Amazon’s Ancient Heartbeat Under Siege: How Agribusiness is Devouring a 1,000-Year-Old Civilization

DCM

In the southwestern reaches of the Amazon, Antonia Barbosa is fighting to protect ancient archaeological sites threatened by powerful agribusiness, a sector worth R$2.6 trillion in Brazil. Farmers see land as a source of profit and consider geoglyphs, geometric structures in the ground, an obstacle. In recent years, at least nine of these sites, which can measure up to 385 meters wide and almost 5 meters deep, have been destroyed. This removes the traces of a civilization that flourished for about a thousand years, since the time of Christ. As agriculture develops in the Amazon, geoglyphs are erased as soon as they are discovered. With information from Bloomberg.

“On the grounds of our house, we have a heritage as important as the pyramids of Egypt,” he said. “They have lasted more than 2,000 years and we will destroy them in less than a generation.” Barbosa faces an uphill battle. Farmers and ranchers are powerful political and economic forces in Brazil, contributing to 24% of the country’s GDP. An acre is part of this border, where soybean production tripled in two years, reaching 60,600 tonnes and expanding agricultural land to 43,000 acres. Iphan’s actions, including fines, are a drop in the ocean for large industrial farms.

The rapid disappearance of the geoglyphs is part of the wider deforestation of the Amazon for agriculture. This puts the entire planet at risk, which is already facing the consequences of climate change. The Amazon stores approximately 20% of all carbon in global vegetation. Forest destruction threatens to turn this reserve into a net source of emissions, endangering rainfall patterns across South America Since 2000, the region has lost an area larger than the state of São Paulo, pushing for the expansion of plantations and pastures . The challenge for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is to balance the agribusiness economy with forest protection.

The cost of protecting the geoglyphs is negligible compared to the value of Brazil’s soybean harvest, which was estimated at R$341 billion last year. One hectare of soybeans can generate about US$2,000 in revenue. Therefore, the 1,000 geoglyphs, which average two hectares in size, would only represent US$4 million per year. These symmetrical designs are essential to understanding the history of the region. They reveal a sophisticated civilization that aligned its agricultural calendar with the solstice and grew fruit and nut trees, proving that the Amazon was a vast orchard rather than a pristine desert. Barbosa avoids hasty conclusions about the size or structure of this society. Other researchers compare its creators to a confederation of city-states, like in Ancient Greece.

As important as they are, many geoglyphs have already been destroyed by the farmers of Acre. In more preserved areas, it is common to see cattle grazing in the ditches. The tension between those who seek to profit from the land and those who wish to protect it is obvious. Barbosa does not comment on the personal risks, but shows a photo he received: an armed man, wearing a hat, next to a ceramic pot. The message is clear: archaeologists are not welcome.

The geoglyphs were discovered when the jungle was cleared to create pastures in the 20th century. Initially, it was believed that they were trenches from a war against Bolivia. It was only in the 1970s that archaeologists realized they were ancient human works.

Scientific studies on natural phenomena began to gain strength in the 2000s, led by Alceu Ranzi, the researcher who inspired Barbosa. Ranzi organized transmissions to photograph the geoglyphs, revealing their size and importance. By 2015, Iphan had identified more than 300 sites in Acre, which were considered for World Heritage status by UNESCO. It is estimated that there are 24,000 other similar plants in the south-west of the Amazon and in Bolivia. Ranzi believes the area is home to around a million people, a number similar to the current population.

The densest part of this ancient civilization is along BR-317, known as “Rodovia dos Geoglyphos”, cutting through at least 11 sites. Bloomberg visited the area with Barbosa and used drones to record seven of these structures, which can only be seen from above. Barbosa, comfortable in his mission, explores farms looking for geoglyphs, jumping over gates and talking to owners. She says that big landowners represent the biggest threat to geoglyphs, because of the economic and legal power they have.

The economic pressure is clear. Acre’s fertile land is perfect for soybeans, whose cultivation has expanded after the opening of ports and export infrastructure, attracting giants such as Cargill and Bunge. Local farmers, like Jorge Moura, protect some geoglyphs on their property, but others, like Assuero Doca Veronez, president of the Acre agricultural federation, have been accused of destroying them. Veronez was sued for R$200,000 and the restoration of the geoglyphs on his farm is estimated at R$2 million.

The challenge for Barbosa is huge. With few resources and support, she is the only Iphan archaeologist in the province. The Public Ministry, represented by Luidgi Merlo Paiva dos Santos, is trying to prosecute the destroyers, but the situation is worrying. There are more cases of destruction to be investigated, and many landowners behave dishonestly when clearing land to plant corn, soya beans or coffee. Despite this, there is hope for small farmers, like Severino Calazans, who keeps a geoglyph on his property.

Acre needs more recognition and initiatives to protect geoglyphs. There is still very little research into tourism, and plans to promote archaeological heritage have only just begun. According to Ezequiel de Oliveira Bino, secretary of economic development in Rio Branco, geoglyphs need to be promoted in the same way as other archaeological sites, such as the Nazca lines, in Peru. Until then, the development of agriculture is soon endangering this historical legacy. “We are in danger of destroying them before we know them,” Ranzi said.

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