Known as “The Man in the Hole,” the last surviving member of an uncontacted indigenous tribe in the rainforest in western Brazil was found dead lying in a hammock outside of his hut, the BBC reports.

Researchers found the man’s body on August 23rd after a search party went looking for him after not seeing signs of activity in the area.  While police are investigating, no signs of foul play were found at the scene and nothing in the hut appeared to be disturbed.  The man, whose name was not known, was believed to be around 60 years old.

He got the moniker The Man in the Hole because he dug multiple holes around his territory, some had spikes at the bottom to kill prey and he used others to provide protection and hiding spots from overflights and intruders.  Most of the man’s tribe were wiped out by ranchers in the 1970s before Brazil adopted rules relating to uncontacted tribes.  Six other members were murdered by people illegally harvesting timber in the mid-1990s. 

The last time he was seen by researchers in close proximity was around 2018, when researchers accidentally came upon him as he was using a rudimentary axe to cut down a tree.  Evidence in his huts shows that he was cultivating bananas, mangos and maize.

There are more than 240 indigenous tribes living deep in the Brazilian rainforests who are protected from outside contact with industrialized populations.  Brazil significantly limits contact with these native peoples while trying to protect them from farmers, timber harvesters and clear cutters deforesting the region.