Lost Amazon villages uncovered by archaeologists

81 settlements have been found in an area once thought to have been near-uninhabited, and research suggests there were hundreds more

Once people thought the Amazon was a near-uninhabited rainforest before the Europeans turned up, but researchers say they have found new evidence that it was in fact a hive of human activity and home to millions of people.

A new study has revealed details of 81 sites in the previously uncharted territory of the Amazon's upper Tapajos Basin, with settlements ranging from small villages just 30m wide to a large site covering 19 hectares.