Archaeological digs in Amazon provide clues about Indigenous inhabitants before colonization

MACAPA, Brazil (AP) — Paving roads in the Amazon rainforest has long brought deforestation that threatens the people who live there. The same roadwork, however, has also allowed archaeologists to get glimpses of the region’s past long before Europeans arrived to reshape it.

The construction often requires archaeological surveys before the paving starts, and some of the latest discoveries have emerged along the BR-156 highway in Brazil's northern state of Amapa. Among the findings so far from nine dig sites: pottery vases that may be funerary urns, as well as small artifacts that resemble human faces.

“What we now about the region’s past is also tied to the opening created by these projects, which gives our relationship with them a somewhat ambivalent character,” said Lúcio Flávio Costa Leite, who manages the Archaeological Research Center at Amapa’s Institute for Scientific and Technological Research. “At the same time, the knowledge we gain about these sites leads us to pay closer attention to these regions, including by adopting permanent protection measures.”

Scientists say recent research has reinforced understanding of the region's past not as a human desert, but rather as a landscape shaped by interconnected societies long before Columbus arrived. The material found along BR-156, for example, included pottery in multiple styles and techniques that reflected influences from communities ranging from Brazil’s Para state to the Caribbean.

It's been cleaned and analyzed by a team working for the National Department of Transport Infrastructure. One of the archaeologists, Manoel Fabiano da Silva Santos, said the layers of the Amazon soil he excavated are a historic timeline.

In the upper layers, he found items such as Portuguese porcelain and nails linked to European occupation.

“Digging deeper, we uncovered pottery and ceramics associated with earlier Indigenous presence, marking the site’s transition before and after the arrival of colonizers,” Santos said.

The artifacts will eventually go to Amapa's state collection, overseen by Costa Leite, which includes about 530,000 pieces. The oldest piece is around 6,140 years old, confirming a long human presence across Amapa, he said.

The artifacts offer insight into how ancient Indigenous societies lived, died and interacted with the rainforest.

“Here is something I often debate with my students -- we usually think of technology as computers and microchips,” Costa Leite said, walking through shelves of ancient pottery. “But all of this required careful reading of the landscape and deliberate choices of materials.”

One of the most impressive historic areas in Amapa is in the city of Calcoene, where a 1,000‑year‑old stone monument made up of 127 carved monoliths arranged in a circle about 30 meters (98 feet) in diameter, set in open grassland amid the rainforest and bordered by a slow river.

Some have dubbed the Archaeological Park of the Solstice the “Stonehenge of the Amazon” for its resemblance to the British monument. Researchers found that the stones were positioned so that during the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere they marked the exact point where the sun rises, said archaeologist Mariana Petry Cabral, a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais who was part of the team that began digging at the site some two decades ago.

“It’s hard to say exactly what all the stones mean, but what we do know is that they are not from the site itself. They were brought from other nearby locations,” she said.

Subsequent research and excavations found the site also served as a burial ground. Radiocarbon dating showed it was occupied for hundreds of years, beginning around 1,100 years ago, she said.

The site, discovered by scientists in 2005, can be visited with prior approval from Amapa’s Institute for Scientific and Technological Research. At the same time, the site is going through the process to become a national park, which will allow more people to visit.

Such archaeological sites are protected by Brazilian law, which prohibits them being altered. That adds a layer of protection for surrounding rainforest.

Modern archaeological and historical ecology research shows that Indigenous peoples not only lived in the Amazon for centuries but also shaped it. They managed and cultivated the landscape through long‑term, sustainable practices, said Eduardo Neves, an archaeologist professor at the University of Sao Paulo.

Neves has studied the Amazon rainforest for more than 30 years and, since 2023, has led the Amazon Revealed project, which uses satellite scans to identify archaeological sites hidden beneath the forest canopy.

Scans have revealed roads linking archaeological sites and buried patterns in the rainforest that point to repeated occupation and deliberate landscape modification. Together, Neves said, the features suggest large settlements.

Archaeologists had long suspected such connections, Neves added, but technology has made it possible to see their broader geographic reach. The scans show networks of roads connecting clusters of settlements across the forest, most clearly in southern Amazonas state and Acre.

“When people think of an Indigenous tribe, they often imagine a small village isolated in the middle of the forest. But evidence shows a high degree of interconnectivity linking different settlements,” Neves said.

“Amapa is a key piece that helps us see how dynamic and active these populations were, and how they maintained networks of exchange that have been in place for millennia,” Cabral said.

Felipe Campos Mello contributed reporting.

