This week, the SciFri Book Club
<http://sciencefriday.com/blogs/?series=25#page/posts/1> concludes its
discussion of David Grann’s non-fiction tale of Amazonian exploration, *The
Lost City of Z*
<http://www.powells.com/biblio/trade%20paper:sale:9781400078455:11.87>. The
book recounts the life—and mysterious disappearance—of Victorian explorer
Percy Fawcett, who once posited the existence of a lost Amazonian city
called “Z.” But was “Z” a real place? And could the harsh Amazonian
landscape ever have supported ancient, complex civilizations?
Anthropologist Michael Heckenberger studies archaeological sites in the
Amazon’s Xingu region, and features in the conclusion of Grann’s tale. He
describes the “garden cities” he’s uncovered, suggesting that ancient
civilizations once thrived in the Amazon.
Produced by Annie Minoff, SciArts Producer