Posted on 07/24/2015 10:16:10 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
It is often held aloft by environmental campaign groups as an example of one of the last remaining regions of unspoiled habitat left in the world.
But instead of being a pristine rainforest untouched by human hands, the Amazon appears to have been profoundly shaped by mankind.
An international team of researchers have published evidence that suggests the Amazon was once home to millions of people who lived and farmed in the area now covered by trees.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
EnvironMENTAList response to this info “The rain forest is man made?! It must be destroyed immediately!”
Thanks SatinDoll and uglybiker.
...and even in West Virginia as early as 2,000 years ago.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_Creek_Mound
Very interesting and my guess is true
Just look at abandoned farms and homes in the eastern United States.There are buildings not far from me almost hidden by trees after less than twenty years of standing unused.Former hay-fields returning to forest in like time.
Only in desert climates do man-made structures stand evident for long times.In temperate or tropical zones vegetation quickly grows around and over everything.
LOL!
The Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and the Dominican friar Gaspar de Caravajal and about 120 of their men were the first Europeans to travel down the Amazon River in 1542. Orellana was a bit of a genius: he studied native languages before the expedition and had the extraordinary ability to acquire new languages as he went along. He would stop from time to time at a native village along the Amazon, and with his language skills he would make himself welcome. He would then set up a forge and workshop to repair his boats, which would take weeks. Both he and Caravajal reported that countless chiefs and delegations of tribes from the interior would come to the village to see and observe them, and that the ethnic variety and sophistication of the visitors were astonishing. Some, he even reported were tall and blonde, others told him that they were from large cities far in the interior.
It was more than a generation before any other European went down the river, but apparently by that time disease had devastated the region and nothing was left of the civilizations Orellana had encountered.
Thanks for the very interesting info!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.