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tomder55 · Jan 21, 2024, 04:54 AM

This discovery rewrites the history of the western hemisphere. We believed in the romantic notion that the Amazon region was populated by primitive nomadic small tribes living in symbiotic relations with the land . We knew about more complex cultures in South America. But none were known of in the Amazon.

2500 years ago the Greeks were divided into city states and were advancing the foundations of western civilization. The Chinese Zhou dynasty was in power. In Mexico the Mayan civilization flourished . The Mayans were farmers . Their cities were just emerging .

This complex society discovered in the Amazon dates back at least that far.
What was discovered was a city interconnected by highway and canal systems in Ecuador’s Upano Valley, which was historically assumed to be sparsely populated. What are the chances of there only being one city in the region? Presumably the city emerged from a larger civilization yet to be uncovered.

The city was built around 2,500 years ago, and people lived there for up to 1,000 years, according to archaeologists.
It is difficult to accurately estimate how many people lived there at any one time, but scientists say it is certainly in the 10,000s if not 100,000s.

Huge ancient lost city found in the Amazon (bbc.com)

“This is older than any other site we know in the Amazon. We have a Eurocentric view of civilization, but this shows we have to change our idea about what is culture and civilization.”

“It’s a gold rush scenario, especially for the Americas and the Amazon,” says Christopher Fisher, an archaeologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins who has scanned sites throughout the Americas but was not involved in the new research. “Scientists are demonstrating conclusively that there were a lot more people in these areas, and that they significantly modified the landscape,” he says. “This is a paradigm shift in our thinking about how extensively people occupied these areas.”

An ancient, massive urban complex has been found in the Ecuadorian Amazon (sciencenews.org)

jlisenbe · Jan 21, 2024, 06:10 AM

But then they basically perished?

tomder55 · Jan 21, 2024, 06:55 AM

As often happens to ancient civilizations. The Mayans disappeared and they were very advanced for their time. My best guess is that they either succumbed to climate change or conquest . We may never know . We still don't have a definitive reason why Easter Island's culture vanished.

More archeology work needs to be done. The good news is that new technology like the one used to discover the city will speed up the process.

jlisenbe · Jan 21, 2024, 08:00 PM

It's also true that archaeologists frequently tend to over-sell their discoveries. Makes it easier to raise funds for the next venture.

I found this paragraph interesting. ""This is older than any other site we know in the Amazon. We have a Eurocentric view of civilisation, but this shows we have to change our idea about what is culture and civilisation," says Prof Stephen Rostain, director of investigation at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France, who led the research."

I have no idea why these discoveries would change the way we look at civilization. It has long been known that the Mayan and Incan cultures did some pretty amazing things with agriculture and architecture. These discoveries don't seem to add anything significant to that knowledge. Why the whole "Eurocentric view of civilisation" deal had to be brought up is a mystery.