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Geographical distribution of known and newly discovered pre-Columbian geometric earthworks in Amazonia. (A) Map of previously reported and newly discovered earthworks (purple circles and yellow stars, respectively) reported in this study across six Amazonian regions: central Amazonia (CA), eastern Amazonia (EA), Guiana Shield (GS), northwestern Amazonia (NwA), southern Amazonia (SA), and southwestern Amazonia (SwA). (B) Newly discovered earthworks in SA. (C to F) Newly discovered earthworks in SwA. (G to I) Newly discovered earthworks in GS. (J and K) Newly discovered earthworks in CA. Scale bars, 100 m.
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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. Mo...
Contexts in source publication
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... 5315 km 2 of LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... 5315 km 2 of LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... southern Amazonia, we found an ancient plaza town located in the Upper Xingu Basin (Fig. 1B). This region is known to have supported dense populations in the past, distributed throughout plaza villages interconnected by road networks and surrounded by domesticated landscapes with a diverse array of terrestrial and aquatic resources (10,23). It is also clear that the earthworks in this region extend beyond the sampled area of ...
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... southwestern Amazonia, we found a combination of rectangular and circular features, known as geoglyphs, without detectable interconnecting roads occurring on flat terrain close to water bodies (Fig. 1, C to F). Documented defensive and ceremonial earthworks in this region were built around two millennia ago and are dispersed across the well-drained plateaus of the tributaries of the Purus and Madeira rivers ...
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... the Guiana Shield, we detected a combination of rectangular and circular features on plateaus near water bodies (Fig. 1, G to I). The region holds different types of earthworks with different usages: permanent settlements within crowned mountains in French Guiana (26) and ceremonial sites featuring megalithic structures arranged in circular clusters found along the coast of Amapá, Brazil ...
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... the floodplains of central Amazonia, a hotspot of pre-Columbian riverine settlements (3,23,28), we identified two other earthworks (Fig. 1, J and K). We considered these sites to be anthropogenic because of their straight edges, although the geometry of these sites is distinct from that of the earthworks found in upland forests. Constant sedimentary deposition over the centuries, through periodic floods, may have buried smaller features, preserving only the observed structures, ...
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... forested areas, LIDAR surveys guided by our discoveries (e.g., full coverage of the Fig. 1B site) and the probability surfaces in Fig. 2A are promising tools for discovering new sites. However, very-high-probability areas (≥50% predicted probability) cover 32,120 km 2 , for which a complete LIDAR survey would require six times more data than have been collected to date in the Amazon. Thus, other approaches, such as mapping the ...
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... 5315 km 2 of LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... 5315 km 2 of LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... southern Amazonia, we found an ancient plaza town located in the Upper Xingu Basin (Fig. 1B). This region is known to have supported dense populations in the past, distributed throughout plaza villages interconnected by road networks and surrounded by domesticated landscapes with a diverse array of terrestrial and aquatic resources (10,23). It is also clear that the earthworks in this region extend beyond the sampled area of ...
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... southwestern Amazonia, we found a combination of rectangular and circular features, known as geoglyphs, without detectable interconnecting roads occurring on flat terrain close to water bodies (Fig. 1, C to F). Documented defensive and ceremonial earthworks in this region were built around two millennia ago and are dispersed across the well-drained plateaus of the tributaries of the Purus and Madeira rivers ...
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... the Guiana Shield, we detected a combination of rectangular and circular features on plateaus near water bodies (Fig. 1, G to I). The region holds different types of earthworks with different usages: permanent settlements within crowned mountains in French Guiana (26) and ceremonial sites featuring megalithic structures arranged in circular clusters found along the coast of Amapá, Brazil ...
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... the floodplains of central Amazonia, a hotspot of pre-Columbian riverine settlements (3,23,28), we identified two other earthworks (Fig. 1, J and K). We considered these sites to be anthropogenic because of their straight edges, although the geometry of these sites is distinct from that of the earthworks found in upland forests. Constant sedimentary deposition over the centuries, through periodic floods, may have buried smaller features, preserving only the observed structures, ...
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... forested areas, LIDAR surveys guided by our discoveries (e.g., full coverage of the Fig. 1B site) and the probability surfaces in Fig. 2A are promising tools for discovering new sites. However, very-high-probability areas (≥50% predicted probability) cover 32,120 km 2 , for which a complete LIDAR survey would require six times more data than have been collected to date in the Amazon. Thus, other approaches, such as mapping the ...
