This is the best summary I could come up with:

The houses and plazas in the Upano area in eastern Ecuador were connected by an astounding network of roads and canals.

The area lies in the shadow of a volcano that created rich local soils but also may have led to the destruction of the society.

While we knew about cities in the highlands of South America, like Machu Picchu in Peru, it was believed that people only lived nomadically or in tiny settlements in the Amazon.

The scientists also identified causeways with ditches on either side which they believe were canals that helped manage the abundant water in the region.

"Imagine that you discovered another civilisation like the Maya, but with completely different architecture, land use, ceramics," says José Iriarte, a professor of archaeology at University of Exeter, who was not involved in this research.

Prof Rostain says he was warned against this research at the start of his career because scientists believed no ancient groups had lived in the Amazon.

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