You have certainly heard of Stonehenge, that famous impressive circle of stones located in Wiltshire, England, haven't you? The structure is about 5, 000 years old and, despite being one of the most studied monuments in the world, scientists still try to understand exactly what its origin and purpose was.

Stonehenge Monument in England

Interestingly, Stonehenge is not unique - as countless circles with similar characteristics have been located around the world, and there is even one here in Brazil, in the interior of Amapá. Why haven't you found other structures like Stonehenge in our country? According to Sarah Knapton of The Telegraph portal, this time the discovery took place in the Amazon rainforest and is not one, but hundreds of circles!

Prehistoric Amazon

According to Sarah, the discovery was made by Brazilian and British scientists who used drones to capture aerial images of the forest in the state of Acre. The researchers explained that they did not find stone circles, but circular ditches that for centuries remained hidden under the cover of trees.

Circles discovered inside Acre

According to Sarah, these formations are called geoglyphs and, in the case of Stonehenge, they were created in the early stages of the monument's construction, some 500 years before the stones were brought to the complex. Scientists have located 450 of them in Acre and, as with the British circle, scientists do not know exactly what their purpose was.

More geoglyphs

However, they find the ditches unlikely to be remnants of the demarcations of ancient Indian villages, as there are no signs of defensive structures or fences, and archaeologists have recovered very few artifacts during excavations conducted in the region. This indicates that the circles were used sporadically, and one theory is that they served as places for rituals or public gatherings.

Amazing

Archaeologists also explained that although Stonehenge is 2, 500 years older than the Acre geoglyphs, they probably represent a similar period of social development. Another interesting question about the discovery of the circles is that it contradicts the belief that the Amazon rainforest consists of an ecosystem that remained completely untouched until the arrival of modern civilization in the region.

Another of the many circles identified in Acre

The presence of geoglyphs reveals that human interference occurred in the area long before the settlers arrived here. The researchers were able to draw 6, 000 years from the history of two of the discovered circles and concluded that the vegetation in these areas was ostensibly altered.

By contrast, the scientists also explained that despite the action of the former occupiers in the region, their activity has not led to forest degradation - thanks to the ability of former indigenous populations to find ways to use land more sustainably.