Members of the Bernice S. Warren Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) have launched a fundraising campaign for a research project in South America’s Amazon jungle.

CAR archaeologists Dr. Daniel Pierce and Chris Bodine will visit two specific regions of the Amazon to verify their research on ancient archaeological geoglyphs. The pair plan to travel in October 2025.

Pierce’s research expertise is on ancient cultures in Central and South America. Bodine specializes in geospatial science with a focus on remote sensing tools like Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).

Two additional team members, Micah Phoenix and Jasmine Pierce, will remain in Missouri. Phoenix will help interpret and process the data retrieved from the expedition. She recently graduated from Missouri State and now works part time at CAR. Jasmine Pierce is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history at Missouri State and will support the project with historical research.

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Ancient geoglyphs identified

Using LiDAR, a technology that uses laser pulses from above to detect landscapes, the team has identified several manmade geometric designs, called geoglyphs, in certain parts of the Amazon. These archaeological findings can only be seen from the air.

“This is clear evidence of complex civilization, as it requires a complex sociopolitical structure to control enough labor to create these features,” Pierce said.

While researchers have viewed ancient geoglyphs from the air, few have attempted to locate them on the ground because of the jungle’s harsh environment, according to Pierce. He sees this as an opportunity for further research and discovery.

Previous research inspired Amazon venture

While working on a separate research project in the Peten jungle in Guatemala, Pierce first got the inspiration for an Amazon project. Pierce and his colleagues used LiDAR technology in Guatemala to identify Mayan structures, quarries, mounds and platforms.

“One important thing I learned out there in that jungle was how invisible these features are,” Pierce said. “Within a jungle, the vegetation is often so thick that we would be standing within 20 feet of a 10 foot tall Mayan stone structure and we still couldn’t see it.”

Pierce read David Grann’s “The Lost City of Z” while in Guatemala as well. The book details the story of British archaeologist Percy Fawcett’s quest for a lost city in the Amazon.

“I began piecing things together: if only Fawcett would have had LiDAR technology to see through the jungle,” Pierce said. “As soon as I returned from the field, I started trying to get a project together.”

Creative fundraising efforts

The Amazon project is an official collaboration with CAR, Pierce explained. Still, limited access to research funding has spurred him and his team to “get innovative.” Not only are they seeking help through the Missouri State Foundation, the team also formed a non-profit group, Terra Incognita, to raise funds for the Amazon expedition.

“We feel grateful that CAR and Missouri State are supporting us where they can, and we are happy that we are able to work as both Terra Incognita and represent CAR and Missouri State,” Pierce said. “Having both run side by side is only intended to open up access to more funding avenues, since grant funding is increasingly difficult to come by.”

“As wild as wild can be”

Even though LiDAR technology has proved useful, Pierce and Bodine still need on-the-ground confirmation of the location and characteristics of the ancient geoglyphs.

“We are going to be some of the first to identify them [geoglyphs] within the thick jungle, and the first to ever identify them in this region,” he said. “This is more than just finding a new archaeological site. This is potentially the identification of an entirely unknown culture.”

The pair will first visit the state of Amazonas in central Amazon. Then, they will travel to the state of Acre in southwest Amazon.

“Acre is much more deforested, but there is still much to be found,” Pierce said. “Amazonas, on the other hand, is still about as wild as wild can be.”

Meanwhile, the team is developing identification methods that other researchers can use. “This could open up a whole new world of discovery and understanding in the Amazon,” Pierce said.

Bodine agreed, adding that the project “gives us the opportunity to document and protect cultural landscapes that have remained hidden for centuries while also gaining a better understanding of the history and environment of the Amazon rainforest.”

Future goals

Pierce already plans to guide a larger expedition to the Amazon in the future.

“The other people on the team, which will be part of that phase, include not only researchers from other universities, but [also] researchers from other countries that are collaborating,” he noted.

For Bodine, the project presents opportunities to enhance his research expertise in LiDAR.

“The experience has provided an important opportunity to expand my methodological toolkit and gain new knowledge directly relevant to archaeological remote sensing in a new and challenging environment,” he said. “I’m excited about the discoveries ahead and grateful for the support that makes this work possible.”

Phoenix said the team was “deeply grateful” for any support they receive.

“This isn’t only ‘our’ project,” she said. “We need the help and support of everyone who feels the same pull as we do, to search for the unknown, to find missing pieces of history and to preserve the answers written in the landscapes, the answers left behind by the ancients.”

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