More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia

Peripato, Vinicius;Levis, Carolina;Moreira, Guido A.;Gamerman, Dani;Ter Steege, Hans;Pitman, Nigel C.A.;de Souza, Jonas G.;Iriarte, José;Robinson, Mark;Junqueira, André Braga;Trindade, Thiago B.;de Almeida, Fernando O.;Moraes, Claide de Paula;Lombardo, Umberto;Tamanaha, Eduardo K.;Maezumi, Shira Y.;Ometto, Jean P. H. B.;Braga, José R. G.;Campanharo, Wesley A.;Cassol, Henrique L. G.;Leal, Philipe R.;de Assis, Mauro L. R.;da Silva, Adriana M.;Phillips, Oliver L.;Costa, Flávia R. C.;Flores, Bernardo Monteiro;Hoffman, Bruce;Henkel, Terry W.;Umaña, Maria Natalia;Magnusson, William E.;Valderrama Sandoval, Elvis H.;Barlow, Jos;Milliken, William;Lopes, Maria Aparecida;Simon, Marcelo Fragomeni;van Andel, Tinde R.;Laurance, Susan G.W.;Laurance, William F.;Torres-Lezama, Armando;Assis, Rafael L.;Molino, Jean-François;Mestre, Mickaël;Hamblin, Michelle;Coelho, Luiz de Souza;Lima Filho, Diogenes de Andrade;Wittmann, Florian;Salomão, Rafael P.;Amaral, Iêda Leão;Guevara, Juan Ernesto;de Almeida Matos, Francisca Dionízia;Castilho, Carolina V.;Carim, Marcelo de Jesus Veiga;Cárdenas López, Dairon;Sabatier, Daniel;Irume, Mariana Victória;Martins, Maria Pires;Guimarães, José Renan da Silva;Bánki, Olaf S.;Piedade, Maria Teresa Fernandez;Ramos, José Ferreira;Luize, Bruno Garcia;Novo, Evlyn Márcia Moraes de Leão;Núñez Vargas, Percy;Silva, Thiago Sanna Freire;Venticinque, Eduardo Martins;Manzatto, Angelo Gilberto;Reis, Neidiane Farias Costa;Terborgh, John;Casula, Katia Regina;Demarchi, Layon O.;Honorio Coronado, Euridice N.;Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel;Montero, Juan Carlos;Schöngart, Jochen;Feldpausch, Ted R.;Quaresma, Adriano Costa;Aymard C., Gerardo A.;Baraloto, Chris;Castaño Arboleda, Nicolás;Engel, Julien;Petronelli, Pascal;Zartman, Charles Eugene;Killeen, Timothy J.;Marimon, Beatriz S.;Marimon-Junior, Ben Hur;Schietti, Juliana;Sousa, Thaiane R.;Vasquez, Rodolfo;Rincón, Lorena M.;Berenguer, Erika;Ferreira, Joice;Mostacedo, Bonifacio;do Amaral, Dário Dantas;Castellanos, Hernán;de Medeiros, Marcelo Brilhante;Andrade, Ana;Camargo, José Luís;Farias, Emanuelle de Sousa;Magalhães, José Leonardo Lima;Mendonça Nascimento, Henrique Eduardo;de Queiroz, Helder Lima;Brienen, Roel;Cardenas Revilla, Juan David;Stevenson, Pablo R.;Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro;Barçante Ladvocat Cintra, Bruno;Feitosa, Yuri Oliveira;Barbosa, Flávia Rodrigues;Carpanedo, Rainiellen de Sá;Duivenvoorden, Joost F.;de Noronha, Janaína da Costa;Rodrigues, Domingos de Jesus;Mogollón, Hugo F.;Ferreira, Leandro Valle;Householder, John Ethan;Lozada, José Rafael;Comiskey, James A.;Draper, Freddie C.;de Toledo, José Julio;Damasco, Gabriel;Dávila, Nállarett;García-Villacorta, Roosevelt;Lopes, Aline;Cornejo Valverde, Fernando;Alonso, Alfonso;Dallmeier, Francisco;Gomes, Vitor H. F.;Jimenez, Eliana M.;Neill, David;Peñuela Mora, Maria Cristina;de Aguiar, Daniel P. P.;Arroyo, Luzmila;Antunes Carvalho, Fernanda;Coelho de Souza, Fernanda;Feeley, Kenneth J.;Gribel, Rogerio;Pansonato, Marcelo Petratti;Ríos Paredes, Marcos;Brasil da Silva, Izaias;Ferreira, Maria Julia;Fine, Paul V. A.;Fonty, Émile;Guedes, Marcelino Carneiro;Licona, Juan Carlos;Pennington, Toby;Peres, Carlos