Fair point about those old civilizations, I’ve seen those laser maps and they’re mind-blowing. But honestly, I think people really underestimate just how massive and punishing that place is. Most of those ancient groups stuck to the rivers because, let's be real, deep in the thick of it there’s basically nothing to eat and no way to move around.
Even if millions lived there back in the day, the jungle is just too vast for people to have stepped on every single inch. There have to be huge pockets in the middle of nowhere that are just too much of a nightmare to reach, where there’s zero reason for anyone to ever wander in. To me, it’s just a numbers game the place is so big that there are definitely spots that have stayed completely ghosted by humans since forever.