The headwaters of the Apurímac River on Nevado Mismi had been considered for nearly a century as the Amazon’s most distant source, until a 2014 study found it to be the Cordillera Rumi Cruz at the headwaters of the Mantaro River in Peru.The Mantaro and Apurímac confluence, and with other tributaries form the Ucayali, which in turn confluences with the River Marañón upstream of Iquitos, Peru, to form what countries other than Brazil consider to be the main stem of the Amazon. For Brazil this section of the river is the Solimões until it confluences with the Rio Negro at the Meeting of Waters (Portuguese: Encontro das Águas) at Manaus, the river's largest city.
There is ample evidence that the areas surrounding the Amazon River were home to complex and large-scale indigenous societies, mainly chiefdoms who developed large towns and Archeologists estimate that by the time the Spanish conquistador Orellana journeyed across the Amazon in 1541, more than 3 million Indians lived around the Amazon.[10] These pre-Columbian settlements created highly developed civilizations. For instance, pre-Columbian indigenous people on the island of Marajó may have developed social stratification and supported a population of 100,000 people. In order to achieve this level of development, the Native Americans of the Amazon rain forest altered the forest’s ecology by selective cultivation and the use of fire. Scientists argue that by burning areas of the forest repetitiously, the indigenous people caused the soil to become rich in nutrients. This created dark soil areas known as terra preta de índio Indian Dark Earth.Because of the terra preta, indigenous communities were able to make land fertile and thus sustainable for the large-scale agriculture needed to support their large populations and complex social structures. Further research has hypothesized that this practice began around 11,000 years ago. Some say that its effects on forest ecology and regional climate explain the otherwise inexplicable band of lower rainfall through the Amazon basin.
There is ample evidence that the areas surrounding the Amazon River were home to complex and large-scale indigenous societies, mainly chiefdoms who developed large towns and Archeologists estimate that by the time the Spanish conquistador Orellana journeyed across the Amazon in 1541, more than 3 million Indians lived around the Amazon.[10] These pre-Columbian settlements created highly developed civilizations. For instance, pre-Columbian indigenous people on the island of Marajó may have developed social stratification and supported a population of 100,000 people. In order to achieve this level of development, the Native Americans of the Amazon rain forest altered the forest’s ecology by selective cultivation and the use of fire. Scientists argue that by burning areas of the forest repetitiously, the indigenous people caused the soil to become rich in nutrients. This created dark soil areas known as terra preta de índio Indian Dark Earth.Because of the terra preta, indigenous communities were able to make land fertile and thus sustainable for the large-scale agriculture needed to support their large populations and complex social structures. Further research has hypothesized that this practice began around 11,000 years ago. Some say that its effects on forest ecology and regional climate explain the otherwise inexplicable band of lower rainfall through the Amazon basin.
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