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... 5315 km 2 of LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... 5315 km 2 of LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... LIDAR data originally obtained for estimating aboveground biomass throughout the Amazonian forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... forest (22) revealed unreported earthworks in southern, southwestern, central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... central, and northern (the Guiana Shield) Amazonia (Fig. 1A) (21). We detected a fortified village in southern Amazonia (Fig. 1B), defensive and ceremonial sites in southwestern Amazonia (Fig. 1, C to F), crowned mountains and megalithic structures in the Guiana Shield (Fig. 1, G to I), and riverine sites on floodplains in central Amazonia (Fig. 1, J and ...
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... southern Amazonia, we found an ancient plaza town located in the Upper Xingu Basin (Fig. 1B). This region is known to have supported dense populations in the past, distributed throughout plaza villages interconnected by road networks and surrounded by domesticated landscapes with a diverse array of terrestrial and aquatic resources (10,23). It is also clear that the earthworks in this region extend beyond the sampled area of ...
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... southwestern Amazonia, we found a combination of rectangular and circular features, known as geoglyphs, without detectable interconnecting roads occurring on flat terrain close to water bodies (Fig. 1, C to F). Documented defensive and ceremonial earthworks in this region were built around two millennia ago and are dispersed across the well-drained plateaus of the tributaries of the Purus and Madeira rivers ...
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... the Guiana Shield, we detected a combination of rectangular and circular features on plateaus near water bodies ( Fig. 1, G to I). The region holds different types of earthworks with different usages: permanent settlements within crowned mountains in French Guiana (26) and ceremonial sites featuring megalithic structures arranged in circular clusters found along the coast of Amapá, Brazil ...
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... the floodplains of central Amazonia, a hotspot of pre-Columbian riverine settlements (3,23,28), we identified two other earthworks ( Fig. 1, J and K). We considered these sites to be anthropogenic because of their straight edges, although the geometry of these sites is distinct from that of the earthworks found in upland forests. Constant sedimentary deposition over the centuries, through periodic floods, may have buried smaller features, preserving only the observed ...
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... forested areas, LIDAR surveys guided by our discoveries (e.g., full coverage of the Fig. 1B site) and the probability surfaces in Fig. 2A are promising tools for discovering new sites. However, very-high-probability areas (≥50% predicted probability) cover 32,120 km 2 , for which a complete LIDAR survey would require six times more data than have been collected to date in the Amazon. Thus, other approaches, such as mapping the ...
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Citations
... The authors also suggest a second major east-to-west cultural expansion of maize traditions, associated with geometric enclosures in the Upper Tapajós 74 and Upper Xingu 26 dating to ce ~800-1000. Furthermore, the predicted geographic distribution of earthworks is influenced by the sum of exchangeable base cation concentration in the surface soil 75 across the Amazon Basin, with a higher probability of earthworks in areas with higher overall soil fertility 75,76 . This wide area covers most of the southern rim of the Amazon biome, from Acre/Peru to the Xingu/Tocantins basin, hinting at a possible relationship between maize, urbanism and earthworks in the Southern Amazon. ...
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... The ability to penetrate canopies has enabled the detection of ancient earthworks or even structures related to human activities (e.g. illegal mining, forest management infrastructure) hidden by vegetation (Coomes et al., 2021;Martins et al., 2020;Peripato et al., 2023). Lidar can measure structural aspects of vegetation, such as forest height, canopy openness and density (Andersen et al., 2014;Stark et al., 2012). ...
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... Around 1,000 structures were reported from a broader inventory area (Chouquer 2021), and ongoing surveys continue to reveal more new discoveries (Jacobs 2022). Recent studies utilizing Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data offer deeper insights (Iriarte et al. 2020;Prümers et al. 2022;Peripato et al. 2023;Rostain et al. 2024), but their application is constrained by limited spatial coverage. Recognizing the uniqueness of the Acre geoglyphs, UNESCO included them in its tentative list of World Heritage Sites as early as 2015 (UNESCO 2015). ...
... & Bonpl.) is an often-noted example of a plant still indicating an ancient anthropogenic footprint, with agreeing data from ecology, phytogeography, genetics, linguistics and archaeology (Shepard and Ramirez 2011;Pärssinen et al. 2021). Many researchers believe that that ancient indigenous Amazonians may have possessed the ability to manipulate large forest areas (e.g., Erickson 2010;Carson et al. 2014;Watling et al. 2017;Hill et al. 2023;Peripato et al. 2023). ...
