Lidar reveals vast Amazon earthworks built by ancient Aquiry

4 min read

A lidar survey across 4,497 square kilometers of southwestern Amazonia identified 432 geometric earthworks, 396 of them previously unknown, carved by the Aquiry civilization that flourished between about 600 BCE and 850 CE. The team extrapolated these results and existing surveys to estimate the Aquiry may have occupied up to 183,000 square kilometers, built roughly 24,000–30,000 earthworks, and supported 1.2–3 million people at a peak near 200 CE. Features include deep ditches, straight roads and cleared ceremonial spaces, and the findings reframe the Amazon as a landscape shaped in many places by substantial human activity.

Lidar reveals extensive pre-Columbian earthworks and large ancient populations.