A.;Villa Zegarra, Boris Eduardo;Parada, Germaine Alexander;Pardo Molina, Guido;Vos, Vincent Antoine;Cerón, Carlos;Maas, Paul;Silveira, Marcos;Stropp, Juliana;Thomas, Raquel;Baker, Tim R.;Daly, Doug;Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau;Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães;Weiss Albuquerque, Bianca;Fuentes, Alfredo;Klitgaard, Bente;Marcelo-Peña, José Luis;Silman, Miles R.;Tello, J. Sebastián;Vriesendorp, Corine;Chave, Jerome;Di Fiore, Anthony;Hilário, Renato Richard;Phillips, Juan Fernando;Rivas-Torres, Gonzalo;von Hildebrand, Patricio;Pereira, Luciana de Oliveira;Barbosa, Edelcilio Marques;de Matos Bonates, Luiz Carlos;Doza, Hilda Paulette Dávila;Zárate Gómez, Ricardo;Gallardo Gonzales, George Pepe;Gonzales, Therany;Malhi, Yadvinder;de Andrade Miranda, Ires Paula;Mozombite Pinto, Linder Felipe;Prieto, Adriana;Rudas, Agustín;Ruschel, Ademir R.;Silva, Natalino;Vela, César I. A.;Zent, Egleé L.;Zent, Stanford;Cano, Angela;Carrero Márquez, Yrma Andreina;Correa, Diego F.;Costa, Janaina Barbosa Pedrosa;Galbraith, David;Holmgren, Milena;Kalamandeen, Michelle;Lobo, Guilherme;Nascimento, Marcelo Trindade;Oliveira, Alexandre A.;Ramirez-Angulo, Hirma;Rocha, Maira;Scudeller, Veridiana Vizoni;Sierra, Rodrigo;Tirado, Milton;van der Heijden, Geertje;Vilanova Torre, Emilio;Ahuite Reategui, Manuel Augusto;Baider, Cláudia;Balslev, Henrik;Cárdenas, Sasha;Casas, Luisa Fernanda;Farfan-Rios, William;Ferreira, Cid;Linares-Palomino, Reynaldo;Mendoza, Casimiro;Mesones, Italo;Urrego Giraldo, Ligia Estela;Villarroel, Daniel;Zagt, Roderick;Alexiades, Miguel N.;de Oliveira, Edmar Almeida;Garcia-Cabrera, Karina;Hernandez, Lionel;Palacios Cuenca, Walter;Pansini, Susamar;Pauletto, Daniela;Ramirez Arevalo, Fredy;Sampaio, Adeilza Felipe;Valenzuela Gamarra, Luis;Aragão, Luiz E. O. C.

Susan Laurance William Laurance

Abstract

Indigenous societies are known to have occupied the Amazon basin for more than 12,000 years, but the scale of their influence on Amazonian forests remains uncertain. We report the discovery, using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) information from across the basin, of 24 previously undetected pre-Columbian earthworks beneath the forest canopy. Modeled distribution and abundance of large-scale archaeological sites across Amazonia suggest that between 10,272 and 23,648 sites remain to be discovered and that most will be found in the southwest. We also identified 53 domesticated tree species significantly associated with earthwork occurrence probability, likely suggesting past management practices. Closed-canopy forests across Amazonia are likely to contain thousands of undiscovered archaeological sites around which pre-Columbian societies actively modified forests, a discovery that opens opportunities for better understanding the magnitude of ancient human influence on Amazonia and its current state.

Journal

Science

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N/A

Volume

382

ISBN/ISSN

1095-9203

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Issue

6666

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Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science

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DOI

10.1126/science.ade2541