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Over 20,000 precolonial earthworks in the Southwest Amazonia

Nature Archaeological Remote Sensing Martti Pärssinen, Risto Kalliola, Alceu Ranzi, Eetu Puttonen, Rhuan Carlos Lopes, Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen, Francisco Apurinã, Kalle Ruokolainen, Juha Hyyppä, Antero Kukko, Mariana Campos, Fabio de Novaes, Markku Oinonen, Antonia D. Barbosa, Sanna Saunaluoma, Evandro Ferreira 2026-07-29

TL;DR - Canopy-penetrating LiDAR indicates that northern southwestern Amazonia may contain over 20,000 precolonial earthworks. This suggests a much larger scale of past landscape modification than previously recognized.

Published online in Nature on 29 July 2026.
LiDAR enabled detection of structures obscured by dense forest canopy.
The surveyed region may contain as many earthworks as earlier estimates for the entire Amazon basin.
The provided excerpt does not specify survey methods, dating, or uncertainty beyond this headline estimate.

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