Scientists are ‘X-raying’ the Amazon, unlocking a lost human history

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🗞️ Driving the news: Scientists using cutting-edge lidar technology have rediscovered a long-lost 18th-century Portuguese colony in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, hidden for centuries beneath dense vegetation
• The find, near the Príncipe da Beira Royal Fortress on the Brazil-Bolivia border, reveals a sophisticated system of roads, canals, fortifications, and settlements — challenging assumptions about the region’s historical population and development

🔭 The context: First glimpsed in 1913, the fortress was believed to be a lone remnant of colonial expansion
• However, recent flyovers with lidar — a laser-based remote sensing method — matched 18th-century maps and uncovered the remains of the wider colonial settlement known as Lamego
• The site also includes artifacts and geoglyphs predating European arrival, tied to advanced Indigenous civilizations long obscured by the forest canopy

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: These discoveries are transforming our understanding of Amazonian history and Indigenous land use, countering outdated narratives of an untouched wilderness
• They also underscore the importance of preserving rainforest areas that may host irreplaceable cultural heritage
• As deforestation and fires increasingly threaten the region, archaeological findings strengthen calls for conservation linked to cultural as well as ecological value

⏭️ What's next: Archaeologists, led by Brazilian researcher Carlos Zimpel Neto, are now using lidar to petition for the legal protection of more land as archaeological sites
• However, the ruins lie within the "arc of deforestation," where forest clearance for agriculture is intensifying
• Further discoveries may accelerate national and international pressure to integrate cultural heritage protection into Amazon conservation strategies

💬 One quote: “This is the moment of our greatest advance and understanding of the forest,” - Luiz Eduardo Oliveira e Cruz de Aragão, remote sensing expert at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research

📈 One stat: An estimated 80% of the surrounding forest near the archaeological site was burned in fires last year, threatening both biodiversity and historical ruins

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