Contact: José Iriarte iriartej@si.edu 202-786-2094 x8350 Smithsonian Institution A complex agricultural society in Uruguay's La Plata basin, 4,800-4,200 years ago A complex farming society developed in Uruguay around 4,800 to 4,200 years ago, much earlier that previously thought, Iriarte and his colleagues report in this week's Nature (December 2). Researchers had assumed that the large rivers system called the La Plata Basin was inhabited by simple groups of hunters and gatherers for much of the pre-Hispanic era. Iriarte and coauthors excavated an extensive mound complex, called Los Ajos, in the wetlands of southeastern Uruguay. They found evidence of a circular...