Once Hidden by Forest, Carvings in Land Attest to Amazon’s Lost World

***SOUL-DRIFTER*** · 01-18-2012, 11:28 PM

I wonder what lies still hidden underneath the rain forest still waiting to be discovered.

By SIMON ROMERO

Published: January 14, 2012 Reprints

RIO BRANCO, Brazil — Edmar Araújo still remembers the awe.

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Douglas Engle for The New York Times

Geoglyphs, geometric designs carved into the earth, have become increasingly visible with the deforestation of the Amazon.

Douglas Engle for The New York Times

Pre-Columbian artifacts, found near some of the geoglyphs in Acre State, offer clues to their origin.

Enlarge This Image

Douglas Engle for The New York Times

For Edmar Araújo, the designs on his land remain a mystery.

As he cleared trees on his family’s land decades ago near Rio Branco, an outpost in the far western reaches of the Brazilian Amazon, a series of deep earthen avenues carved into the soil came into focus.
“These lines were too perfect not to have been made by man,” said Mr. Araújo, a 62-year-old cattleman. “The only explanation I had was that they must have been trenches for the war against the Bolivians.”
But these were no foxholes, at least not for any conflict waged here at the dawn of the 20th century. According to stunning archaeological discoveries here in recent years, the earthworks on Mr. Araújo’s land and hundreds like them nearby are much, much older — potentially upending the conventional understanding of the world’s largest tropical rain forest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/wo...pagewanted=all

**August** · 01-18-2012, 11:32 PM

Wonderful things.....

**Traveler** · 01-19-2012, 12:08 AM

What it means is that the rain forest is not a left over from the dawn of time but a reforestation of a land that was once used and then abandoned. 2000 years could well do the trick to reforest an area that size if no humans are present.

**UniversalTruth** · 02-02-2012, 11:11 AM

this is a pretty awesome find. sadly, it's only news to us due to deforestation...

and traveler, i agree... i wonder how many awe-inspiring findings could be made if nature didn't take back what was once hers...

UT

**nivek** · 02-02-2012, 11:20 AM

Its too quick to assume the whole rainforest was not a forest centuries ago because of archaeological finds like this...

There could have been pockets of development with much of the forest around it...

I tend to doubt the all the rainforest was once developed by man but of course we just don't know for sure...:-)

**bart5050** · 02-02-2012, 11:20 AM

There is some evidence that deforestation contributed to the Mayan collapse.
Perhaps it would be better to let them remain under the vegitation.

**sagewillow** · 02-02-2012, 12:14 PM

Cool link. Thanks for that. I'd love to know what's under all the forests as well as the glacial ice on the poles and under sea near current coastilnes. I have a feeling there are many amazing ruins just waiting to be found.

**SactoLady** · 02-19-2012, 05:56 PM

Cool find. I often wonder how many "lost civilizations" are yet to be found in the world. I'm sure we have just skimmed the surface. I'm sure we'll find many more in the future.