1. More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia.
- Author
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Peripato V, Levis C, Moreira GA, Gamerman D, Ter Steege H, Pitman NCA, de Souza JG, Iriarte J, Robinson M, Junqueira AB, Trindade TB, de Almeida FO, Moraes CP, Lombardo U, Tamanaha EK, Maezumi SY, Ometto JPHB, Braga JRG, Campanharo WA, Cassol HLG, Leal PR, de Assis MLR, da Silva AM, Phillips OL, Costa FRC, Flores BM, Hoffman B, Henkel TW, Umaña MN, Magnusson WE, Valderrama Sandoval EH, Barlow J, Milliken W, Lopes MA, Simon MF, van Andel TR, Laurance SGW, Laurance WF, Torres-Lezama A, Assis RL, Molino JF, Mestre M, Hamblin M, Coelho LS, Lima Filho DA, Wittmann F, Salomão RP, Amaral IL, Guevara JE, de Almeida Matos FD, Castilho CV, Carim MJV, Cárdenas López D, Sabatier D, Irume MV, Martins MP, Guimarães JRDS, Bánki OS, Piedade MTF, Ramos JF, Luize BG, Novo EMML, Núñez Vargas P, Silva TSF, Venticinque EM, Manzatto AG, Reis NFC, Terborgh J, Casula KR, Demarchi LO, Honorio Coronado EN, Monteagudo Mendoza A, Montero JC, Schöngart J, Feldpausch TR, Quaresma AC, Aymard C GA, Baraloto C, Castaño Arboleda N, Engel J, Petronelli P, Zartman CE, Killeen TJ, Marimon BS, Marimon-Junior BH, Schietti J, Sousa TR, Vasquez R, Rincón LM, Berenguer E, Ferreira J, Mostacedo B, do Amaral DD, Castellanos H, de Medeiros MB, Andrade A, Camargo JL, Farias ES, Magalhães JLL, Mendonça Nascimento HE, de Queiroz HL, Brienen R, Cardenas Revilla JD, Stevenson PR, Araujo-Murakami A, Barçante Ladvocat Cintra B, Feitosa YO, Barbosa FR, Carpanedo RS, Duivenvoorden JF, de Noronha JDC, Rodrigues DJ, Mogollón HF, Ferreira LV, Householder JE, Lozada JR, Comiskey JA, Draper FC, de Toledo JJ, Damasco G, Dávila N, García-Villacorta R, Lopes A, Cornejo Valverde F, Alonso A, Dallmeier F, Gomes VHF, Jimenez EM, Neill D, Peñuela Mora MC, de Aguiar DPP, Arroyo L, Antunes Carvalho F, Coelho de Souza F, Feeley KJ, Gribel R, Pansonato MP, Ríos Paredes M, Brasil da Silva I, Ferreira MJ, Fine PVA, Fonty É, Guedes MC, Licona JC, Pennington T, Peres CA, Villa Zegarra BE, Parada GA, Pardo Molina G, Vos VA, Cerón C, Maas P, Silveira M, Stropp J, Thomas R, Baker TR, Daly D, Huamantupa-Chuquimaco I, Vieira ICG, Weiss Albuquerque B, Fuentes A, Klitgaard B, Marcelo-Peña JL, Silman MR, Tello JS, Vriesendorp C, Chave J, Di Fiore A, Hilário RR, Phillips JF, Rivas-Torres G, von Hildebrand P, Pereira LO, Barbosa EM, de Matos Bonates LC, Doza HPD, Zárate Gómez R, Gallardo Gonzales GP, Gonzales T, Malhi Y, de Andrade Miranda IP, Mozombite Pinto LF, Prieto A, Rudas A, Ruschel AR, Silva N, Vela CIA, Zent EL, Zent S, Cano A, Carrero Márquez YA, Correa DF, Costa JBP, Galbraith D, Holmgren M, Kalamandeen M, Lobo G, Nascimento MT, Oliveira AA, Ramirez-Angulo H, Rocha M, Scudeller VV, Sierra R, Tirado M, van der Heijden G, Vilanova Torre E, Ahuite Reategui MA, Baider C, Balslev H, Cárdenas S, Casas LF, Farfan-Rios W, Ferreira C, Linares-Palomino R, Mendoza C, Mesones I, Urrego Giraldo LE, Villarroel D, Zagt R, Alexiades MN, de Oliveira EA, Garcia-Cabrera K, Hernandez L, Palacios Cuenca W, Pansini S, Pauletto D, Ramirez Arevalo F, Sampaio AF, Valenzuela Gamarra L, and Aragão LEOC
- Subjects
- Humans, Brazil, Forests, Archaeology
- Abstract
Indigenous societies are known to have occupied the Amazon basin for more than 12,000 years, but the scale of their influence on Amazonian forests remains uncertain. We report the discovery, using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) information from across the basin, of 24 previously undetected pre-Columbian earthworks beneath the forest canopy. Modeled distribution and abundance of large-scale archaeological sites across Amazonia suggest that between 10,272 and 23,648 sites remain to be discovered and that most will be found in the southwest. We also identified 53 domesticated tree species significantly associated with earthwork occurrence probability, likely suggesting past management practices. Closed-canopy forests across Amazonia are likely to contain thousands of undiscovered archaeological sites around which pre-Columbian societies actively modified forests, a discovery that opens opportunities for better understanding the magnitude of ancient human influence on Amazonia and its current state.
- Published
- 2023
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