News Archaeology

An ancient, massive urban complex has been found in the Ecuadorian Amazon

The site includes thousands of human-made mounds along with roads and agricultural fields

A laser scan of mountainous terrain in Ecuador shows square imprints of old structures and lines that were once streets

At several sites in Ecuador’s Upano Valley, such as this one, called Kunguints, laser scans revealed the remains of buildings arranged around low squares and distributed along widely dug streets.

A. Dorison and S. Rostain

By Amanda Heidt

Scientists have uncovered the Amazon’s earliest and largest example of farm-based citylike settlements high in the foothills of the Ecuadorian Andes.