For generations rumors have swirled of lost civilizations in the Amazon. If you’re of a certain age, perhaps you grew up with Indiana Jones evading stone traps and poison darts in order to thieve away cultural riches from the jungle. Today, archaeologists thousands of miles away are utilizing emerging technological tool kits in order to analyze data in a way that gives them a much clearer understanding of what is going on under the canopy. Using such tools, two Missouri State archeologists have made significant discoveries in the Amazon Basin that could upend our understanding of the pre-contact history of that region.
To talk about what they discovered, how they discovered it, and the possible implications, Dr. Daniel Pierce and Christopher Bodine, co-founders of the Terra Incognita Research Institute, speak with Patrick about their Geoglyph Observations through Jungle Imagery in Remote Amazonia – or GOJIRA – project.
Daniel and Chris will give the Plenary Session on their Amazon work at the upcoming Missouri Academy of Science Annual Meeting on April 11, 2026 at Missouri State University.
More information about Terra Incognita’s research can be found at www.terraincognitaresearch.org. Daniel’s cool hat can be found at https://terra-incognita-research.printful.me/product/snapback-hat.
