Back in the early 1500s...

Back in the early 1500s, the Conquistador Francisco de Orellana was attempting to send his army resources to keep on fighting. Ordered to explore a nearby river, he fucked up and had to (with his crew) travel along the entirety of the Amazon Basin in what's known today as history's greatest exploration voyage.

When he eventually reached territory held by his fellow Spaniards, he was exhilarated because he had seen multiple villages or even towns large enough to be called cities throughout his travels. Excited by the prospects, this led to hundreds of thousands of Spaniards invading South America in the next few centuries.

They found nothing and Orellana was known as a liar even by his death bed.

It's only relatively recently that the belief that the Amazon was incapable of supporting civilization was disproven. The Natives within the lands were wiped out (most likely by disease) and they reverted back to their hunter/gatherer lifestyle. Deforestation of the Amazon has exposed us to miles & miles of earthworks, canals/waterways, pottery and extensive land forming.

And this was hidden only four fucking centuries ago. Who knows what other civilizations could have risen and fallen from the time of the Egyptians to the Mongols and among many others. Even though life (most likely) began within Africa there have barely been any few archaeological expeditions exploring the continent (it's understandable with Africa being such a shithole however). I'm not saying all of them were grand, but they were still civilizations.

>tfw we won't ever 100% know about any other ancient civilization within this lifetime.

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Cities_of_Gold_(myth)
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Huh, Never knew there was Bamboo in south america. And here I was thinking it only grew in Asia. Thanks for the botanist lesson user!

Fun fact: Bamboo covers around 11 million hectares in South America.

there´s a species of bamboo so thick the spanish made cannon with them

Well ya learn somethin new everyday amirigh?

Thanks m8s

bump

My professor said the Tupi were invading the coast from the interior of what is now Brazil in search of a mystical new land almost as if fleeing something, but I didn't look for more information about this.

There have been some archaeological findings in the Rub al Khali that suggest there might have been big cities and trading posts there. However the Saudis are faggots and won't let anyone dig there anymore

Bumping a good thread

Iram of the Pillars may be more than just Arabian legend

I remember reading about this as well, it's pretty interesting. I guess it would make sense though if there were large oasis at some point that were able to support a large population/trade route, that eventually dried up and displaced the population. We've seen that exact scenario is plenty of areas in the middle east.

>Along the middle length of the desert there are a number of raised, hardened areas of calcium carbonate, gypsum, marl, or clay that were once the site of shallow lakes. These lakes existed during periods from 6,000 to 5,000 years ago and 3,000 to 2,000 years ago. The lakes are thought to have formed as a result of "cataclysmic rainfall" similar to present-day monsoon rains and most probably lasted for only a few years. However, lakes in the Mundafen area in the southwest of the Rub' al Khali show evidence of lasting longer, up to 800 years, due to increased runoff from the Tuwaiq Escarpment.[2]

>Evidence suggests that the lakes were home to a variety of flora and fauna. Fossil remains indicate the presence of several animal species, such as hippopotamus, water buffalo, and long-horned cattle. The lakes also contained small snails, ostracods, and when conditions were suitable, freshwater clams. Deposits of calcium carbonate and opal phytoliths indicate the presence of plants and algae. There is also evidence of human activity dating from 3,000 to 2,000 years ago, including chipped flint tools, but no actual human remains have been found.[2]

Huh, pretty interesting.

Isn't that an Islam thing, where anything that goes against/culturally comes before/is too glorious that it might made Islam look bad is removed? That's why ISIS goes around bombing archaeological sites, right?

>Isn't that an Islam thing, where anything that goes against/culturally comes before/is too glorious that it might made Islam look bad is removed? That's why ISIS goes around bombing archaeological sites, right?

More of a Saudi thing I think.
Does anybody know what made all of those massive bodies of water dry out?

It lives

Would actually finding El Dorado be the greatest lose your shit moment in modern archaeology? I'm not sure what could top it, other than maybe actually finding the Ark of the Covenant.

I think the discovery of the remnants of Atlantis would top everything.

But they already know that it's Antarctica. That's why the military will shoot you if you try to go there without permission.

More than likely desertification, years of bad drought, diversion of water sources and human consumption, if there were populations that lived around and used the water.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Cities_of_Gold_(myth)

It would be this. de Soto's expedition across the present-day United States actually searched for these cities but found nothing, only wooden villages.

I'd say El Dorado more than anything else seeing as it's not exactly an object. It would be a great find. Even though they're most likely false, the Ark is a bit demystified because of all the claims of possession.

>The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant, or Tabot, in Axum. The object is currently kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. Replicas of the Axum tabot are kept in every Ethiopian church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint; the most popular of these include Mary, George and Michael.[24]