The journey of discovering Joe Rogan unravels some amazing things.
Recent findings from South America’s Gold Rush era shed light on man-made channels in the Amazon. These couldn’t have been formed naturally. Humans creating irrigation and city-like grids indicate the Amazon’s baffling secrets. I delve deeper into these mysteries in ‘America Before’. To provide context, the Amazon basin spans over 7 million square kilometers, with about 5.5 million square kilometers largely unexplored by archaeologists. This unexplored area, covered by dense rainforest, is roughly equivalent to the size of the Indian subcontinent. To understand its scale, imagine studying global archeology but ignoring an entire India or Amazon, which are of the same size.
People used to believe that the Amazon couldn’t have been home to thriving human civilizations. Its resources are scarce, the soil is poor, and access is challenging. The presumption was that humans only started to inhabit the Amazon around a thousand years ago. However, the ongoing deforestation of the Amazon is revealing unexpected findings, including the remnants of large cities. For instance, the first European who traversed the Amazon from west to east in the 16th century reported witnessing grand cities and a flourishing culture. However, later Europeans couldn’t find any trace of these cities, leading to speculations that the initial report was merely a fabrication.
In the past decade, deforestation has started to expose the ruins of these lost cities. The hypothesis is that the Spanish introduced smallpox to the Amazon, which decimated the native population due to their lack of immunity. The abandoned cities were overtaken by the jungle within 50 years and remained hidden until recent clearances. Comparatively, 16th-century London housed around 50,000 inhabitants, and there were numerous such cities throughout the Amazon, possibly accommodating over 20 million people.
How did they manage to sustain such a large population in the Amazon with its infertile soil? The answer lies in a man-made soil named ‘terra preta’. This ancient soil, full of unique microbes, is thousands of years old and has astonishing fertility-boosting properties. This valuable asset is still sought after in the Amazon. While it’s still unclear how it was created, it’s evidence of advanced practices in the Amazon. An example of this extraordinary soil can be seen in the image displayed by Jamie.
Process of wet burning midden
The process of wet burning middens was used, leading to the formation of a material known as biochar. This contributes to the soil’s fertility. However, the microbial content of this soil differs from nearby soils and remains a mystery. Advanced composting theories exist but the distinct microbial content is unexplained. This leads to questions about feeding large populations in the Amazon. Signs indicate a culture that altered the environment for sustaining large populations using a method known as terra preta. Additionally, the Amazon seems more of a garden than a natural forest, indicating human influence over millennia.
Food-producing trees like the Brazil nut and ice cream bean trees dominate the Amazon’s tree population, suggesting human cultivation. It’s not a wild, untouched forest but an old, human-made environment. Evidence shows signs of large cities, huge populations, dark earth, and enormous geometrical structures. In the UK, similar structures, known as henges, exist. For instance, Stonehenge, a henge featuring a deep ditch with a raised embankment outside of it. Contrary to initial defensive structure theories, the placement of the ditch inside the embankment suggests other purposes.
The Amazon holds thousands of these henge-like structures, discovered as the jungle is cleared or detected through lidar technology. Lidar, or light imaging and detection radar, uses lasers to reveal what lies beneath the forest canopy without damaging it. A real-world example of its use is in Guatemala, where more than 60,000 previously unknown structures were found near the famous Tikal site. With the Amazon’s expansive size, one can only imagine the undiscovered secrets lidar technology could reveal.
Among the findings are intriguing geometric figures such as circles and squares, resembling traditional henges. A prime example is a site in the Amazon called Jacoser, where a perfect square encloses a circle. This geometric concept, known as “squaring the circle,” is typically attributed to the ancient Greeks. However, these Amazonian sites predate Greek civilization. Some of the oldest sites are approximately three and a half thousand years old, but they show signs of constant renewal. The potential for older, undiscovered structures in the vast, unexplored Amazon is high.
What does research suggests?
Research suggests thousands of such structures are hidden in the jungle, but their age remains speculative. The structures’ compelling geometry and alignment to true astronomical directions, not magnetic, indicate the presence of early astronomers. This provides further proof of a complex, advanced society in the Amazon long before known civilizations.
The intricacy and precision of the Amazon’s geometry suggest the involvement of skilled individuals. The sheer size of these sites, spanning hundreds of meters, hint at an enormous, well-coordinated project. It’s an exciting mystery that demands further exploration. Intricate geometric patterns like squares within circles are evident. Disrespectfully, a modern road has been constructed right through these historical sites. The method of discovery initially was due to deforestation, revealing previously hidden earthworks.
With intentions of establishing cattle ranches or cultivating nutritionally valuable soybean farms, portions of the rainforest were cleared, revealing these earthworks. Further investigation was necessary, without causing additional harm to the jungle. Luckily, technology such as lidar, a type of radar, helped locate many more sites without destroying the forest. Excavations began on these sites, revealing that some of them date back at least 3,000 years. This startling discovery challenged our current understanding of the Amazon, hinting at a profoundly ancient civilization’s legacy.
Can you create perfect geometric earthworks?
It’s impossible to spontaneously create perfect geometric earthworks, impeccably aligned to true north, south, east, and west on a grand scale. There must be a backstory. Interestingly, these sites were not residential areas, as no signs of human habitation were found. Their purpose remains unknown. I argue in ‘America Before’ that these sites might be part of a global concept related to death and the afterlife.