More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia
Authors: 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. 
Published: October 2023

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.