COMMENT

home to scattered, nomadic communities.

“This is not the case. We have found that some populations away from the major rivers are much larger than previously thought, and these people had an impact on the environment which we can still find today.

“The Amazon is crucial to regulating the Earth’s climate, and knowing more about its history will help everyone make informed decisions about how it should be cared for in the future.”

Archaeologists uncovered

JONAS GREGORIO DE SOUZA the remains of villages and geoglyphs in the current Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.

They analysed charcoal remains and excavated pottery to establish that a 1,800km stretch of southern Amazonia was continuously occupied from 1250 until 1500 by people living in fortified villages.

The experts estimated that there would have been between 1,000 and 1,5000 enclosed villages and said twothirds of these sites are yet to be discovered.

Theirresearchestimatesthat there were 1,300 geoglyphs across 400,000 square kilometres of southern Amazonia, with 81 found in the area surveyed as part of the study. Villages were often found nearby, or inside the geoglyphs, and were connected through a network of causeways.

The research, funded by National Geographic and the European Research Council project PAST, is published in the journal Nature Communications.

“We have found that some populations away from the major rivers are much larger than previously thought”