Great Wonders: The Monumental Geoglyphs of Amazonia
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- čas přidán 3. 12. 2014
- Traditionally, the archaeologists have the vast Amazon region of South America to be a cultural backwater compared to the better-known civilizations that developed in the Americas. Scholars stress the limitations of tropical environments and lack of critical technological innovations to sustain civilizations. In recent years, the documentation of intensive agriculture, black earth, managed forests, hydraulic engineering, and large settlements has questioned traditional assumptions. Dr. Erickson has documented fascinating monumental earthworks called geoglyphs, ring ditches, or geometric enclosures that cover several acres to nearly a square mile. The geometric patterns suggest a concern for landscape design, high visibility, and aesthetics. Deep ditches imply that huge volumes of earth moved. Various hypotheses are presented for the functions of earthworks. The existence of earthworks of such magnitude and density throughout Western Amazonia shows the ability of native peoples to transform their landscapes at a massive scale.
Very interesting. Lectures like this help fill the gaps in one's understanding of the past, and of historical dynamics. Yet I am not surprised that "primitive", or traditional societies were complex and capable of great accomplishments.
Absolutely captivating presentation. The comments in the first five minutes could easily relate to the social forces behind the erection of the monumental earthworks of the "classic" Mississippian era in the Mississippi Valley and much of the Southeast United States. I cannot help but wonder as to the extent your Amazonian land modification remarks might apply to pre-contact Native American occupation in the Everglades region of South Florida.
These geoglyphs were practical, not just ornamental monuments, that's the difference.
@@davidhoogendyke2774 Seems we're talking about two very different things. The first portion of my comment specifically equated the introductory remarks to obviously ceremonial and status earthworks erected in the late prehistoric era in the Mississippi Valley and environs. I would be very hard pressed to interpret Monks Mound at Cahokia as serving anything resembling a practical purpose. Yes, I'm sure the canals and raised fields in Amazonia were much more pragmatic in nature and more comparable to Belle Glade era sites and land use in southern Florida. .
--Lidar has changed the whole perspective since this video was created.
Thank you , very informative lecture💐
Very good presentation..
Fascinating presentation!! I would have hoped that additional data would have been presented on the chronology of these earthworks beyond a vague "500 years ago." Likewise, I hope that future research will better address the types of crops that were raised. My 40+ years of experience with the prehistoric archaeology of the Ohio Valley and southeastern United States has frequently demonstrated to me the truism that one may ask the same question of five different archaeologists and get six completely different answers so the current diversity of interpretations regarding these sites does not surprise me in the least,. That being said, my hypothesis on these interconnected sites is that they represent the vestiges of at least a chiefdom level society (which comes as no great surprise) although I would not rule out a more complex paramount chiefdom. It remains to be determined why--and when-- this elaborate settlement system was abandoned. I have also examined the tremendous number of man hours and labor invested in cutting trees and clearing land in the context of prehistoric settlement in the central Cumberland Valley of north-central Tennessee. At least in that area, I concluded that a combination of soil exhaustion and the ever increasing depletion of wood and game resources prompted the abandonment of some villages.
Don't forget inter-tribal warfare and disease as other factors. Since Native American remains can not be tested in any way (for DNA research, etc.) we won't know if any of the Native peoples died of disease, malnutrition, inbreeding, etc.
assuming there was indeed leadership- could this be something we perceive because of our culture?
It would be prudent to examine any and all available ethno-historic accounts of groups within the region. I cannot see small "hunting and gathering" bands having sufficient social cohesiveness to construct an as yet undetermined number of geo- glyphs without some central authority directing the work. At a minimum, the "head man" in a chiefdom level society exerts control over people, land, and resources.
As for not allowing DNA testing on human remains, this seems to be a uniquely USA prohibition on securing useful information. I have seen such studies conducted in South America and Europe so it appears that North America anthropologists are going far afield in their efforts to be "politically correct."
Don Ball
Yes, it is. Native Peoples in North America have litigated to prevent ANY detailed examination on ancient human remains. They must be handed over to local tribes to be re-interred. Sometimes permission is granted, most times not.
