Two thousand years of garden urbanism in the Upper Amazon

Title

Two thousand years of garden urbanism in the Upper Amazon

Creator(s)

Rostain, Stéphen

Dorison, Antoine

de Saulieu, Geffroy

Prümers, Heiko

Le Pennec, Jean-Luc

Mejía Mejía, Fernando

Freire, Ana Maritza

Pagán-Jiménez, Jaime R.

Descola, Philippe

Date

2024

Is Part Of

Science

Volume

383

Issue

6679

Pages

183-189

Language

eng

DOI

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

Zotero BiDiAr

https://www.zotero.org/groups/5293298/bidiar/items/P4U5L99W/item-list

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.

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