The Maya Landscape of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico: Comparison of Occupied and Unoccupied Airborne LiDAR Mapping Systems
Landscape-oriented approaches in archaeology have moved beyond site-based research to interpret how people have engaged with, modified, and constructed the environment and how the legacies of these activities continue to influence land use. In the Maya Lowlands, landscape archaeology is related to t...
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2024-11-01
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| author | Whittaker Schroder Timothy Murtha Andrew K. Scherer Shanti Morell-Hart Charles Golden Eben N. Broadbent Angélica M. Almeyda Zambrano Juan Carlos Fernandez-Diaz |
| author_facet | Whittaker Schroder Timothy Murtha Andrew K. Scherer Shanti Morell-Hart Charles Golden Eben N. Broadbent Angélica M. Almeyda Zambrano Juan Carlos Fernandez-Diaz |
| author_sort | Whittaker Schroder |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Landscape-oriented approaches in archaeology have moved beyond site-based research to interpret how people have engaged with, modified, and constructed the environment and how the legacies of these activities continue to influence land use. In the Maya Lowlands, landscape archaeology is related to the analysis of settlement patterns, households, agricultural intensification, and water management. The increasing availability of LiDAR data has revolutionized the mapping of archaeological landscapes under vegetation, especially in tropical environments like the Maya Lowlands, but researchers still emphasize site-oriented settlement densities and infrastructure. Furthermore, the accessibility of drone-based LiDAR platforms has the potential to collect data across several seasons or years to facilitate change detection. In this paper, we compare three LiDAR datasets collected from 2018 to 2023, using both occupied and unoccupied airborne systems. The landscape surrounding the archaeological site of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico near the Classic period (AD 250–800) dynastic capital of Piedras Negras, Guatemala was selected to compare these LiDAR datasets in the context of prior, extensive ground-based fieldwork. These data were used to interpret the built environment, land use, hydrology, landscapes of movement, and other infrastructure constructed and modified by several communities beginning in the Late Preclassic period (400 BC–AD 250) to the present. When used alongside systematic survey and ground verification, the combination of several LiDAR platforms to collect data across different seasons at El Infiernito enhanced the understanding of the spatial distribution of archaeological sites and features across the karst landscape. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2e3d3265e2514a13ab4cdaf29ab078aa |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-2e3d3265e2514a13ab4cdaf29ab078aa2024-12-13T16:30:55ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922024-11-011623445910.3390/rs16234459The Maya Landscape of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico: Comparison of Occupied and Unoccupied Airborne LiDAR Mapping SystemsWhittaker Schroder0Timothy Murtha1Andrew K. Scherer2Shanti Morell-Hart3Charles Golden4Eben N. Broadbent5Angélica M. Almeyda Zambrano6Juan Carlos Fernandez-Diaz7Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USADepartment of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USADepartment of Anthropology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USADepartment of Anthropology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USADepartment of Anthropology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USACenter for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USACenter for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USANational Center for Airborne Laser Mapping, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USALandscape-oriented approaches in archaeology have moved beyond site-based research to interpret how people have engaged with, modified, and constructed the environment and how the legacies of these activities continue to influence land use. In the Maya Lowlands, landscape archaeology is related to the analysis of settlement patterns, households, agricultural intensification, and water management. The increasing availability of LiDAR data has revolutionized the mapping of archaeological landscapes under vegetation, especially in tropical environments like the Maya Lowlands, but researchers still emphasize site-oriented settlement densities and infrastructure. Furthermore, the accessibility of drone-based LiDAR platforms has the potential to collect data across several seasons or years to facilitate change detection. In this paper, we compare three LiDAR datasets collected from 2018 to 2023, using both occupied and unoccupied airborne systems. The landscape surrounding the archaeological site of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico near the Classic period (AD 250–800) dynastic capital of Piedras Negras, Guatemala was selected to compare these LiDAR datasets in the context of prior, extensive ground-based fieldwork. These data were used to interpret the built environment, land use, hydrology, landscapes of movement, and other infrastructure constructed and modified by several communities beginning in the Late Preclassic period (400 BC–AD 250) to the present. When used alongside systematic survey and ground verification, the combination of several LiDAR platforms to collect data across different seasons at El Infiernito enhanced the understanding of the spatial distribution of archaeological sites and features across the karst landscape.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/23/4459landscape archaeologyLiDARMaya |
| spellingShingle | Whittaker Schroder Timothy Murtha Andrew K. Scherer Shanti Morell-Hart Charles Golden Eben N. Broadbent Angélica M. Almeyda Zambrano Juan Carlos Fernandez-Diaz The Maya Landscape of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico: Comparison of Occupied and Unoccupied Airborne LiDAR Mapping Systems Remote Sensing landscape archaeology LiDAR Maya |
| title | The Maya Landscape of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico: Comparison of Occupied and Unoccupied Airborne LiDAR Mapping Systems |
| title_full | The Maya Landscape of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico: Comparison of Occupied and Unoccupied Airborne LiDAR Mapping Systems |
| title_fullStr | The Maya Landscape of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico: Comparison of Occupied and Unoccupied Airborne LiDAR Mapping Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Maya Landscape of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico: Comparison of Occupied and Unoccupied Airborne LiDAR Mapping Systems |
| title_short | The Maya Landscape of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico: Comparison of Occupied and Unoccupied Airborne LiDAR Mapping Systems |
| title_sort | maya landscape of el infiernito chiapas mexico comparison of occupied and unoccupied airborne lidar mapping systems |
| topic | landscape archaeology LiDAR Maya |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/23/4459 |
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