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The Archaeological Park of the Solstice, which some call the "Stonehenge of the Amazon" is visible in Calcoene, Amapa state, Brazil, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Archaeologists conduct a technical visit at the Quintela site in the Vila Nova community along the BR-156 highway in Santana, Amapa state, Brazil, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

The Archaeological Park of the Solstice, which some call the "Stonehenge of the Amazon" is visible in Calcoene, Amapa state, Brazil, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Vehicles drive on a fully paved section of BR-156 highway that connects the state capital Macapa with the city of Oiapoque, Amapa state, Brazil, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Archaeologists conduct a technical visit at the Quintela site in the Vila Nova community along the BR-156 highway in Santana, Amapa state, Brazil, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A pottery vessel with anthropomorphic features believed to be an urn is displayed at the Institute for Scientific and Technological Research in Macapa, Amapa state, Brazil, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Archaeologist Manoel Fabiano da Silva Santos shows an anthropomorphic artifact found at the Quintela archaeological site at the National Department of Transport Infrastructure in Macapa, Amapa state, Brazil, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

An anthropomorphic ceramic figurine found during archaeological work in a state is displayed at the Institute for Scientific and Technological Research in Macapa, Amapa state, Brazil, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Archaeologist Lucio Flavio Costa Leite speaks about the collection of cataloged archaeological artifacts at the Institute for Scientific and Technological Research in Macapa, Amapa state, Brazil, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Pottery vessels with anthropomorphic features believed to be urns are displayed at the Institute for Scientific and Technological Research in Macapa, Amapa state, Brazil, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Archaeologist Manoel Fabiano da Silva Santos shows a soil layer scale while explaining the historical timeline at National Department of Transport Infrastructure in Macapa, Amapa state, Brazil, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Archaeologists conduct a technical visit at Quintela archaeological site in the Vila Nova community along the BR-156 highway in Santana, Amapa state, Brazil, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Grass and flowers surround the Archaeological Park of the Solstice, which some call the "Stonehenge of the Amazon" in Calcoene, Amapa state, Brazil, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

MORRISVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers had made a costly mistake.

The Carolina Hurricanes winger had thrown a puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, leading to a power-play goal for the Vegas Golden Knights.

He knew he had to make up for it.

He did it, too. Not with a goal, but with a shot pass that perfectly hit a cutting captain Jordan Staal in stride for a redirection score that helped the Hurricanes go on to win 4-2.

“As a player,” teammate Seth Jarvis said two days later, “it's incredible to watch what he can do individually with the puck.”

The Hurricanes signed Ehlers last summer as an answer in a multiyear quest to add high-end skill, a “missing piece” acquisition for a playoff-tested lineup chasing a breakthrough moment. He's now had back-to-back three-point games, helping Carolina move within a victory of hoisting the Stanley Cup entering Sunday's Game 6.

“He's an elite player, playmaker — that’s what we knew we were getting,” coach Rod Brind'Amour said after Saturday's practice. “And he's delivered. He's been everything we had hoped he would be, and to our team."

There have been plenty of goal-scoring highlights for Ehlers, who had spent 10 seasons in Winnipeg before signing a six-year deal with Carolina. That included a two-goal game that included the overtime winner in a pressure-packed Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against Montreal with the Hurricanes facing a possible 0-2 series deficit.

But his passing has proven just as critical. He had three assists in Thursday's 4-2 win in Game 5, which followed his two assists to go with an empty-net clincher in a 5-3 road win in Game 4. That pushed him to five multipoint playoff outings in the past nine games after having just one in the first eight.

Now Ehlers and the Hurricanes have a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series entering Sunday's game in Las Vegas.

“It's going to be really hard,” Ehlers said after Thursday's win. “It's going to be a really tough game, but we're excited for it. We're ready for it. This team has been working all year for moments like this, and especially this moment.”

Ehlers has looked ready all series long.

He pounced for a goal just 25 seconds into Game 1 then added a second in the first period of that 5-4 loss. He has scored or assisted on six of Carolina's past eight goals.

Look at Ehlers' third assist in Game 5 as an example. The guy nicknamed “Fly” for his open-ice speed collected a power-play pass near the slot, spun and sent an on-the-tape pass to Andrei Svechnikov for the easy finish at the right post for a 4-1 lead.

Jarvis has typically played on Carolina's Sebastian Aho-centered top line with Svechnikov in these playoffs.

But Brind'Amour recently juggled his lines to put Jarvis alongside Ehlers and captain Jordan Staal looking for a boost from his top producers.

That worked during Round 2 against Philadelphia. Jarvis scored his first of the postseason on a third-period feed from Ehlers, coming on their first shift of Game 2 together.

“You know he’s looking for you,” Jarvis said. “You know he is looking to make plays, so it’s just about managing myself and where I am on the ice and positioning myself with a chance to be on the receiving end of it and score or make another play.”

That helps offset any potential mistakes he'll make, too.

Carolina improbably committed three “DOGPOG” penalties for throwing the puck over the glass in Game 5. Ehlers committed two, prompting Ehlers to call it “probably my worst game in the whole playoffs." He also joked he was nervous about the criticism he'd get from his father — Heinz, a professional hockey coach in Europe — for the penalties when they caught up afterward.

“To do that twice in a game is not something that I’m very proud of,” Ehlers said. "But you’ve got to try and stick with it and try to make up for it, not try to do too much — which I also did tonight.

“I’ve got a little better than I had tonight.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Carolina Hurricanes' Nikolaj Ehlers (27) protects the puck from Vegas Golden Knights' Mitch Marner (93) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov (37) celebrates with Nikolaj Ehlers (27), Sebastian Aho (20), and Seth Jarvis (24) after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in the second period of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)