Ancient Amazonian society spanning 183,000 square kilometers revealed through airborne laser scanning

Discovery of the Akiri Civilization in the Amazon

According to НВ — Техно: The discovery upends long-held views that the Amazon rainforest was sparsely populated before European contact. On July 30 at 10:00, researchers announced that lidar scanning had uncovered the remains of a widespread civilization known as the Akiri in southwestern Amazonia, dating from 600 BCE to 850 CE. They surveyed 4,497 square kilometers of forest-less than 3% of the greater Amazon-and identified 432 earthworks, 396 of which were previously unknown. The Akiri civilization is estimated to have covered up to 183,000 square kilometers, with a population between 1.2 and 3 million people. The findings were published in the journal Nature.

A New Perspective on Archaeological Discoveries

The study reveals that the Akiri civilization was far larger than archaeologists had previously believed. According to the data, the Akiri constructed between 24,000 and 30,000 earthworks. Researcher Martti Pärssinen remarked:

'What surprised us most was the extraordinarily high number of geoglyphs and other earthworks found in an area that covers less than 3% of the greater Amazon.' Martti Pärssinen

Furthermore, the scale of the archaeological findings suggests that many other regions of the Amazon may have been more densely populated and heavily modified than previously assumed. 'At the center of many of these clearings would have stood large geometric earthworks connected by wide and narrow roads,' Pärssinen added.

He also emphasized that 'during certain seasons, these places would have come alive with ceremonies, gatherings, music, dance, sports competitions, and other communal events.'

These new insights open up fresh avenues for understanding the complexity and scale of ancient civilizations in the Amazon that left their mark on this unique ecosystem. The discovered structures point to a sophisticated social organization and cultural practices among the Akiri, which could reshape our view of Amazonian population history and human-environment interactions. This study may encourage further exploration of other little-known regions that were previously considered sparsely inhabited or archaeologically insignificant.