Even remains that are suspect of being Non Native has to be approved by local tribes, which is how Asian (Chinese) and European (Norse) peoples have been identified, proving early settlements but they're unwilling to date them (for political reasons).
It's so ignorant to think indians were responsible for creating the giant earthen mounds, eventually the truth will be accepted that the giant white race built these sites.
Did they find evidence of postholes in these earth works?
Fascinating talk; totally different from the naive idea you have in your head about Amazonian Indians.
ilu malucwile yes that apparently "we all appreciate .....the natives"
must be why the natives are doing so well
Tell this to to the Venuezuelan electorate.
Look at Graham Hancock's work
Advanced ancient civilisations existed well before many archaeologists have been willing to acknowledge- including in the Amazon region
jagwires?
Amazonia never left... it's still a massive continent 400 miles east of Guyana 🇬🇾 and thriving well. One day the galactic treaty will be lifted and we'll be reunited with the lands.
The millions of people that lived there are gone lmaoo
I was expecting to see geoglyphs more in the way of depictions of humans etc.
Peace
Indigenous people enhance heterogeneous areas, following natural cues in the landscape. Places that were natural llanos were expanded and maintained. The geology and hydrology of the llanos vary from the surrounding areas, and early people probably followed natural lightning fire cues. This is true of other places, like the shortgrass prairies in N. America, and the dry forests of Australia. Native people adapt strategy to the balance of their home - so Maoris in New Zealand did not live like Australians, and so on. Outsiders oversimplify and exaggerate.
It's wild to see how primitively people lived, and even if they were more advanced than previously thought, they were still essentially stone age people when Europeans arrived.
I work in construction and I can tell you there is nothing from the ancient world that I cannot reproduce using ancient tools and techniques; all this talk in the comments section of lost technology is utter rubbish
Well then, build us a pyramid!
like it.. theres always a sartarse eh cindy?
Cindy Thomas
Sure, I’ll give you a good deal
Lost high tech civilization aside, can you really replicate and explain the more mysterious stone cut marks at saqsayhuaman and various markings in Egypt?
I think a lot of this 'ancient technology' stuff is just another way of saying "I'm really disappointed in the world that we've built because it is soulless and cruel...the ancient world HAD to be better / more magical than this!"
E
57:53 . Even with steel axes people these days can not use then properly And it amounts to bashing ! When some one with skill uses a tool the outcome is far different !
el-Choctaw-lord-de-CalifasMexicoAztlan ANTZ Holywater i Cali 🐜🐜
Watch Michael tsorian irish origins of civilisation aswell as Michael cremos work!!!
birth of the ego, or results.
We leven in 2019 dus dat zal niet gebeuren, dat van *save the devil kill the woman*...
Zijn we nu dan niet veel verder geëvalueerd, en beschaaft...
Dat is de key...bidden en verder gaan!
Back to basics
41:40 you guys came and stopped the wars ( spread disease everyone died no more wars ) !
They used the water to transport not the cosways as you call them !
Milleniums old technology that didn't destroy the landscape unlike modern farming methods.
Mercenaries have no country ! No one cries when a mercenay dies !
according to archeoloclowns, the skyscrapers full of office spaces are a waste of resources and we should be concentrate on food production... OK condescending a LITTLE BIT to those who build things we cannot reproduce! I vote to PUT THEM ON FOOD PRODUCTION. Archeoloclowns need to realise that there was highly intelligent humans well before, that they had high tech we cannot reproduce BUT very different than ours. Then knowledge recedes, until fairly recently. People now think they are smart because they can push buttons on a device NOBODY can build on their own, if the stores close they wouldnt survive 1 year, REAL SMART.
if you don't understand that archeology is another wasted SJW degree, you aren't listening to this lecture
It just hurts me when a tree is coming down !
Trees are a renweable ! They deforestation comes naturally as well as my humans !
This guys bais against humans ( modern humans ) shows in his report ! Which makes his work al but worthless !