Kuhikugu, Archaeological site at Xingu River headwaters, Brazil.

Kuhikugu is an archaeological site near the headwaters of the Xingu River in the Brazilian rainforest, formed by twenty connected settlements spread over 20,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles). Roads, fortifications and trenches link these places into a network that points to dense occupation.

Michael Heckenberger uncovered the site while working alongside Kuikuro people, revealing that people lived here from 1500 to 400 years ago. The settlement housed around 50,000 inhabitants at its peak before it was abandoned.

The name Kuhikugu means "the place of the Kuhi fish" in Kuikuro, and fish farming is still practised by some of their descendants. Cassava fields likely surrounded the settlements, and the Kuikuro today call the dark anthrosol egepe. A Kuikuro village stands just north of site X11.

The site lies deep in the rainforest near the Xingu headwaters, making access difficult and requiring special preparation. Visitors should expect humid conditions, dense vegetation and limited infrastructure.

Kuhikugu is settlement X11 of the complex, on the eastern shore of Lake Kuhikugu, now Lagoa Dourada. Satellite images still show forest differing from surrounding untouched areas, an effect of the dark anthrosol the Kuikuro call egepe. A small Kuikuro village stands just north of the site.