Laurence Blair

have big urban centers which we'll talk about in a little bit and some of these people of course are still around you know there's descendants are still here and they still have a lot to teach us others of course are no longer here and we don't even know their names and i think that this is the real challenge we have here you know you know the meshika or the maya even the inca you know they had some forms of writing you know the inca had the khipu with these kind of

have big urban centers which we'll talk about in a little bit and some of these people of course are still around you know there's descendants are still here and they still have a lot to teach us others of course are no longer here and we don't even know their names and i think that this is the real challenge we have here you know you know the meshika or the maya even the inca you know they had some forms of writing you know the inca had the khipu with these kind of

knotted memory cords. And of course, they interacted very closely with the Spanish. With the ancient Amazonians, we have so little to go on. It's quite fragmentary. They left some paintings, pictograms on cliff faces. And there's a really fascinating site called the Serrania de Chirubiquete, Colombia, which people often call the Sistine Chapel of the Amazon.

knotted memory cords. And of course, they interacted very closely with the Spanish. With the ancient Amazonians, we have so little to go on. It's quite fragmentary. They left some paintings, pictograms on cliff faces. And there's a really fascinating site called the Serrania de Chirubiquete, Colombia, which people often call the Sistine Chapel of the Amazon.

knotted memory cords. And of course, they interacted very closely with the Spanish. With the ancient Amazonians, we have so little to go on. It's quite fragmentary. They left some paintings, pictograms on cliff faces. And there's a really fascinating site called the Serrania de Chirubiquete, Colombia, which people often call the Sistine Chapel of the Amazon.

It's this amazing spot, which is actually off limits to tourists. But it's these huge tabletop mountains and about 20,000 or so and counting of these pictograms in red dye. And for me, the most fascinating thing is that, you know, people are still adding to them. There are uncontacted people in the area who are still painting them.

It's this amazing spot, which is actually off limits to tourists. But it's these huge tabletop mountains and about 20,000 or so and counting of these pictograms in red dye. And for me, the most fascinating thing is that, you know, people are still adding to them. There are uncontacted people in the area who are still painting them.

It's this amazing spot, which is actually off limits to tourists. But it's these huge tabletop mountains and about 20,000 or so and counting of these pictograms in red dye. And for me, the most fascinating thing is that, you know, people are still adding to them. There are uncontacted people in the area who are still painting them.

And so it's almost this kind of work in progress from the kind of late Stone Age, really, which is still being added to. So that's one bit of evidence there. But also we have other things. We have things that outsiders wrote about them. Portuguese, Spanish missionaries, gold hunters, bounty hunters. And of course, we have to take a lot of that with a pinch of salt.

And so it's almost this kind of work in progress from the kind of late Stone Age, really, which is still being added to. So that's one bit of evidence there. But also we have other things. We have things that outsiders wrote about them. Portuguese, Spanish missionaries, gold hunters, bounty hunters. And of course, we have to take a lot of that with a pinch of salt.

And so it's almost this kind of work in progress from the kind of late Stone Age, really, which is still being added to. So that's one bit of evidence there. But also we have other things. We have things that outsiders wrote about them. Portuguese, Spanish missionaries, gold hunters, bounty hunters. And of course, we have to take a lot of that with a pinch of salt.

We also have the archaeological record. We have pottery, a huge amount of pottery. We have animal bones. We have these huge glyphs, you know, what are called geoglyphs. So the way that these people shape the landscape around them to build roads, ditches, ponds, temples, pyramids.

We also have the archaeological record. We have pottery, a huge amount of pottery. We have animal bones. We have these huge glyphs, you know, what are called geoglyphs. So the way that these people shape the landscape around them to build roads, ditches, ponds, temples, pyramids.

We also have the archaeological record. We have pottery, a huge amount of pottery. We have animal bones. We have these huge glyphs, you know, what are called geoglyphs. So the way that these people shape the landscape around them to build roads, ditches, ponds, temples, pyramids.

And I think the most intriguing thing here as well is actually more and more archaeologists or this particular class of archaeologists called the paleobotanist, they're looking at the trees themselves and plant evidence to kind of understand how actually the Amazon was being moulded over many thousands of years by human hands.

And I think the most intriguing thing here as well is actually more and more archaeologists or this particular class of archaeologists called the paleobotanist, they're looking at the trees themselves and plant evidence to kind of understand how actually the Amazon was being moulded over many thousands of years by human hands.

And I think the most intriguing thing here as well is actually more and more archaeologists or this particular class of archaeologists called the paleobotanist, they're looking at the trees themselves and plant evidence to kind of understand how actually the Amazon was being moulded over many thousands of years by human hands.

Oh, definitely. I think as people who are fascinated by the past, we have a kind of bias, don't we, towards temples and ruins. And we want to see stone buildings. We want to see papyrus. And those things, of course, are fantastic when you have them.

Oh, definitely. I think as people who are fascinated by the past, we have a kind of bias, don't we, towards temples and ruins. And we want to see stone buildings. We want to see papyrus. And those things, of course, are fantastic when you have them.

Oh, definitely. I think as people who are fascinated by the past, we have a kind of bias, don't we, towards temples and ruins. And we want to see stone buildings. We want to see papyrus. And those things, of course, are fantastic when you have them.