The Amazon rainforest has intrigued scientists for decades. (file photo)
The Amazon rainforests are one of the most interesting places on the planet. Not only does it have elaborate ecosystems, but there are many lost cities, which experts have been searching for over the centuries.
Among them is El Dorado, a lost city of gold, to which many Spanish explorers set out on fruitless treks across the rainforests in South America.
But now, using lidar, a popular laser technology, scientists have discovered that ancient cities did indeed exist in the Amazon. The lasers were insured from helicopters located more than 600 feet above the Amazon forests, according to Naturerevealed that the ‘forest’ of the Amazon rainforest was heavily populated.
“Here we present lidar data of sites belonging to the Kasarbe culture (around AD 500 to AD 1400) in the Llanos de Mojos savanna of southwestern Amazonia,” the article said.
“The Kaiserbe culture area, as known today, covers some 4,500 km, with one of the larger settlement sites controlling an area of about 500 km.”
Researchers have appreciated the discovery, claiming that it reflects an early ‘urbanisation’ built and managed by indigenous populations over thousands of years.
“We have long suspected that the most complex pre-Columbian societies in the entire basin developed in this part of the Bolivian Amazon, but the evidence is hidden under a canopy of forest and difficult to visit individually,” said from the University of Exeter. Jose Iriart was quoted as daily mail,
“Our lidar system has revealed built-in terraces, straight paths, enclosures with checkpoints and water reservoirs,” he said.
The ledger has also uncovered a network of canals connecting reservoirs and lakes to various sites.
Previous research in the area had revealed hundreds of different sites in more than 1,700 square miles of the Llano de Mojos area.