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Two Thousand Years of Garden Urbanism in the Upper Amazon

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Antoine DorisonORCiD

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Abstract

A dense system of pre-Hispanic urban centers has been found in the Upano Valley of Amazonian Ecuador, in the eastern foothills of the Andes. Fieldwork and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) analysis have revealed an anthropized landscape with clusters of monumental platforms, plazas, and streets following a specific pattern intertwined with extensive agricultural drainages and terraces as well as wide straight roads running over great distances. Archaeological excavations date the occupation from around 500 BCE to between 300 and 600 CE. The most notable landscape feature is the complex road system extending over tens of kilometers, connecting the different urban centers, thus creating a regional-scale network. Such extensive early development in the Upper Amazon is comparable to similar Maya urban systems recently highlighted in Mexico and Guatemala.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Rostain S, Dorison A, De Saulieu G, Prümers H, Mejia F, Le Pennec J, Freire A, Pagan J, Descola P

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Science

Year: 2024

Volume: 383

Issue: 6679

Pages: 183-189

Print publication date: 12/01/2024

Online publication date: 11/01/2024

Acceptance date: 15/11/2023

ISSN (print): 0036-8075

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science

URL: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi6317

DOI: 10.1126/science.adi6317

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