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Forest. It's near here that new excavations have inspired archaeologists to rethink the possibility of lost cities in the Amazon. Manaus is the main port of the Amazon basin, bustling with activity, a market for goods from throughout the region.

From here, I'm heading up river with Alina Lima, a researcher at the University of Saint Paulo. " . . . . the rivers and the rhythm of their lives. " Soon after leaving Manaus, I noticed that the banks are almost completely deserted. There are no visible settlements.

Until recently, most archaeologists believe the accepted wisdom that the Amazon was a wet desert far too infertile to support a large settled population. But Alina tells me this is where the Spanish explorer Ariyana reported seeing thousands of houses lining the river.

"so all along the coasts here, there would have been one *another. Yes. How heavily populated was it? The chronicler from the 16th century tells the villages were one * It's beautiful. . .

After an hour and half we arrived at a site called Asatuba. All right. So here we are. It's Dubasite. The Ausituba Site looks at first glance to be little more than a patch of earth with some trees growing on it.

Yes, this is the archaeological site. What does it to make it an archaeological site. The main thing, the most important thing, is the soil. Look at this. This is the Tahablatia Jingu. What is it, Taha? Balataingu, Indian black earth. It's a very fertile soil and it's directly connected to the archaeological site. So how does this soil become black then. Actually it was created, made, during the process of occupation of this area. It's connected to all the shirts. Look at this. They are all around. Here, you see? Yeah. Here is a nice one. Wow. The pottery and the Tahabratas. They are both a product of a human occupation.

Alina tells me, Taraprater is a genuine archaeological mystery. Highly fertile, this black earth was once presumed to be a natural phenomenon. But now it's believed to be the product of deliberate soil management. Still despite more than a century of study, the exact formula for making it continues to illude scientists even today.

Most people used to think Amazonian soils wouldn't support these plants. Eh. So there were people thought that you could actually support a society, grow crops here. Yeah. Well, I guess.
And these these black earth show people knew how to deal with this. Indigenous tribes in the present day Amazon typically / do was called slash and burn.