The First Highways · Episode 4 of 12 · 23 min
The Rivers Were the Highways: Amazonia and the Orinoco
The Amazon was long described as a poor green desert that could never hold real societies. Black soils, raised fields, causeways, geoglyphs, and LIDAR-mapped cities show a built and populated landscape. Rivers served as highways carrying pottery, manioc, and the Arawak language toward the Orinoco and the Caribbean.
Who's who
- Anna C. Rooseveltarchaeologist whose Marajo excavations showed complex Amazonian societies
- Michael Heckenbergerarchaeologist of the Upper Xingu garden city settlements
- Heiko Prumerslead author of the 2022 Casarabe LIDAR study
- Betty Meggersproposed the counterfeit paradise model of Amazonia
- Francisco de Orellanaled the 1541-42 descent of the Amazon
- Gaspar de Carvajalchronicler describing dense riverbank settlement
Where it happens
- Llanos de Mojos, Boliviasavanna with raised fields, causeways, and Casarabe cities
- Marajo Island, Brazilmound-building society at the Amazon's mouth
- Upper Xingu, Brazilnetworked settlements with plazas and roads
- Acre, Brazilhundreds of geometric earthwork geoglyphs
- Orinoco River, Venezuelaorigin of Arawak and Saladoid expansion
Timeline
- c. 11,000 BCEpeople occupy Caverna da Pedra Pintada
- c. 500-1400 CECasarabe culture builds cities in the Llanos de Mojos
- 1541-1542Orellana's expedition descends the Amazon
- c. 1500sepidemics and slaving collapse riverside populations
- 2022Casarabe LIDAR results published in Nature
Still debated
The forest was clearly inhabited and engineered, but how many people lived there is unsettled. Maximalists see millions, while skeptics say spectacular sites cluster on unusually rich soils. Whether to call Casarabe or Xingu sites urban is also argued.