00:00The Amazonian civilization is one of the most dangerous places in the world.
00:04And yet, a whole civilization has prospered in about two millions of years.
00:10These peoples have left behind them mysterious forms traced in the ground,
00:15such as circles, squares and even pentagrams.
00:20Some theories suggest that they would have disappeared
00:22at the same time that the Maya civilization,
00:25before the Europeans didn't put their feet in Amazon.
00:30So, who were these people?
00:33And what was it really happened?
00:37We're talking about the Aquarius civilization.
00:40The scientists think that this ancient population
00:43could count up to three millions of inhabitants at its own apogée.
00:47It's more than the Chicago population!
00:50They built large communities in the Amazonian,
00:53with including large sites,
00:55which some had more than 60 terrains of football.
00:59They were so important.
01:02Because even today,
01:04survive the core of the Amazonian is incredibly difficult.
01:08It's the biggest tropical forest in the world.
01:11It covers about 40% of the South America.
01:13And there are there all sorts of things
01:16that can cost you life.
01:19We find the jaguars,
01:20we find the jaguars,
01:21and even the gros fourmis chasseuses.
01:24The forest is also dense
01:26that we can very quickly lose.
01:28And once it's done,
01:29the dehydration and famine
01:31can become serious problems.
01:36Even the birds are dangerous!
01:38We could think they would protect you from the sun,
01:41but no,
01:42it could be all the contrary.
01:45In the tropical forest,
01:46the poor trees can fall without warning.
01:49Even the big trees,
01:50falling from the very high,
01:52can cause grave problems.
01:53Of course.
01:54So yes,
01:55the Amazonian is really far away
01:56from being the most sure place to live.
01:58And yet,
02:00the aquarius civilization has managed to survive
02:02for about 1500 years.
02:06The researchers think
02:07that the aquarius would be extended
02:09on a large part of the south-west of the Amazonian,
02:12in a region of more than 180 000 km2,
02:15corresponding today
02:16to parts of the Brazil,
02:18the Bolivie
02:19and the Pérou.
02:20To give you an idea,
02:21it's a superficie
02:22equivalent to the Dakotas du Nord.
02:26They would be apparue
02:27around 600 a.m.
02:28They live in a village
02:30of about 300 inhabitants
02:31and they did not adapt
02:33to the forest.
02:36They really transformed
02:37some parts
02:38to live more easily.
02:41For example,
02:42in some regions,
02:43they would burn
02:44some trees covered
02:45with bamboo
02:46to destroy the ground
02:47and plant plants
02:48such as the corn and the manioc.
02:51But some of the most solid
02:53evidence
02:54comes from recent research.
02:57The researchers think
02:59that this ancient civilization
03:00could have built
03:01hundreds of thousands
03:03of trees
03:03in all the region.
03:06They are, in general,
03:08of immense forms
03:09and structures
03:10created in creating
03:10the ground
03:11and moving from the ground,
03:13from the ground,
03:14from the sand,
03:14from the ground.
03:16In this case,
03:17think about the famous
03:18lines of Nazca,
03:19but maybe a little less artistically
03:21and hidden in the heart
03:22of the Amazonian forest.
03:25The aquarii
03:26have drawn
03:27large forms
03:28in the landscape
03:28as well as
03:29deep and deep
03:31mountains.
03:32The most were
03:33in circles
03:34and square
03:34but they also created
03:35more complex
03:36like the octogones,
03:39the circles
03:39in the square
03:40and even
03:41the pentagrams.
03:43The researchers think
03:44that these
03:44buildings were
03:46particular places
03:47rather than
03:48places used
03:49everyday.
03:50They may be able
03:51for ceremonies,
03:52political parties,
03:53political parties,
03:55competitions,
03:56sporting competitions
03:56and even
03:57games of ball.
03:59The directors
03:59may also take advantage
04:00of these
04:01to show their richness
04:02and their generosity.
04:04The inhabitants
04:05probably live in
04:05pretty,
04:06in large houses
04:07shared by several families.
04:08The most
04:10of the land
04:10have around
04:117 acres
04:12but
04:13some are
04:14quite vast
04:14up to 123 acres
04:16and the
04:17fosses
04:17could be huge
04:19at least 40
04:21feet wide
04:21and up to 16
04:23feet deep.
04:26The size
04:27and the precision
04:27of these structures
04:28are quite incredible
04:29and what
04:30makes the whole
04:31more impressive
04:32is that
04:33the aquarii
04:34probably built
04:35without tools
04:36in metal
04:37or animals.
04:39The scientists
04:40think
04:41that
04:41there were about
04:42300 people
04:43to build
04:43each structure.
04:47So,
04:48you may wonder
04:49if there were
04:51about 3 millions
04:52of these inhabitants
04:52and they lived there
04:53for about 1500
04:55years,
04:55how do we discover
04:57their existence
04:58in 2026?
05:01In reality,
05:03this ancient civilization
05:04is not really
05:05unknown.
05:07The researchers
05:08know
05:08for about 20
05:09years
05:09something
05:11important
05:11in this part
05:12of the Amazon
05:13in the
05:13The unknown
05:14is the height
05:15gigantesque
05:16of the phenomenon.
05:17Now,
05:18the archaeologists
05:19have found
05:19about 1700
05:20books
05:21in the region
05:22but this
05:23new study
05:24suggests
05:24that it could
05:25remain
05:25in the
05:26tropical
05:27perhaps
05:29between
05:3023,000
05:31and 30,000.
05:31That's
05:32more than
05:33the previous estimates
05:33of the
05:34who tablaient
05:35on around 450
05:36books
05:37on earth.
05:39But it is very
05:40difficult to determine
05:41the exact number
05:42and the
05:43placement
05:43is for a lot.
