge of ancient human density and land use in South America.