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Casarabe culture sites (Cotoca and Landívar)

LocationLlanos de Mojos, Beni Department, Bolivia
Conventional dateAbout 500–1400 CE.
Alternative date proposalsNone with significant published support that we know of.
What is measured
  • Centres of 147 ha and 315 ha with platform mounds, conical pyramids up to about 22 m, causeways and reservoirs. [1]

A low-density urban landscape in seasonally flooded savanna and forest, published in Nature in 2022.

Claims about this site

ClaimStatusVerdict
The pre-Columbian Amazon held large, organised societies, not just small bandsMainstreamSupported by LiDAR and excavation
More than 10,000 earthworks are still hidden under the Amazon canopyContestedModel estimate: 10,272–23,648 sites still undiscovered

Sources

  1. Prümers, H. et al. (2022). Lidar reveals pre-Hispanic low-density urbanism in the Bolivian Amazon. Nature 606. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04780-4 data
  2. Peripato, V. et al. (2023). More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia. Science 382. doi:10.1126/science.ade2541 data

Dates are summarised in our own words from the sources listed. Conventional and alternative dates are both reported; "measured" lists only dated or documented findings. Methodology.