The thrust of the lecturer’s argument is that some recent evidence shows that there existed a large and advanced civilization in the Amazon. This directly counters the passage which asserts that no huge, highly developed civilization flourished considering the available evidence.
To begin with, the lecturer contends that some satellite image shows that a highly civilized society existed in the Amazon rain forest. In the image, we can see roads and canals which pass through the forest and connect a number of villages. This is a compelling evidence that people build a society in the Amazon. This rebuts the passage’s claim that a well-developed society was unlikely to be existed in the forest due to the density of the jungle and limited communication among population groups.
On top of that, the lecturer claims that the artifacts cannot be the reason for a lack of civilization in the forest. Recently, abundant amount of pottery was found near a river in the forest. It included sophisticated ceramic vessels and well-carved bowls as well, which were quite far from simplicity. In this way, the lecturer’s opinion just opposes what the passage indicates; the passage argues that the simple tools found in the region shows the ancient people lived in the area were primitive.
Lastly, the lecturer points out that it was impossible for European explorers to find out the remains of the civilized society. Since the forest ranges almost five million square kilometers, European expeditions were not likely to discover the civilization. In addition, there are also many other civilizations which were hidden for centuries; For instance, the civilization in Cambodia were found in mid 19th centuries by a French explorer. Until then nobody did not know the existence of the civilization since the temple were covered by a thick forest. This also contradicts the opinion of the passage. The passage asserts that the European expedition’s failure to find out the large civilization in the forest proves there existed no large civilization.
To put in a nutshell, the lecturer maintains there is evidence which supports the development of a vast, highly civilized society in the Amazon and counters each rationale the passage suggests. Since the lecturer’s demonstration is quite convincing and plausible, this casts doubt on the passage’s claim that a large, advanced civilization is not likely to have existed in the forest.