According to an archaeological paper published by the British journal Nature recently, 11 previously unknown casarabe cultural settlement sites have been found in the southwest of Amazon. This culture existed about 500-1400 A.D** These findings show a previously unknown tropical low-density urbanity in the Amazon region, indicating that the Western Amazon was not as sparsely populated as previously thought in the pre Spanish period.
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Due to the dense vegetation, it is difficult to map the tropical forest. Scientists' understanding of casarabe culture is limited to some evidence from individual sites. Therefore, little is known about the public ritual buildings of important sites and the regional organization of casarabe residence.
The scientists of the German Academy of archaeology investigated six regions of the mohos plain in the Amazon region of Bolivia, 4500 square kilometers, which belong to the casarabe culture. Using a technology called optical radar (i.e. optical detection and ranging), the team can virtually "erase" dense vegetation and visualize the land and archaeological relics under the canopy. They found two settlements and 24 smaller sites, of which only 15 were previously known to exist.
Based on the size of the rammed earth platform, the building structure on it, the river water storage system and other factors, the team has generated a four level classification of the site. These structures include U-shaped structures, rectangular platform piles and conical pyramids up to 22 meters high.
These findings challenge the existing understanding of the pre Spanish history of the Amazon region and enhance the understanding of the ancient tropical civilization of the Amazon.