WASHINGTON — Archeologists have uncovered a cluster of lost cities in the Amazon rainforest that was home to at least 10,000 farmers around 2,000 years ago. A series of earthen mounds and buried roads in Ecuador was first noticed more than two decades ago by archaeologist Stéphen Rostain. Recent mapping by laser-sensor technology revealed those sites to be part of a dense network of settlements and connecting roadways, tucked into the forested foothills of the Andes, that lasted about 1,000 years. “It was a lost valley of cities,” said Rostain, who directs investigations at France’s National Center for Scientific Research. “There’s always been an incredible diversity of people and settlements in the Amazon, not only one way to live,” said Rostain.

Source: Ethiopian News January 15, 2024 15:22 UTC