... The spatial extent and intensity of such pre-European human activity in southwestern Amazonia is a prominent subject of scientific research (Heckenberger and Neves 2009;McMichael et al. 2014;Bush et al. 2015;Souza et al. 2018;Montoya et al. 2020;WinklerPrins et al. 2020;Peripato et al. 2023;Walker et al. 2023). Pärssinen et al. (2009) estimated that 300 people were needed in Acre for 100 days just to excavate one geometric structure with a diameter of 200 m. ...
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KEYWORDS:
Acre; anthropogenic landscape; archaeology; geoglyph; mound village; radiocarbon dating
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The land use of the ancient Maya strongly affected the environment of the previously forested Maya Lowlands. A forest grew back after the Maya “collapse”, some 1100 years ago. Two activities of the ancient Maya could have had widespread effects on the tree species composition of the regrown, modern forest. First, in areas with topographic relief Maya agriculture caused substantial soil erosion and accumulation, changing soil depth and character. Soil character is associated with differential distributions and abundances of many tree species in the Maya Lowlands. To the extent that soil character on the modern landscape differs from that on the pre‐Maya landscape, regrown forests on the modern landscape would differ from pre‐Maya forests. Second, the ancient Maya cleared much forest but likely also cultivated or favored certain tree species in home gardens, regenerating farm plots, and patches of older growth. A rigorous study suggests that descendants of favored tree species persist in elevated abundance in some areas of the modern forest but not in other areas. After c. 1100 years of regrowth in some places, the legacy of the ancient Maya in the modern forest likely ranges from strong to absent across the varied landscape of the Lowlands. An ancient mosaic of forest patches would have provided a species‐rich, multiple‐point source for forest regrowth. Such a mosaic is lacking in modern deforested tropical landscapes, likely inhibiting recovery of a species‐rich forest.
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The “discovery” of a “New World” constituted the “most astonishing encounter
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and desire to know the other in order to learn from their differences, rather it
was an undertaking motivated by the longing for precious metals, power, and souls
(Todorov 1987: 28). The amazement produced by nature was explicit in each story:
as well as the sensitive plant, these men were impressed by hummingbirds, sloths,
tamanduas, passion fruit, pineapple, cacao, in short, a myriad of beings that made
up a stunning diversity. Simultaneously, they reduced nature to a repository of indicative signs, the intelligibility and interpretation of which necessarily led to the
expression of God’s supreme truths.
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... Earthwork formations, including the geoglyphs in south and southwestern Amazonia and the Guiana Shield, and urban centers in northwestern Amazonia (Figure 2), also increased in extent and frequency over the last 2500 years Heckenberger & Neves, 2009;Peripato et al., 2023;Prümers et al., 2022;Roosevelt, 1991;Rostain, 2008;Rostain et al., 2024;Schaan et al., 2012;Watling et al., 2017;Whitney et al., 2013), and it is estimated that more than 10 thousand earthwork formations are still hidden in the forest. In these regions, the probability of occurrence and abundance of useful and domesticated tree species increased, whereas for other species it decreased (Peripato et al., 2023). ...
... Earthwork formations, including the geoglyphs in south and southwestern Amazonia and the Guiana Shield, and urban centers in northwestern Amazonia (Figure 2), also increased in extent and frequency over the last 2500 years Heckenberger & Neves, 2009;Peripato et al., 2023;Prümers et al., 2022;Roosevelt, 1991;Rostain, 2008;Rostain et al., 2024;Schaan et al., 2012;Watling et al., 2017;Whitney et al., 2013), and it is estimated that more than 10 thousand earthwork formations are still hidden in the forest. In these regions, the probability of occurrence and abundance of useful and domesticated tree species increased, whereas for other species it decreased (Peripato et al., 2023). archaeological evidence, however, suggest that a significant population decline of Indigenous people in the Americas happened following the introduction of deadly European diseases (e.g., smallpox) post-1492 CE (Black, 1992;Dobyns, 1983). ...
... The populational decline of Indigenous people (Figure 1a) either at 950 to 1300 CE (Arroyo-Kalin & Riris, 2021, Bush, Nascimento, et al., 2021) or after European arrival in 1492 CE (Black, 1992;Dobyns, 1983) resulted in land abandonment. Some of the abandoned areas could have been occupied by urban centers with high densities of domesticated/cultivated plants and regions dominated by agroforestry activities (Heckenberger et al., 2008;Maezumi et al., 2018;Peripato et al., 2023;Prümers et al., 2022). We expect that the abandonment of some of these regions with long-term pre-Columbian human-environment relationships resulted the establishment of long-term successional trajectories, especially in areas of intense pre-Columbian urbanization (Figure 1i,j) (Heckenberger et al., 2008;Prümers et al., 2022). ...
