French and Ecuadorian archaeologists have unearthed the oldest known house found in Ecuador’s Amazon region. 

Head archaeologist Stéphen Rostain says the house, found near Puyo in the Pastaza province, was built about 3,000 years ago.

“We found pillar holes and a hearth and remnants of ceramics and stones,” said Rostain to the news agency EFE.

The site was located a couple years ago and the dig began in July.

“The hearth, built with stone, are quite old: from the Formative period (1,800 to 500 BCE). We extracted a sample that dated back 3,000 years. After opening up the dig this year, we’ve been able to trace the plans of how the house was laid out.”

On a diagram, the archaeologist shows how the pillar holes they found make an oval, 17 metres at its longest dimension and 11 metres wide. Many Amazon tribes still build oval-shaped houses.

“This is the oldest house that is known of in the Amazon. This is older than some we’ve found in Brazil,” he said.

The scientist said he’s pleased by his discovery: “Touching something that hasnt been touched in 3,000 years is always a pleasure...We’re like big kids, treasure hunters.” He said there is much in the Amazon left to discover: “It’s seven millon square kilometres. That’s the size of the United States or Europe.”

“In Europe, say, there are 30 languages and ten linguistic families. In the Amazon, in the same territory, we know of 200 languages and 80 language families.”

Original story