On the edge of the tropical forests of the Amazon, in the north of Bolivia, there is a savannah called Llyanos de Moxos-this is a favorite place of scientists, including Umberto Lombardo from the Barcelona Autonomous University. Earlier, archaeologists believed that the soil of the Amazon basin is extremely poor in order to maintain a population of people before the arrival of Europeans, but the results of the new work of scientists are changing everything, writes The Economist.

In recent years, the idea that the pre -Columbus Amazonia was untouched was declining: scientists discovered several lines of evidence at once, indicating that people lived here and some species of trees were transplanted. However, for a long time, scientists could not understand how great this civilization was and how many people she could support.

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The new study headed Umberto Lomabardo and he and his colleagues managed to prove that the idea of \u200b\u200bthe " During the study, Dr. Lombardo with colleagues discovered evidence of large -scale hydraulic engineering, as well as corn planting. All this reinforces the fact that in this area, a large number of people, even a century before the arrival of Columbus..

Llyanos-de-oxos is mainly flat and floods from three to six months a year. But some hills rise above the level of water: trees grow there and people live, building from the ground due to the lack of stone. The authors of the study note that the remnants of some of these earthen structures can still be seen today.

The results of the study show that in this area hundreds of mounds with a total area of \u200b\u200b4,500 square kilometers; Some of them reach a height of more than 20 meters and cover 20 hectares - they are interconnected by bulk roads that stretch for kilometers.

The authors of the study note that these buildings were built by people known to modern science as a Casting Culture, which flourished for about 1000 years. The scale of the earth structures to Kasarabe suggests that there were many of them. This raises the question of how they fed.

Dr. Lombardo's team used satellite pictures and Lidar, capable of exfoliating vegetation to identify the relief of it. Scientists have discovered a system of channels and ponds near the mounds - it is assumed that the channels took water from the savannah to the ponds during the rain season. Then the water was preserved for cultivation in more dry periods. The authors of the study believe that such a system would allow local settlements to engage in agriculture all year round.

The team also investigated local deposits for pollen and phytolites - microscopic silicon structures that are formed in many plant tissues. Pollen and phytolites suggested that the cunning was grown by corn, excluding almost everything else.

At the same time, scientists admit that the number of local civilization is still unknown. Earthwork is really extensive, but they could be built gradually by a small group of people for a long time. Assessment of how many corn were produced - and how much it could support - will require further field research. It will also be necessary to determine the varieties of the crushed corn, since they would not be as productive as modern varieties.

According to the co-author of the article by Eduardo Bride from the University of San Paulo in Brazil, recent attempts will appreciate the pre-Columbian population of the Amazon basin reached 8-10 million people. However, scientists admit that these are just “reasonable assumptions”.

The shirt itself remains mysterious. Stone axes and jewelry made of copper and azure indicate trading with the Andes and what is today Brazil. Different methods of burial of the dead are some more luxurious than others - imply a social hierarchy. The most colossal mounds could have special religious significance or be associated with political power.

Previously, Focus wrote about why there is not a single bridge on the Amazon River: scientists called the main reason.