Societal Impact Statement
Global climate models that incorporate carbon sources and sinks usually consider that forest uptake of carbon is in a state of equilibrium. Both historical and paleoecological records suggest that this is commonly not the case for Amazonia. Here, the impacts of colonial practices on Amazonian Indigenous peoples and forests are reviewed. Human activities affect forests' successional stages, trajectories, and species composition. By increasing the spatial coverage of paleoecological records that focus on pre‐ and post‐Columbian periods, the long‐term interactions between humans and Amazonian forests and their role in affecting Earth's climate may be better understood.
Summary
Legacy effects left by the activities of Indigenous people in Amazonia are well known. Although severe, widespread, and recently occurring, the impacts left post‐1492 CE have been less investigated. We review the impact of colonial practices on Indigenous peoples and Amazonian forests. We suggest that forests comprise the sum of their past events, in a mosaic of different cumulative successional trajectories depending on the type, frequency, intensity, and timing of human influence. In regions with a history of minimal human influence, old‐growth species sensitive to fire would be the dominant landscape. In regions with high pre‐Columbian and low colonial influence, old‐growth forests carrying pre‐Columbian ecological legacies would be prevalent. Regions occupied by Indigenous groups post‐1492 CE would also carry similar ecological legacies. In regions influenced by the Jesuits, mid‐successional forests are expected to be enriched with cacao trees. In regions of latex extraction during the rubber boom, mid‐growth forests would present high abundances of early and mid‐successional species and depletion of some species. In deforested areas, we expect early successional forests with influence of exotic useful species. This patchwork of history probably plays a large role in shaping today's forests, and the biodiversity and carbon dynamics documented within them. Paleoecological work focusing on the last millennium, although scarce, has the potential to detect these mosaics of past human influence, and they should be considered when estimating forest ages and successional stages across the basin.
... Over the last several decades, over a thousand geometric earthworks have been found in Southwestern Amazonia [1], 8]. These earthworks, created mostly by civilizations between 500 and 1500 years ago [8], consist of geometric shapes excavated in the ground and are typically between 100 and 350 meters wide [6]. ...
... Over the last several decades, over a thousand geometric earthworks have been found in Southwestern Amazonia [1], 8]. These earthworks, created mostly by civilizations between 500 and 1500 years ago [8], consist of geometric shapes excavated in the ground and are typically between 100 and 350 meters wide [6]. Roads are often found radiating from the geoglyphs in multiple directions, some interconnecting geoglyphs together [1]. ...
... Substantial portions of Amazonia, where these geoglyphs are located, have not been fully explored [1], [3], [6], [8]. While most geoglyphs have been discovered due to deforestation in the region, many geoglyphs remain covered by tropical forests [1], [3], [8]. ...
... The extent to which pre-Columbian human societies occupied and significantly impacted Amazonian environments have been long-standing questions and are currently under active debate (e.g., Meggers, 1971;McMichael et al., 2012a;Clement et al., 2015;Levis et al., 2017;Watling et al., 2017;Piperno et al., 2021;Balée, 2023). There is no longer disagreement that in some regions dense, complex human populations exerted significant, sometimes profound impacts of various kinds on landscapes leaving legacies that are seen today (e.g., mound settlements, raised agricultural fields, roads, geometric earthworks called geoglyphs, highly modified anthropic soils called Amazonian Dark Earths or terra preta) (e.g, Heckenberger et al., 2003;Erickson, 2008;Pärssinen et al., 2009;Arroyo-Kalin, 2010;Denevan, 2011;Neves and Petersen, 1991;Iriarte et al., 2020;Peripato et al., 2023;Schmidt et al., 2023;Rostain et al., 2024). However, the spatial scales, degrees, and types of cultural impacts over large areas of the Amazon Basin are still unknown. ...
... Other samples such as Camp 1, #3, from 40 to 60 cm and Camp 2, #2, 40-80 cm similarly had rare phytoliths with presence solely of arboreal spheroids and palms. Amazonia detected no earthworks in areas we've studied supporting our conclusions that landscapes across Amazonia saw heterogeneous human occupations and modifications in prehistory (Peripato et al., 2023). Balée (2023) argued recently that our views amount to environmental determinism. ...
