Huge Ancient City Complex Found in Ecuador Jungle

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67940671

A huge ancient city has been found in the Amazon, hidden
for thousands of years by lush vegetation.

The discovery changes what we know about the history of
people living in the Amazon.

The houses and plazas in the Upano area in eastern
Ecuador were connected by an astounding network of
roads and canals.

The area lies in the shadow of a volcano that created
rich local soils but also may have led to the
destruction of the society.

The city was built around 2,500 years ago, and people
lived there for up to 1,000 years, according to
archaeologists.

. . .

   THEN - major civ.

   NOW - drug-gang civil war ....

   Odd how the future turns out, isn't it ?

   In any case, it does seem that once you get a
   certain critical mass of population density
   "civilization" appears. This means that the
   stuff of higher-civ is in our collective heads,
   an "emergent property" just waiting for the
   proper stimulus.