This is a geoglyph. More than a thousand have been discovered over the last few decades. They are geometric earthworks created by ancient civilizations in the southwestern Amazon. Only now are researchers discovering many of these huge sites, just as rapidly expanding soy and corn farms plow them over. The problem is, this land is also home to archaeological sites that are more than 2,000 years old, and cultural authorities are trying to protect them. When I first learned about these geoglyphs, it was kind of an awakening to me. I had the mistaken view that the Amazon had been hunters and gatherers before Europeans reached the region. That gave me a personal interest in it. My main point of contact for this story was Antonia Barbosa, who is an archaeologist for Brazil’s National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage. She's the one who's in charge of basically protecting all these sites,

informing landlords that this is cultural heritage. We traveled to Rio Branco, the capital of Acre state in Brazil. It's a hotbed of these ancient earthworks, especially along the BR-317, which is nicknamed the “geoglyph highway.” We joined Antonia to see these geoglyphs in person and witness just how fast some are being destroyed. One of the geoglyph sites that we visited is known as Jacó Sá. In 2018, it was recognized as a national monument here in Brazil. Today, we are outside of Rio Branco, the capital of Acre state in the southwestern Amazon. There is an agricultural boom going on here that is putting at risk ancient archaeological sites known as geoglyphs. Agriculture, including logistics and packaging, makes up nearly a quarter of Brazil's economy. Acre is a small state, but Acre is on the growth frontier.

of Brazil's grain industry in particular. Up until about a decade ago, it was basically cattle farming. But new trade routes were opened, and so that opened up the option of shipping grain to clients in China, to clients in Europe. Just in the past seven years, soy has gone from nothing to become Acre state's biggest export product. The problem is mechanized farming is moving into this area fast, and the geoglyphs are in the way. Behind these corn fields, there used to be five magnificent earthworks created by these ancient indigenous societies, and you can only see one when you do a flyover. The rest have been completely planted over by corn and soy. That's kind of what's happening to the geoglyphs out there. They’re just kind of a nuisance if you just want to maximize profits and efficiency. Over the past few years, Antonia has been canvassing the region to educate farmers about geoglyphs.

Still, some have been destroyed, mostly on larger properties owned by faraway individuals and companies. One example is Fazenda Crichá, a farm about an hour south of Rio Branco. Assuero Veronez bought the land in the early 2010s and first used it for cattle grazing. Around 2019, when he switched over to mechanized farming like others in the region, a geoglyph on the property was plowed over. Veronez has his lawyers. He's fighting the case. This isn't going to reach a swift conclusion; that it could take years. And in the meantime, agriculture is expanding at a breakneck pace out there in Acre. Luidgi Merlo Paiva dos Santos, who is the prosecutor pursuing a case against Veronez, recognizes the difficulty of the task. After going out there and spending time on the ground, it became clear that Brazil has a short window to protect this archaeological heritage.

The region is going through this economic transformation from cattle grazing to mechanized farming, and a lot of these will get destroyed. The smaller sites that are further from the highway can disappear if the general public, if society at large, doesn't take this on as a cultural asset that needs to be protected. There are a lot of competing priorities for the limited amount of public resources. I think that there is a potential for tourism to see these geoglyphs for a number of reasons. First of all, they're all over the place. You have the capital city of Acre right there. One of the sites that we visited is only about 30, 40 minutes outside of the city.

The Uncertain Future of These Ancient Amazonian Earthworks

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