Researchers believe that the structure of the villages resembles the dial of a clock or the rays of the sun.
Laser scanning (LIDAR) at the University of Exeter reveals the presence of numerous 'mound villages' underground.
A study published in the Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology notes that “these latter elongated mounds, when viewed from above, resemble the rays of the sun, giving them the common name 'Sóis', which means 'suns' in Portuguese.”
Some villages were arranged in circles with an average diameter of 282 feet. Others formed rectangles with an average length of 148 feet. Roads crisscrossed the towns, including two 20-foot-wide “main roads” that formed high embankments. These larger roads branched off from each village to neighboring settlements, linking them into a cluster.
To get an accurate map of the settlements that have been underground for centuries, the team used Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology, which maps the terrain as it appears beneath the dense canopy of Amazon trees. The researchers attached a LIDAR sensor to a helicopter, which then flew over the Amazon rainforest in the Acre region of Brazil.
“Lidar opens up new possibilities for detecting and documenting land features in densely vegetated Amazon forest areas,” said lead author José Iriarte of the University of Exeter. “It can also capture small ground features in newly opened grasslands.”
The authors of the study suggest that the intentional connection between the villages was dictated by the social structure that existed between their communities. It is unclear what specific model these villages were based on, but it may have resembled the arrangement of the stars as they saw them, which was important to early indigenous people of the Amazon.
Sourse: www.allthatsinteresting.com
