Two archaeologists from the American heartland are embarking on an Amazonian adventure to uncover the remains of a lost civilization - proving that world-class research can emerge from the Ozarks just as easily as it can come from Ivy League schools.
Missouri State University research archaeologists Daniel Pierce and Christopher Bodine are heading to Brazil this fall to study geoglyphs - large designs or motifs on the ground made of natural materials.
The two founded the Terra Incognita Research Institute to uncover the past and make their discoveries accessible to the public.
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Their latest efforts are part of the GOJIRA project, short for Geoglyph Observations through Jungle Imagery in Remote Amazonia.
The pair will be going into the jungle, off-trail, to study these features more closely. Using LiDAR technology, they've identified structures that have been hidden away for several centuries beneath the jungle canopy - structures found only recently due to deforestation in the Amazon.
Pierce described geoglyphs as "large manmade design[s] on the earth, often created using stones or mounded soil," he said.
"In the Amazonian geoglyphs, at least the ones that have been discovered thus far, we see more geometric shapes, such as giant circles, squares [and] crosses," Pierce told Fox News Digital.
"Some of these are as small as 70 feet across, or as large as 400 feet across."
Pierce added that he and Bodine are "really just scratching the surface," of the project, and they don't know how old the geoglyphs are, or who built them, just yet.
"These glyphs are perhaps the first evidence we have of a completely unknown ancient civilization," Pierce observed.
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"Overall, typically geoglyphs are so large that they can't even be seen from the ground itself, but must be viewed from the air. … This is what makes them so amazing."
He added, "How did ancient people design them so perfectly to be seen from above, when they themselves could not see them from above? It's truly amazing stuff."
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Pierce said that while he doesn't expect to find El Dorado, he believes the geoglyphs may have been part of "a large-scale complex civilization … [perhaps] along the lines of some of the large moundbuilders in the United States, such as the Mississippians at the famous Cahokia Mounds."
Building the geoglyphs would have taken a lot of work, the archaeologist noted.
"They didn't have modern tools. They didn't even have horses to help carry the dirt," Pierce said. "This would have been done 100% by carrying basket-loads of dirt one man at a time. Imagine how big of an undertaking this must be."
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Pierce also described the Amazon as "one of the last frontiers" in archaeology, estimating that 90% of the region's geoglyphs are still undiscovered - though LiDAR technology is changing that.
"We have to be willing to get dirty, roll up our sleeves, put ourselves out there, and take some risks," he said. "That's how the explorers did it in the past. And that's how we conduct our research."
Remarkably, the research expedition is being crowdfunded, as traditional funding like grants and university support is "increasingly difficult to come by," Pierce said.
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"The Terra Incognita Research Institute … allows us to try to still do research without grants or using taxpayer dollars in any way," he noted. "We are putting faith in a sort of new approach to research that doesn't rely on tax dollars, grants, or even university support. Rather, [we're] making ourselves accountable to the public."
"[We] hope that the public sees value in our work enough that they will chip in a few dollars here and there to help us out. We aren't here to profit. We are here to explore. This right here is a passion project."
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Pierce said the expedition is also a chance to show that world-class research comes out of the Ozarks too. Both he and Bodine were born and raised in Missouri.
"We have both moved around a lot, and have even lived, studied and worked in other countries and states," the archaeologist said. "But we both somehow ended back up in Missouri."
Pierce emphasized that Terra Incognita Research Institute is just a "group of normal people trying to do extraordinary things."
"We know people would never expect this type of research to be coming out of a university in the Ozark Mountains," he added.
"But we are demonstrating that everyone has a shot at chasing big goals, even if they do sound crazy, like they are straight out of an Indiana Jones movie."
