Benjamin Thompson

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746 appearances 10 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 2 Sep

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Nature Podcast · Earthworks spotted in the Amazon hint at huge ancient civilization · 29 Jul 2026 podcast

Not all of the structures the team found could be attributed to the Aquary and were likely built later. matched

But the team combined the data they'd gained with previously collected information to make some inferences about the Aquary civilization. matched

By extrapolating out from what had been found, the team estimate the total size of the aquary civilization to be over one hundred eighty thousand square kilometers, over three times the size of Mardi's previous estimates. matched

And by looking at areas where earthworks were present in high or low density, they put a number on how many earthworks were potentially present in this expanded area. matched

To put this into context, these sorts of numbers have been put forward as potentially the total amount of earthwork seen in the whole of the Amazon basin. matched

The area that Marti and his colleagues have been looking at is only about three percent of that. matched

The team estimate that at the Aquary Civilization's peak, which they put at around 100 to 300 AD, the population in the area could have been between 1.25 and 3 million people, based on their calculations of how many folk would have been needed to build and maintain the earthworks. matched

But of course, many of these results are, in part, extrapolations, and there will be questions about whether matched

Whether the small area the team surveyed using LIDAR is representative of the larger region? matched

Marti acknowledges this, but is confident in the team's calculations. matched

However, he concedes there is one way to get an accurate picture of what's going on. matched

What the team discover and whether it confirms or alters their estimates will have to wait for a future podcast. matched

But this work and other studies looking at other cultures in and around the Amazon shows that the idea that this region was a sparsely populated wilderness in pre colonial times is well out of date. matched

Evidence points instead to the Amazon having areas of urbanization and large populations populated by communities and cultures who shape the land, echoes of which can be found today in things like the location of Brazil nut trees, which evidence suggests were domesticated and cultivated for food. matched

That was Marty Parsonin from the University of Helsinki. matched

For more on that story, check out the show notes for some links. matched

And that's all for this time. matched

If you'd like to stay in touch with us, you can. matched

We're on email, podcast at nature.com, or you can find us on social media at naturepodcast. matched

I'm Benjamin Thompson. matched

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