Laurence Blair

And I think a key one of these is LiDAR, which you may well have talked about in your episode on the Maya.

And I think a key one of these is LiDAR, which you may well have talked about in your episode on the Maya.

And I think a key one of these is LiDAR, which you may well have talked about in your episode on the Maya.

So LiDAR stands for light detection and ranging. And basically this involves flying over a forested area in a plane

So LiDAR stands for light detection and ranging. And basically this involves flying over a forested area in a plane

So LiDAR stands for light detection and ranging. And basically this involves flying over a forested area in a plane

and shooting laser pulses basically laser beams out of the plane uh towards the ground and you measure how long it takes for them to bounce back and these laser pulses they can penetrate through jungle canopy and they kind of it's almost a bit like a bat you know scanning a cave with these kind of sonar squeaks it gives you this idea of the topography

and shooting laser pulses basically laser beams out of the plane uh towards the ground and you measure how long it takes for them to bounce back and these laser pulses they can penetrate through jungle canopy and they kind of it's almost a bit like a bat you know scanning a cave with these kind of sonar squeaks it gives you this idea of the topography

and shooting laser pulses basically laser beams out of the plane uh towards the ground and you measure how long it takes for them to bounce back and these laser pulses they can penetrate through jungle canopy and they kind of it's almost a bit like a bat you know scanning a cave with these kind of sonar squeaks it gives you this idea of the topography

And of course, that includes, we're talking about structures, basically, man-made structures, ditches, roads, temples. And that's really revolutionized archaeology in many forested, many tropical areas, but I think nowhere more so in the Amazon. And I want to talk about one particular case in particular, which was only really just revealed at the start of this year.

And of course, that includes, we're talking about structures, basically, man-made structures, ditches, roads, temples. And that's really revolutionized archaeology in many forested, many tropical areas, but I think nowhere more so in the Amazon. And I want to talk about one particular case in particular, which was only really just revealed at the start of this year.

And of course, that includes, we're talking about structures, basically, man-made structures, ditches, roads, temples. And that's really revolutionized archaeology in many forested, many tropical areas, but I think nowhere more so in the Amazon. And I want to talk about one particular case in particular, which was only really just revealed at the start of this year.

This area is in lowland Amazonian Ecuador, an area called the Upano Valley. jungle valley, thick forest, a big snowy volcano called Sangai kind of looming over it. And people have known for a long time that there were some structures here or some kind of mounds, maybe a dozen or so, two dozen of these kind of mounds rising up from the forest floor with pottery.

This area is in lowland Amazonian Ecuador, an area called the Upano Valley. jungle valley, thick forest, a big snowy volcano called Sangai kind of looming over it. And people have known for a long time that there were some structures here or some kind of mounds, maybe a dozen or so, two dozen of these kind of mounds rising up from the forest floor with pottery.

This area is in lowland Amazonian Ecuador, an area called the Upano Valley. jungle valley, thick forest, a big snowy volcano called Sangai kind of looming over it. And people have known for a long time that there were some structures here or some kind of mounds, maybe a dozen or so, two dozen of these kind of mounds rising up from the forest floor with pottery.

But we didn't really know how many there were and kind of what connected them. Until recently, when Ecuadorian archaeologists, international archaeologists, did a massive LIDAR survey. And what they found was just astounding. We're talking about more than 6,000 of these mounds and platforms. Some of them are 140 metres long and 40 metres... 6,000 in that one valley? 6,000 in this one valley.

But we didn't really know how many there were and kind of what connected them. Until recently, when Ecuadorian archaeologists, international archaeologists, did a massive LIDAR survey. And what they found was just astounding. We're talking about more than 6,000 of these mounds and platforms. Some of them are 140 metres long and 40 metres... 6,000 in that one valley? 6,000 in this one valley.

But we didn't really know how many there were and kind of what connected them. Until recently, when Ecuadorian archaeologists, international archaeologists, did a massive LIDAR survey. And what they found was just astounding. We're talking about more than 6,000 of these mounds and platforms. Some of them are 140 metres long and 40 metres... 6,000 in that one valley? 6,000 in this one valley.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. That's just the area that they've surveyed. And these kind of, effectively, pyramids, you know, they're clustered in these 15 settlements. And they seem to have been the foundations of temples and houses. And, you know, it looks like this is a society of upwards of 30,000, maybe even 100,000 people.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. That's just the area that they've surveyed. And these kind of, effectively, pyramids, you know, they're clustered in these 15 settlements. And they seem to have been the foundations of temples and houses. And, you know, it looks like this is a society of upwards of 30,000, maybe even 100,000 people.