05:46You see,
05:47it is quite easy
05:48to see
05:48the forms created
05:49by the man
05:50when we surveyed
05:50a zone
05:51but in the Amazon
05:52it is a different story.
05:54The trees
05:55and the dense
05:56vegetation
05:56are almost
05:57almost
05:57we would say
05:59that the forest
06:00is the same
06:01that the forest
06:02is found
06:02on the same
06:07as the forest
06:07had already been
06:08défrichée.
06:09The researchers
06:10had needed
06:11to go beyond
06:12these
06:12and discover
06:14what could still
06:15be found
06:15under the trees.
06:17That's where
06:18the lidar
06:18is in general
06:21a technology
06:22that uses
06:22the laser
06:23impulse
06:23to scan
06:25the ground
06:26and create
06:26a detailed
06:27the landscape
06:28in three dimensions.
06:30And
06:30it can help
06:31the researchers
06:32to see the forms
06:33even when they
06:34are covered
06:35by a dense forest
06:35for that
06:37the researchers
06:38have flown
06:39to the Amazon
06:39on board
06:40an avion
06:41equipped
06:41with a scanner
06:42lidar
06:42pointed towards
06:43the forest.
06:45As the avion
06:45avance,
06:46the scanner
06:46envoy
06:47about 1 600 000
06:49impulsions
06:49lasers
06:50per second.
06:51The most
06:52impulsions
06:53rebondissaient
06:53sur les feuilles
06:54et les branches
06:54mais certaines
06:55se faufilaient
06:56par de minuscules
06:56espaces
06:57entre les arbres
06:57et atteignaient
06:58le sol.
07:00Et c'est là
07:00que le lidar
07:01devient vraiment utile.
07:02Le scanner
07:03mesurait
07:03le temps
07:04que mettait
07:04chaque impulsion laser
07:05à revenir.
07:08Cela indiquait
07:09aux chercheurs
07:09à quelle distance
07:10se trouvait
07:11chaque point.
07:12Après avoir
07:13recueilli
07:14des millions
07:15de ces mesures,
07:16les ordinateurs
07:17pouvaient séparer
07:17les signaux provenant
07:18des arbres
07:19de ceux provenant
07:20du sol.
07:21Ils ont ensuite
07:22en quelque sorte
07:23supprimé numériquement
07:24la forêt,
07:25créant une carte
07:26détaillée du terrain
07:27sous-jacent.
07:28Et soudain,
07:29des formes
07:30presque impossibles
07:31à voir d'en haut
07:32ont commencé
07:33à apparaître.
07:36Alors,
07:36qu'est-il finalement
07:37arrivé au peuple
07:38Achiri ?
07:40En réalité,
07:41il y a encore
07:41beaucoup de choses
07:42que nous ignorons
07:43sur cette civilisation
07:44disparue.
07:45Les chercheurs
07:46pensent que les Achiri
07:47ont peut-être
07:48définitivement abandonné
07:49leurs ouvrages en terre
07:50entre 850 et 950.
07:53Ils ne savent toujours
07:54pas exactement pourquoi,
07:55mais les indices pointent
07:57vers un effondrement
07:58relativement rapide
07:59qui pourrait
08:00d'une manière
08:00ou d'une autre
08:01être lié au déclin
08:03d'autres civilisations
08:04anciennes,
08:04comme les mayas
08:06d'Amérique centrale.
08:08Même ainsi,
08:09personne ne sait
08:09avec certitude
08:10ce qu'il a causé.
08:11On n'a peut-être
08:12pas encore toutes les réponses,
08:14mais cette étude
08:14reste très importante.
08:16Elle vient renforcer
08:18les preuves que l'Amazonie
08:19n'a jamais été aussi intacte
08:21que les gens le pensaient
08:22autrefois.
08:23Pendant longtemps,
08:25on pensait surtout
08:25que presque personne
08:27ne vivait au cœur
08:28de la forêt amazonienne
08:29et que c'était
08:30l'une des régions du monde
08:31que les humains
08:32avaient le moins transformé.
08:36Mais de plus en plus
08:37d'éléments montrent
08:38que des civilisations
08:39anciennes y vivaient
08:40et qu'elles ne se contentaient
08:42pas d'y survivre.
08:45Elles en ont transformé
08:46des parties
08:46et l'ont façonné
08:47pour satisfaire leurs besoins.
08:49Si des résultats similaires
08:51sont observés ailleurs
08:52en Amazonie,
08:53les scientifiques
08:54devront peut-être
08:54revoir à la hausse
08:55le nombre de personnes
08:56qui y vivaient
08:57avant l'arrivée des Européens.
08:59Et ce,
09:00pour une bonne raison.
09:00Cette étude n'a porté
09:03que sur une zone
09:03couvrant moins de 3%
09:05de l'Amazonie.
09:07Si d'autres régions
09:09présentaient
09:09des niveaux de population
09:10similaires,
09:12le nombre total
09:13d'habitants de la forêt
09:14aurait pu être
09:15bien plus élevé
09:16qu'on ne le pensait,
09:17pouvant atteindre
09:18plusieurs dizaines
09:19de millions.
09:20C'est pourquoi
09:21les chercheurs affirment
09:22qu'il reste encore
09:23beaucoup à étudier
09:24et que d'autres régions
09:25de l'Amazonie
09:26cachent peut-être
09:27des indices essentiels
09:28sur l'ampleur
09:29et la complexité réelle
09:31de ces sociétés
09:32anciennes.
09:32de l'Amazonie
09:34de l'Amazonie
09:35de l'Amazonie
09:35de l'Amazonie
09:35de l'Amazonie
09:35d'Amazonie
