Archaeologists have discovered a large ancient city hidden in the Amazon, challenging previous beliefs about Amazonian civilizations, BBC reports.
The city, built around 2,500 years ago, located in the Upano area in eastern Ecuador, was hidden by dense vegetation and was connected by a sophisticated network of roads and canals.
The discovery, made using LiDAR technology, reveals a complex society with rectangular platforms arranged in groups, straight roads, and ceremonial complexes. The city is estimated to have housed tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people.
The findings suggest a large, interconnected society, potentially larger than well-known Mayan societies in Mexico and Central America, challenging previous perceptions that people in the Amazon lived nomadically or in small settlements.