The Amazon rain forest was always believed to be an unspoiled and pristine land, but a new study has revealed that the region was actually home to 8 million people thousands of years ago. They tilled and shaped the land to what it is known today, according to the researchers.
There were at least 83 native species being cultivated in the land by those living in the Amazon in 1492 or 3,000 B.C. according to Daily Mail. Close to 8 million people were pegged to be living in the deep boroughs of the forest, while 50 million people were believed to have existed around the islands. Their homes and the population disappeared after a disease wiped out the inhabitants following the arrival of the Europeans.
Then, over the years, the Amazon forest slowly reclaimed the houses, fields and plazas, to once again become a wilderness.
The researchers based their findings on the earthworks that have been recently uncovered due to deforestation. Ancient trade centers situated at riverbanks were uncovered by archaeologists, while agriculturalists found traces of soils and mulch that had been composted.
The researchers also conducted remote sensing to study the earthworks and sites like graveyards, canals and causeways.
Their study is linked to previous reports from European explorers, such as Gaspar de Carvajal, who in 1542 wrote, "There was one town that stretched for 15 miles without any space from house to house," but his reports were dismissed as propaganda, according to the Independent.
"Few if any pristine landscapes remained in 1492," said Charles Clement of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (Brazil's National Institute of Amazonian Research) and the study's lead author, according to New Scientist. "Many present Amazon forests, while seemingly natural, are domesticated."
Today's Amazon "conjures images of dense rainforests, painted and feathered natives, exotic fauna and flora, as well as rampant deforestation, biodiversity extinction, and climate change," the experts said, according to the Independent.
The findings were published in full in the journal Royal Society B.
