ÜDS-Sosyal 2010-1 Soru=71

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Satellite images of the upper Amazon Basin in Brazil
taken since 1999 have revealed hundreds of circles,
squares, and other geometric shapes once hidden by
the Amazon rain forests. They hint at a previously
unknown ancient society that flourished in the Amazon.
Now researchers estimate that nearly ten times as
many such structures, of unknown purpose, may exist
undetected under the Amazon forest cover. The
discovery adds to evidence that the hinterlands of the
Amazon once teemed with complex societies, which
were largely wiped out by diseases brought to South
America by European colonists in the 15 and 16th
centuries. Since these vanished societies had gone
unrecorded, earlier research had suggested that soils in
the upper Amazon were too poor to support the
extensive agriculture needed for such large, permanent
settlements. The researchers say “We found that this
view is wrong, and there is a lot more to discover in
these places”.