Archaeology & History

Mysterious earthworks found in the Amazon

By T.K. Randall
February 7, 2017

Image: Amazon Rainforest in Tena, Ecuador
Credit: Jay / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) Created over 2,000 years ago by an ancient people who once lived in the region, these mysterious earthworks have cast doubt on the idea that the rainforest ecosystem had remained untouched by humans until the modern age.

The exact purpose of these structures however continues to remain a matter of some debate.

A lack of artefacts at the sites makes it unlikely that they were used for habitation and their layout suggests that they were not designed to be defensive structures either.The most likely explanation is that they were some sort of ritual sites.

Hundreds of ancient earthworks resembling Stonehenge found in Amazon rainforest https://t.co/qSHLlqVb8O pic.twitter.com/RDFUCitIQv

— Telegraph Science (@TelegraphSci) February 6, 2017

"The fact that these sites lay hidden for centuries beneath mature rainforest really challenges the idea that Amazonian forests are 'pristine ecosystems'," said researcher Jennifer Watling.

"We immediately wanted to know whether the region was already forested when the geoglyphs were built, and to what extent people impacted the landscape to build these earthworks."

Source: Phys.org

Tags: Rainforest, Earthworks