The 2,500-Year-Old Lost Cities of Amazon

<p>Gaspar de Carvajal, a Spanish missionary, joined an expedition that set out from Ecuador in 1542 in quest of the fabled cinnamon valley of La Canela. When the explorers landed in the Amazon River estuary, the Spanish came in contact with the indigenous people who lived in the rainforests.</p> <p>Friar Carvajal maintained a logbook of his experiences. He mentioned seeing enormous, densely populated cities, well-built highways, and majestic buildings.</p> <p>For over four centuries, historians believed Carvajal had either lost his marbles or fabricated stories. The soils in the Amazon were too acidic to support the agriculture required to feed such big cities. Moreover, there was no evidence of monumental architecture.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/teatime-history/the-2-500-year-old-lost-cities-of-amazon-d29efd0054ec"><strong>Website</strong></a></p>