A massive LiDAR survey covering over 5,000 square kilometers of the Amazon rainforest has revealed an staggering network of interconnected urban centers. The data shows raised roads, complex water management systems, and monumental earthworks that supported populations in the millions between 500 and 1400 CE. This effectively dismantles the myth of the 'virgin' Amazon wilderness.
The study identifies a specific 'garden city' model where large residential hubs were linked to agricultural zones via a geometrically precise grid. These findings suggest that pre-Columbian Amazonian societies were as structurally complex as those of the Maya or Aztecs.