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National Geographic : 1979 Jan
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Tempest of sand and wind catches Eurico Miller during one of the cold spells delivered to Brazil's Mato Grosso Plateau each dry season by winter winds from the south. In its aftermath columns of fragile soil stand secured by bits of stone and ceram ic. Such erosion may account for the large number of surface relics found near Abrigo. delicious. Hungry, I ate with gusto. Only then did the boy casually mention that the delicacy was a vampire bat. Besides the entrepreneurs with legal busi ness in the wilderness, there are, as on any frontier, men whose occupations do not stand close scrutiny. Nearly every morning, while it is still dark, we are awakened by the sound of a low-flying airplane rushing over head without lights. This is a smuggler, bringing whiskey, cigarettes, and other con traband from Bolivia or Paraguay, and landing at some secret airstrip deep in the Brazilian jungle. What few police can be spared to enforce the laws in Amazonia are kept busy chasing Stone Age Pastand Presentin Brazil wild-animal poachers, people with illegal guns, and even murderers, for the forest is a good place to drop out of sight. The police do their best but catch few malefactors. Eurico Miller has worked for three sea sons in Abrigo and explored 13 other nearby sites. As I write, digging has stopped at Abrigo and may not be resumed for some time because we have reached a level where great boulders, fallen from the shelter roof long ago, block our shovels. One day we hope to break up the boulders with mechani cal drills and dig yet deeper, in the hope that we will reach levels containing relics even older than those already unearthed. Until every possible bit of evidence has
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