It's the XXI century. And, of course, this indisputable fact inspires us with confidence that our planet has been almost completely studied from pole to pole. Not that every corner has been thoroughly explored, but at least the discovery of a new, hitherto unknown to researchers, territory, country or nationality we are definitely not threatened.
Swamps alone
Many people thought and think so, and we also agreed with this thesis until archaeologists working in the southwestern part of the Amazon proved the opposite.
To begin with, let's briefly talk about this godforsaken territory. It represents the southern bank of the Amazon River, mainly consisting of forests, river tributaries and swamps. Moreover, swamps occupy the lion's share of hectares here, which, firstly, implies a small population, if not completely deserted, of this territory, and secondly, for a long time it made it difficult to explore this part of the South American continent.
But when archaeologists did get to these places, they were amazed. In the “deserted” southwestern part of the Amazon, it turns out that a whole civilization existed and flourished for a long time.
- Only on that small part of it that we studied, lived at least several tens of thousands of people, - said archaeologist Jose Iriarte from the British University of Exeter.
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Traveler Notes
Modern technology, which made it possible to study these lands from space, presented researchers with many surprises in the form of half-buried canals, huge geoglyphs, the remains of giant buildings and hundreds of other structures, indicating that this place was once densely populated and even prospered.
British and Brazilian archaeologists conducted an audit of the archives of their countries, and in the folios lost on the shelves, they found records of travelers and missionaries dating back to the 18th century. They all argued in unison that the southern coast of the Amazon was a densely Indian-populated country with cities and related structures. Previously, no one believed these records, since the mentioned territory was deserted and, as already mentioned, was considered uninhabited. Scientists were sure that the local tribes preferred to settle along the "big water", and not in swamps, where it is not so easy to get food.
Huge country
Hiking expeditions confirmed the correctness of missionaries who had long gone to another world and the readings of modern devices. It turns out that a whole country existed here two hundred years ago, where more than a million people lived. Finds in the form of stone axes and numerous fragments of ceramics suggest that an unknown civilization flourished here from about the 12th to the 15th century, and at the beginning of the 18th century (with the appearance of the first Europeans) it practically disappeared from the face of the earth. But what exactly destroyed it, and where all those people who lived here went, are still unknown to scientists. Perhaps further excavations will reveal the veil of secrecy.
Secrets of the 20th century № 17, Igor Nikitin