The Amazon rainforest may look like one of the last truly wild places on Earth – but experts have discovered evidence of a sprawling lost civilisation hidden beneath its dense canopy. Scientists say the untamed wilderness was once home to millions of people who ‘flourished’ in sprawling communities connected by roads and ceremonial centres. Using laser technology to peer through the rainforest, researchers uncovered hundreds of previously unknown ceremonial structures hidden beneath the trees. The findings suggest the ancient Aquiry civilisation occupied an area the size of the UK and may have built more than 20,000 earthworks across the region. A geoglyph built by the Aquiry civilisation in Acre, Brazil.