BBC Anthropological Science – The remote Amazon river basin was once home to densely populated towns and villages, Science journal reports. This part of the Amazon, once thought to be virgin forest, has in fact been touched by extensive human activity.

Researchers found traces of a grid-like pattern of settlements connected by road networks and arranged around large central plazas. There is also evidence of farming and wetland management, including possible remains of fish farms. The settlements are now almost completely overgrown by rainforest.

The ancient urban communities date back to before the first Europeans set foot in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon in the 15th Century.

Professor Mike Heckenberger, from the University of Florida, in Gainesville, said: “These are not cities, but this is urbanism, built around towns. They have quite remarkable planning and self-organisation, more so than many classical examples of what people would call urbanism.”

Dam used to funnel fish into submerged weirs (Science) In modern settlements, dams are used to funnel fish into weirs Although the remains are almost invisible, they can be identified by members of the Kuikuro tribe, who are thought to be direct descendents of the people who built the towns. …

Each community had an identical road, always pointing north-east to south-west, which are connected to a central plaza. The roads were always oriented this way in keeping with the mid-year summer solstice.

Evidence was found of dams and artificial ponds - thought to have been used for fish farming - as well as open areas and large compost heaps.

The people who once lived in the settlements are thought to have been wiped out by European colonists and the diseases they brought with them. (08/28/08)
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