How The Past Might Save The Amazon

Written by Maria Garcia

If you usually read the science section of your online or physical paper and were paying attention in January, you might have heard about an amazing discovery: a network of villages, cities, canals, and roads in the Upano Valley in Ecuador. The news first appeared in 'Science' magazine and was quickly echoed by several major publications.

Professor Stephen Rostain, Director of Investigation at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France and leader of the group of archaeologists who worked on this project, started taking an interest in the area around 20 years ago. Most people dismissed his idea as a chimera, probably thinking, "The Amazon is a place where naked, ignorant nomads live." It seems Rostain is right when he says we have a Eurocentric vision of civilization. Perhaps it will help us become less biased if we consider that this sophisticated civilization near the Andes roughly coexisted with the Roman Empire.

Credit: The Guardian

Luckily for us, whether we deserve it or not, this group of archaeologists pursued their research. Much earlier, in the 70s, interest was raised by the many mounds in the area, but they were just that, mounds. Now we know why. Unlike the Mayans and Incas, the peoples of the Upano area didn’t have stone, so they used the materials at their disposal: mainly mud.

Thanks to new technologies like LIDAR, a type of laser that can see through the canopy of trees, we can now 'see' what the humble mounds have been hiding for years.

It would be great to know more about the Kilamope, the Upano, and the Huapala cultures, although we have already learned more than anyone could have expected. They were a highly hierarchical society and probably had a king or a chief. They relied heavily on agriculture, with maize and sweet potato as staple foods, and they drank 'chicha,' a beer-like drink still found in South and Central America.

One of the most surprising characteristics of the dwellings, causeways, and roads is their perfect symmetry. The roads turn at right angles, which is much more difficult than accommodating the vegetation.

Researchers found rectangular platforms along the bed of the Upano River in Ecuador. Credit: Stéphen Rostain

The adventure is not over yet. A promising adjacent area still needs to be surveyed.

There’s also a big question mark: what made these settlements disappear? Was it internal conflicts, an external attack (which might explain some of the defensive ditches found), or a nearby volcano? I wonder if we will ever know.

One conclusion from Prof Rostain’s research is that the Amazon offers us a twofold heritage: not only environmental but also cultural. This discovery is fascinating for many reasons, but one of the most relevant is that it could and should alter our perception of Amazonia. We used to think the lush vegetation resulted from a sparse population. Now that we know otherwise, we could use this information as a weapon against deforestation. It is possible and necessary to live in communion with nature.

When I was at school, I used to believe history was objective. That all changed when I read Julian Barnes. One of his quotes seems a perfect finish for this post: “History isn’t what happened, history is just what historians tell us.”