A 2,500-year-old city has been found in Ecuador

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Archaeologists have discovered a huge ancient city in the Amazon rainforest that was home to at least 10,000 farmers more than 2,000 years ago. A series of barrows and roads discovered in Ecuador by archaeologist Steven Rostein gives the impression of a lost valley of cities hidden in the forested foothills of the Andes.

Using laser sensor technology, scientists have determined that these settlements and roads formed a dense network that existed for approximately 1,000 years. Upano people settled here between about 500 BC. and 300-600 AD - a period that coincides with the Roman Empire in Europe.

Some researchers believe that the city may have been home to hundreds of thousands of people, indicating dense occupation and a complex society. The construction of roads and thousands of earthen embankments required a complex system of organized labor, given the lack of building stone in this region.